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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffSTIs caused by bacteria are generally easier to treat. Viral infections can be managed but not always cured. If you're pregnant and have an STI, prompt treatment can prevent or reduce the risk of infection of your baby. Treatment usually consists of one of the following, depending on the infection.
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Antibiotics. Antibiotics, often in a single dose, can cure many sexually transmitted bacterial and parasitic infections, including gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia and trichomoniasis. Typically, you'll be treated for gonorrhea and chlamydia at the same time because the two infections often appear together.
Once you start antibiotic treatment, it's crucial to follow through. If you don't think you'll be able to take medication as prescribed, tell your doctor. A shorter, simpler treatment regimen may be available. In addition, it's important to abstain from sex until you've completed treatment and any sores have healed.
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Antiviral drugs. You'll have fewer herpes recurrences if you take daily suppressive therapy with a prescription antiviral drug, but you can still give your partner herpes at any time.
Antiviral drugs can keep HIV infection in check for many years, although the virus persists and can still be transmitted. The sooner you start treatment, the more effective it is. Once you start treatment — if you take your medications exactly as directed — it's possible to lower your virus count to nearly undetectable levels.
Partner notification and preventive treatment
If tests show that you have an STI, your sex partners — including your current partners and any other partners you've had over the last three months to one year — need to be informed so that they can get tested and treated if infected. Each state has different requirements but most mandate that certain STIs be reported to the local or state health department. Public health departments frequently employ trained disease intervention specialists, who can help with partner notification and treatment referrals.
Official, confidential partner notification effectively limits the spread of STIs, particularly syphilis and HIV. The practice also steers those at risk toward appropriate counseling and treatment. And since you can contract some STIs more than once, partner notification reduces your risk of getting reinfected.
- Sexually transmitted infections: Overview. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health. http://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/sexually-transmitted-infections.cfm. Accessed Nov. 23, 2012.
- Sexually transmitted infections. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs110/en/index.html. Accessed Nov. 23, 2012.
- Fortenberry JD. Sexually transmitted diseases: Overview of issues specific to adolescents. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Nov. 23, 2012.
- A Guide to Drinking Water Treatment and Sanitation for Backcountry & Travel Use. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/travel/backcountry_water_treatment.html. Accessed Nov. 23, 2012.
- Swygard H, et al. Screening for sexually transmitted infections. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Nov. 23, 2012.
- STD trends in the United States: 2010 national data for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats10/trends.htm. Accessed Nov. 23, 2012.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, et al. Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women in Health-Care Settings. MMWR. 2006; 55;1. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5514a1.htm. Accessed Nov. 25, 2012.
- Screening tests for women. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health. http://www.womenshealth.gov/screening-tests-and-vaccines/screening-tests-for-women/index.html. Accessed Nov. 25, 2012.
- CDC fact sheet: Genital HPV infection. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm. Accessed Nov. 25, 2012.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, et al. Sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines, 2010. MMWR. 2010;59:1. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5912a1.htm. Accessed Nov. 25, 2012.
- CDC fact sheet: Genital herpes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/std/Herpes/STDFact-Herpes.htm. Accessed Nov. 25, 2012.
- Guidelines for the use of antiretroviral agents in HIV-1-infected adults and adolescents. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://aidsinfo.nih.gov/guidelines/html/1/adult-and-adolescent-arv-guidelines/0/. Accessed Nov. 25, 2012.
- Partner services FAQs. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/partners/faq-public.html. Accessed Nov. 25, 2012.
- Truvada approved to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted HIV in people who are not infected with the virus. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/byaudience/forpatientadvocates/hivandaidsactivities/ucm312264.htm. Accessed Nov. 25, 2012.
- Condoms and STDs: Fact sheet for public health personnel. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/condomeffectiveness/latex.htm. Accessed Nov. 25, 2012.
- Steckelberg JM (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 3, 2012.
- Rizza SA (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 4, 2012.
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