Of these, 4 are currently curable: syphilis, gonorrhoea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis. The other 4 are incurable viral infections: hepatitis B, herpes simplex virus (HSV), HIV and human papillomavirus (HPV).
Viruses such as HIV, genital herpes, human papillomavirus, hepatitis, and cytomegalovirus cause STDs/STIs that cannot be cured. People with an STI caused by a virus will be infected for life and will always be at risk of infecting their sexual partners.
Syphilis, like HIV, is a potentially fatal disease. Syphilis differs from HIV in two distinct ways, though. First, syphilis typically takes a long time to seriously threaten someone's health. A person might have the disease for thirty years before they begin to face issues like internal bleeding or paralysis.
Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in Australia, particularly among young people aged between 15 and 25 years. You can reduce your risk of getting chlamydia by practising safe sex, and limiting your sexual partners.
Hepatitis A, B, and C can all be spread through sexual contact, and all can –– under the worst of circumstances –– lead to liver failure and death.
Herpes is easy to catch. All it takes is skin-to-skin contact, including areas that a condom doesn't cover. You're most contagious when you have blisters, but you don't need them to pass the virus along. Because herpes is a virus, you can't cure it.
Trich is the most common curable STD. A healthcare provider can treat the infection with medication (pills) taken by mouth. This treatment is also safe for pregnant people. If you receive and complete treatment for trich, you can still get it again.
HPV is the most common STI in the United States, but most people with the infection have no symptoms. HPV can cause some health effects that are preventable with vaccines.
Trichomoniasis (or “trich”) is the most common of the curable STIs. The organism Trichomonas vaginalis is a parasite which lives in the lower genital tract and is generally transmitted through sexual intercourse.
STDs that may show signs and symptoms soon after exposure include herpes and gonorrhea. Chlamydia, which is the most commonly reported sexually transmitted disease, may be reactive the next day; however, chlamydia has the ability to remain dormant for years.
If you have an incurable STI (like herpes, HIV, genital warts, and hepatitis B): These infections stick around in your body for life, but try not to panic — there are plenty of treatments that can help you live a healthy life, ease symptoms, and avoid passing the infection to other partners.
The upshot is that it's possible for some — not all — STDs to go away by themselves, but it's also possible for STDs to persist for months, years, or the rest of your life. If you could have been exposed to an STD, the best thing to do is get tested — not to hope that if you did get something, it'll just go away.
The most dangerous viral STD is human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which leads to AIDS. Other incurable viral STDs include human papilloma virus (HPV), hepatitis B and genital herpes.
There are four stages of syphilis (primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary). Each stage has different signs and symptoms.
Gonorrhea is treated with antibiotics, usually an injection in combination with pills. You must follow the directions given with your medicine.
Chlamydia is known as a “silent” infection because most infected people have no symptoms. If symptoms do occur, they may not appear until several weeks after exposure. Even when it causes no symptoms, chlamydia can damage a woman's reproductive organs.
Super gonorrhea, also referred to as super-resistant gonorrhea, is a case of the common sexually transmitted disease (STD) that resists typical treatment from antibiotics. This type of gonorrhea is referred to as a superbug and is a serious threat to public health.
Untreated STDs can grow unchecked for years in your body and cause potentially serious or deadly diseases to develop. For example, someone with HPV can get cervical or anal cancer, while syphilis can cause blindness, dementia, and heart or kidney damage.
“Two or three of the major STIs [in humans] have come from animals. We know, for example, that gonorrhoea came from cattle to humans. Syphilis also came to humans from cattle or sheep many centuries ago, possibly sexually”.