Venereal diseases, brief overview
 

Venereal diseases, or sexually-transmitted diseases (STD) as they are better known today, are a series of diseases which are transmitted through sexual contact between persons, most commonly through vaginal, oral or anal sex. Another term used by experts is “sexually transmitted infections”, but this term is less common.

Venereal diseases are an old companion and concern of mankind. As the British Empire spread throughout the world, British travelers, sailors and soldiers started bringing all sorts of diseases back to England. This is why the first VD clinic opened on January 31, 1747, at the London Dock Hospital. The biggest threats in those times were the syphilis and gonorr hea and the main purpose of the clinic was to study these diseases. They were also considered incurable at the time and doctors focused mostly on treating the symptoms.

The situation changed after the discovery of antibiotics, which made a lot of the old venereal diseases curable. Public health authorities have also launched campaigns of eradication against these diseases, which led to a decline in the number of cases. However, the ‘80s meant the advent of AIDS and genital herpes, which cannot be cured by modern medicine.

The most common VDs are Syphilis, Chancroid, Chlamydia Infection, Gonorrhea, Herpes, AIDS, Candidiasis and LGV. Sexual contact is also a means of spreading parasites such as pubic lice and scabies.

The easiest way of protecting yourself from VDs is to use condoms during sex. Although this will not help you against pubic lice, it would at least prevent the spread of infections and spare you the “pleasure” of visiting the STD ward. More so since, despite all efforts, AIDS still means death.