View source for Where Women Have No Doctor:Chapter 16: Sexually Transmitted Infections and Other Infections of the Genitals

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{{chaptertoc|In this chapter:|
 <ul class{{=}}"noprint"><li>
[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Chapter 16: Sexually Transmitted Infections and Other Infections of the Genitals|Chapter 16: Sexually Transmitted Infections and Other Infections of the Genitals ]] 
 </li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Women and sexually transmitted infections|Women and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)]]</li>
<li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Do I have an STI|Do I have an STI? ]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Taking Medicines to Treat STIs|Taking Medicines to Treat STIs]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Abnormal Discharge|Abnormal Discharge]]</li>
 <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor:Hepatitis B and hepatitis C|Hepatitis B and hepatitis C]]</li>
 <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor:HIV|HIV]]</li> 
<li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor:Human Papilloma Virus|Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) ]]</li>
<li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Growths  (Warts) on the Genitals|Growths on the Genitals (Genital Warts)]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Sores on the Genitals (Genital Ulcers)|Sores on the Genitals (Genital Ulcers)]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor:Pelvic Inflammatory Disease|Pelvic Inflammatory Disease]]</li> 
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: How to Feel Better|How to Feel Better]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Working for Change: Sexually Transmitted Infections and Other Infections of the Genitals|Working for Change]]</li>
 </ul> 
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[[Image:WWHND10_Ch16_ Page_ 261-1.png|450px|left|alt=a man and woman talking while walking toward a health center]]
<div style="position:absolute; left:22px; top:53px; width:60px;font-size:90%; line-height:110%;">''I don't want to go to the clinic.''</div>
<div style="position:absolute; left:249px; top:186px; width:120px; font-size:90%;line-height:110%; ">''But if we don’t get cured together we’ll just get infected again.''</div>
</div>
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<span style{{=}}"font-size:larger;">'''How to use this chapter:'''</span>

This chapter describes illnesses and problems spread by sexual relations. If you have never had a sexual partner, you cannot get most of these. HIV and some types of hepatitis are spread by sex but also by contaminated blood or sharing needles for injections. The chapter also describes yeast infections and bacterial vaginosis, 2 infections that cause unusual discharge from the vagina but are usually not caused by sex. The chapter mostly describes signs affecting the vulva, vagina, and the cervix but common signs of STIs affecting the penis and anus are also included.

Some other illnesses that can spread sexually, but are more often spread by other kinds of contact, are not included in the chapter, such as Zika and mpox (monkeypox)
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{{sidenote||Untreated STIs can cause serious problems. Get treated as soon as you know something might be wrong. Your sexual partners will need to be treated too, even if they have no signs.}}
{{sidenote||This chapter will also help you treat some problems of the genitals that are not sexually transmitted.}}

Sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, are infections passed from one person to another during sex. Most types of sex can spread an STI. It can be penis-in-vagina sex, or penisin-anus sex, or oral sex (mouth to penis, mouth to vagina). Sometimes STIs can spread by just rubbing an infected penis or vagina against another person’s genitals. STIs can be passed during pregnancy to a developing baby before it is born, or during childbirth.

Unless they are treated early, STIs can cause:
*infertility.
*babies born too early, too small, blind, sick, or dead.
*pregnancy in the tube (outside the womb).
*death from severe infection.
*lasting pain.
*cancer of the cervix, liver, throat, and anus



{{Previous and next sections|Preventing Unsafe Abortion|Women and sexually transmitted infections}}
[[en:Where_Women_Have_No_Doctor:Chapter_16:_Sexually_Transmitted_Infections_and_Other_Infections_of_the_Genitals]]
[[es:Where_Women_Have_No_Doctor:Capítulo_16:_Infecciones_sexuales_y_otras_infecciones_de_los_genitales]]
[[fr:Where_Women_Have_No_Doctor:Chapitre_16_:_Les_infections_sexuellement_transmissibles]]

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