| These are scary sounding names. If you get one of these STDs and don't get treated, there are also some pretty scary consequences! Bacterial STDs are caused by bacteria that are so small they cannot be seen without a microscope. Bacteria need a warm, moist environment in which to live, grow, and multiply. The human body provides the perfect place for these bacteria to grow. Since the bacteria cannot be seen, it is difficult to know if you or your sex partner are infected until the symptoms of these infections start to appear. |  Chlamydia
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| Gonorrhea
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| Syphilis
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| Vaginosis
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| PID |
Chlamydia (or NGU)
Chlamydia is caused by the Chlamydia trachomitis bacteria. This is the most frequently reported bacterial STD in the United States. It is most common in young heterosexuals who have new or multiple sex partners. According to the CDC approximately 3 million people are infected every year. About 75 percent of women infected with Chlamydia have few or no symptoms. An estimated 1 in 10 adolescent girls and 1 in 20 women of reproductive age are infected.
| How do I get this STD? | This STD is spread during vaginal, anal, and oral sex with someone who has Chlamydia. | |
| What should I watch for? | Symptoms
generally show up 7 - 21 days after having sex. Most women and some men have no symptoms
at all. What does it look like? |
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| Females: Discharge from your vagina. Bleeding from your vagina between periods. Burning or pain when you urinate (pee). Pain in your abdomen, sometimes with fever and nausea. |
Males: Watery, white, or yellow drip from your penis. Burning or pain when you urinate (pee). |
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What happens if I don't get treated? |
You can give
your partner Chlamydia or NGU. It can lead to a more serious infection like pelvic inflammatory disease. Your reproductive organs can be damaged preventing you from having children. A mother with Chlamydia can give it to her baby during childbirth. |
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How can I prevent it? |
Use a new latex condom (rubber) with
a water-based lubricant every time you have sex. Click here for more ways you can protect your self! |
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Gonorrhea (Clap or Drip)
Gonorrhea is caused by the Neiseria gonorrhoeae
bacteria. It is most common in young heterosexuals who have new or multiple
sex partners and engage in unprotected sexual intercourse. According to the
CDC adolescent females ages 15-19 have the
highest rates of gonorrhea
and in
men, the highest rate is found in the 20-24 year old range.
Gonorrhea is also often seen among males who have
sex with males. The
CDC estimates that there are approximately 650,000 infected in the US
each year.
| How do I get this STD? | This STD is spread during vaginal, anal, and oral sex with someone who has Gonorrhea. | |
| What should I watch for? | Symptoms generally
show up 2 - 21 days after having sex. Most women and some men have no symptoms at
all. Following oral sex, there may be no symptoms at all. You may only have a typical sore throat with fever and tonsillitis.
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| Females:
Thick yellow or white discharge from your vagina or rectum. Bleeding from your vagina between periods. Burning or pain when you urinate (pee), have a bowel movement, or have sex. Cramps or pain in your lower abdomen or belly. Itching, burning around your vagina or rectum. What does it look like?
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Males: Thick yellow or white drip from your penis or discharge from your rectum. Burning or pain when you urinate (pee) or have a bowel movement. Need to urinate (pee) more often. Itching or burning around your urethra and/or rectum. What does it look like?
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What happens if I don't get treated? |
You can give
your partner Gonorrhea. It can lead to a more serious infection like pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) in women and prostatitis and epididymitis in men. Your reproductive organs can be damaged preventing you from having children. A mother with gonorrhea can give it to her baby during childbirth. Babies who are infected with gonorrhea and not treated can have permanent blindness. Untreated Gonorrhea can cause heart trouble, skin disease, and joint disease. |
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How can I prevent it? |
Use a new latex condom (rubber) with
a water-based lubricant every time you have sex. Click here for more ways you can protect your self! |
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Syphilis is caused by the Treponema pallidum bacteria. This STD has been well known throughout history. While there has been a recent overall decline in syphilis rates, the CDC reported in 2001 that there were 38,000 cases reported with most cases in the Southern US. In 1999, rates in the Southern US were about 4.5 per 100,000. It is most common in low-income, minority, heterosexual couples. Syphilis is also frequently found in individuals who trade sex for drugs (most often crack cocaine), and those who are homeless. Cases of primary and secondary syphilis in 1999 had the following race or ethnicity distribution: African Americans 75%, whites 16%, Hispanics 8%, and others 1%. There is a 2- to 5-fold increased risk of acquiring HIV infection when syphilis is present.
| How do I get this STD? | This STD is spread during vaginal, anal, and oral sex with someone who has Syphilis. |
| What should I watch for? | There are four stages of
symptoms that occur when Syphilis is left untreated. In the first stage, you will develop a painless reddish-brown sore or chancre. This usually happens 1-12 weeks after you have had sex. It can appear on your mouth, sex organs, rectum, breasts, or fingers. This sore will last 1-5 weeks and heals on its own. You are still infected. What does it look
like? In the second stage, the infection is now in your blood. It's been 1 - 6 weeks since the first sore appeared. You may have a fever, muscle aches, loss of appetite, headache, joint pain and a rash anywhere on your body - even on the palms of your hands and soles of your feet. You may also develop moist, wart-like bumps in or around your sex organs. These are usually flat and have a whitish-grey color. These bumps are known as Condylomata Lata and are very contagious. These symptoms will also go away on their own, but you are still infected. What does it look
like? The third stage of Syphilis begins when the secondary symptoms disappear. You are still infected but there are no specific symptoms. The bacteria remains in your body and begins to damage your internal organs including your brain, nerves, eyes, heart, blood vessels, liver, bones, and joints. This stage can last for months to years. |
What happens if I don't get treated? |
You can give your partner
Syphilis. A mother with Syphilis can give it to her baby during the pregnancy. Babies who are infected with Syphilis and not treated can have mental and growth retardation, glaucoma, and blood diseases. Untreated Syphilis can cause heart trouble, brain damage, insanity, tumors, and death. When the damage begins to show up in your body organs you are now in the last stage of Syphilis. It may be in as little as one year after the first sore appeared or many years later. |
How can I prevent it? |
Use a new latex condom (rubber) with a water-based lubricant every time you have sex. Click here for more ways you can protect your self! |
Vaginosis or vaginitis is an inflammation of the vagina. It is not considered a sexually transmitted disease, but it is generally related to sexual activity. Vaginosis is caused by an overgrowth of a bacteria (Gardnerella vaginalis) that is normally found in the vagina. CDC Fact Sheet
| How do I get this? | The exact reasons behind the bacterial overgrowth are unknown. There are some indications that vaginosis can be caused by increased douching and with multiple sex partners. |
| What should I watch for? | Some females will have no symptoms, but most will experience at least some of the following:
What does it look
like? Male partners may have the bacteria in their urethra but have no symptoms. |
What happens if I don't get treated? |
Left untreated, the infection will spread to your uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries and into your abdominal cavity. This is known as Pelvic inflammatory disease! |
How can I prevent it? |
Use a new latex condom (rubber) with a
water-based lubricant every time you have sex. Click here for more ways you can protect your self! |
PID is an infection of the lining or walls of the uterus, the fallopian tubes, or the ovaries, and can result in long-term pelvic pain and permanent damage to the reproductive organs. According to the CDC, each year in the United States, more than 1 million women experience an episode of acute PID. More than 100,000 women become infertile each year as a result of PID, and a large proportion of the ectopic pregnancies occurring every year are due to the consequences of PID. More than 150 women die from this infection every year. The majority of females with PID are younger than 25 and almost 15% of all females will suffer from pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) at some point in their lives.
| How do I get this? | PID is caused by germs that enter the vagina and then travel through the cervix (the entrance to the uterus), into the uterus, up the fallopian tubes, and into the ovaries. It is spread sexually. Females with more than one sexual partner are at the highest risk for PID. Chlamydia and gonorrhea are the two STDs most likely to cause PID. |
| What should I watch for? | PID may cause symptoms that range
from mild to severe, but many women have no symptoms at all.
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What happens if I don't get treated? |
PID can damage the fallopian tubes so that your
eggs cannot travel to the uterus normally. A frequent result of PID is ectopic pregnancy
(pregnancy in the fallopian tube or elsewhere instead of in the body of the uterus). As it
grows, an ectopic pregnancy may rupture the fallopian tube and cause severe pain, internal
bleeding and even death. What does it look like? Untreated PID can damage your reproductive organs so that you can not have
children. You can die if the infection enters your bloodstream (septicemia). |
How can I prevent it? |
Use a new latex condom (rubber) with a
water-based lubricant every time you have sex. Click here for more ways you can protect your self! |
