152 articles
Plain-English deep dives on HIV, hepatitis, HPV, syphilis and more.
Genital herpes symptoms most often show up as small blisters that break into painful sores on or around the genitals, rectum, or mouth, sometimes with flu-like fever, body aches, and swollen glands during a first outbreak.
Gonorrhea symptoms in men usually show up as a thick white, yellow, or green discharge from the penis and a burning sensation when you urinate, sometimes with swollen or painful testicles.
Yes, molluscum contagiosum can come back.
To get rid of crabs at home, apply an over-the-counter 1% permethrin lotion or a pyrethrins-with-piperonyl-butoxide mousse to the pubic hair and other affected areas, leave it on as directed, then rinse.
An intensely itchy rash usually comes down to a short list: scabies (a mite that burrows under the skin and is often sexually transmitted in adults), bed bug bites, or eczema.
Syphilis produces the same stages in men and women, but where the first sore lands differs. Men usually get a visible, painless chancre on the penis; women's chancres often sit inside the vagina or on
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) shows up as a thin white or gray discharge, a strong fish-like odor that gets worse after sex, and sometimes itching, burning, or a sting when you pee.
Yes - you can absolutely get trichomoniasis again after you've been treated and cured. Treatment clears the current infection, but it gives you no lasting immunity.
Oral herpes and genital herpes are the same family of virus showing up in different places.
Chlamydia is diagnosed with a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) - a lab method that detects the bacterium's DNA.
Early HIV symptoms show up about two to four weeks after infection in many people: fever, chills, rash, night sweats, muscle aches, sore throat, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, and mouth sores.
Molluscum contagiosum bumps are small, firm, pearly papules about 2–5 mm across - white, pink, or skin-colored - and their giveaway feature is a tiny dimple in the center.
Syphilis in pregnancy is a curable bacterial infection ( Treponema pallidum ) that can pass to the baby and cause miscarriage, stillbirth, or lifelong disability.
Molluscum contagiosum in pregnancy is considered low-risk for both you and your baby. It's a benign skin infection caused by a poxvirus, and it doesn't cross the placenta or cause birth defects.
Gonorrhea symptoms, when they show up, include burning during urination and an abnormal genital discharge - in men a white, yellow, or green penile discharge; in women painful urination, more vaginal discharge, or bleeding between periods.
Most women with gonorrhea have no symptoms at all. When symptoms do show up, the classic trio is painful or burning urination, a change in vaginal discharge, and bleeding between periods.
Most men with trichomoniasis have no symptoms at all - roughly 70% notice nothing.
Gonorrhea reinfection means catching gonorrhea again after you were already cured - not the same infection coming back.
A syphilis sore (chancre) is classically a single, painless, firm round ulcer at the site of infection, while mpox lesions are usually multiple, often painful or itchy, and frequently develop a dimpled (umbilicated) center.
Hepatitis B during pregnancy is highly manageable, and with the right steps your baby is very likely to stay infection-free. Every pregnancy is screened for the virus, and a baby born to an infected p