Complications (1)
- Infertility
Definition (1)
- Infectious diseases
Prevention (1)
- Condoms: How to use them effectively
Symptoms (1)
- STD symptoms: 7 STDs and common symptoms
Tests and diagnosis (1)
- STD testing: What to know before your appointment
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STD symptoms: 7 STDs and common symptoms
Genital warts (HPV infection)
Genital warts, caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), are one of the most common types of STDs. The signs and symptoms of genital warts include:
- Small, flesh-colored or gray swellings in your genital area
- Several warts close together that take on a cauliflower shape
- Itching or discomfort in your genital area
- Bleeding with intercourse
Often, however, genital warts cause no symptoms. Genital warts may be as small as 1 millimeter in diameter or may multiply into large clusters.
In women, genital warts can grow on the vulva, the walls of the vagina, the area between the external genitals and the anus, and the cervix. In men, they may occur on the tip or shaft of the penis, the scrotum or the anus. Genital warts can also develop in the mouth or throat of a person who has had oral sex with an infected person.
Hepatitis
Hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C are all contagious viral infections that affect your liver. Hepatitis B and C are the most serious of the three, but each can cause your liver to become inflamed.
Some people never develop signs or symptoms. But for those who do, symptoms may occur after several weeks and may include:
- Fatigue
- Nausea and vomiting
- Abdominal pain or discomfort, especially in the area of your liver on your right side beneath your lower ribs
- Loss of appetite
- Fever
- Dark urine
- Muscle or joint pain
- Itching
- Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)
Syphilis
Syphilis is a bacterial infection. The disease affects your genitals, skin and mucous membranes, but it may also involve many other parts of your body, including your brain and your heart.
The signs and symptoms of syphilis may occur in four stages — primary, secondary, latent and tertiary.
Primary
These signs may occur from 10 days to three months after exposure:
- A small, painless sore (chancre) on the part of your body where the infection was transmitted, usually your genitals, rectum, tongue or lips. A single chancre is typical, but there may be multiple sores.
- Enlarged lymph nodes.
Signs and symptoms of primary syphilis typically disappear without treatment, but the underlying disease remains and may reappear in the secondary or third (tertiary) stage.
Secondary
The signs and symptoms of secondary syphilis may begin two to 10 weeks after the chancre appears, and may include:
- Rash marked by red or reddish-brown, penny-sized sores over any area of your body, including your palms and soles
- Fever
- Fatigue and a vague feeling of discomfort
- Soreness and aching
These signs and symptoms may disappear within a few weeks or repeatedly come and go for as long as a year.
Latent
In some people, a period called latent syphilis — in which no symptoms are present — may follow the secondary stage. Signs and symptoms may never return, or the disease may progress to the tertiary stage.
Tertiary
Without treatment, syphilis bacteria may spread, leading to serious internal organ damage and death years after the original infection.
Some of the signs and symptoms of tertiary syphilis include:
- Neurological problems. These may include stroke and infection and inflammation of the membranes and fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord (meningitis). Other problems may include poor muscle coordination, numbness, paralysis, deafness or visual problems. Personality changes and dementia also are possible.
- Cardiovascular problems. These may include bulging (aneurysm) and inflammation of the aorta — your body's major artery — and of other blood vessels. Syphilis may also cause valvular heart disease, such as aortic valve problems.
If you suspect you have an STD, see your doctor
If you suspect you have these or other STDs or that you may have been exposed to one, see your doctor for STD testing. Timely diagnosis and treatment are important to avoid or delay more severe, potentially life-threatening health problems and to avoid infecting others.
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