Sex is the magic that keeps to world turning, but some of the biggest killers known to humans come from sexually transmitted infections.
It requires keeping a close eye on our bodies so we can stay safe and have fun. With the surge of a medieval disease that can infect the brain, and the spread of strains that avoid usual medical treatments, it's all the more important to know what signs to look out for to protect yourself and others.
Syphilis infections are reaching record highs year after year, and cases of 'extremely drug resistant' gut infection shigella soared in late 2021. The threat of 'super gonorrhea', the antiobiotic-resistant strain of the common infection, is also ever present, with three new cases reported to the UK Health Security Agency in February.
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Although they're all sexually transmitted infections, they're each passed on in different ways. Coming into contact with even a tiny amount of a bacteria found in feces is enough to give you shigella. Syphilis requires close contact with an infected sore, usually during sex, and gonorrhea spreads on bacteria in discharge from the penis and vagina.
Super gonorrhea
Super gonorrhea spreads just like usual gonorrhea, and it comes with the same symptoms too. Roughly 10% of men and nearly half of woman never experience symptoms.
According to the NHS website, typical symptoms include:
thick green or yellow discharge from the vagina or penis
pain when peeing
bleeding between periods
Gonorrhea is usually treated with antibiotics in the form of a tablet or injection. Symptoms should reduce in a few days, but a drug-resistant strain of the infection is cause for concern.
Syphilis
While the symptoms of syphilis may disappear, the infection will stay in your body unless you're treated, so you'd better spot them in time, get a blood test and get treated. Syphilis is known to spread to the brain and cause long-term problems like sight loss if left untreated for years.
According to the NHS, symptoms can include:
- small, painless sores or ulcers that typically appear on the penis, vagina, or around the anus, but can occur in other places such as the mouth
- a blotchy red rash that often affects the palms of the hands or soles of the feet
- small skin growths (similar to genital warts) that may develop on the vulva in women or around the bottom (anus) in both men and women
- white patches in the mouth
- tiredness
- headaches
- joint pains
- high temperature (fever)
- swollen glands in your neck, groin or armpits
Shigella
In the UK, shigella is the most common type of dysentery, an intestinal infection that causes diarrhoea containing blood or mucus. While the number of new cases recorded is tiny, it is a highly infections disease with a drug-resistant strain.
According to the NHS, symptoms of dysentery include:
- painful stomach cramps
- feeling sick or being sick (vomiting)
- a high temperature
