HIV physician.
Why worry about PID? If you do not get it treated, it could
lead to infertility (the inability to have children) or life-threatening complications.
page 5 of 7
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Scabies
What is it? Scabies is a skin condition caused by a parasite, which
lives under the skin. It is invisible to the naked eye.
How is it transmitted? You usually contract it by coming into direct
skin contact with someone else that has the infection. However, you can
also contract it by sharing towels,
bed linen and clothes.
What are the symptoms? Severe itching between the fingers, crevices
of joints and/or the genital area. You can sometimes see tracks (reddish
lines) on the skin.
How is it treated? You treat scabies by applying a lotion from
the neck down and leaving it on for 24 hours. You can buy this over the
counter at the chemist. You will also need to wash towels, clothes and
bed linen on a hot wash, to prevent re-infection.
Why worry about scabies? It is possible to scratch so much that
you break the skin and it could become infected.
Syphilis
What is it? Syphilis is caused by the Treponema
pallidum organism. It is a sexually-
transmitted bacterial infection that is becoming increasingly
common, particularly among gay men.
What are the symptoms? Initially, syphilis causes
a painless sore, which will disappear completely in two to three weeks,
either internally or externally on the genitals or mouth. This is called
primary syphilis.
Secondary syphilis usually occurs two to four months after infection.
You may get a recurrence of symptoms including a generalised skin rash,
fever, headache, loss of appetite, patchy loss of hair or moist lumps
around the genitals or anus.
If not treated, these symptoms may disappear and then recur over the next two years, eventually progressing to the tertiary stage. This stage is very serious and can develop into
