STD

The term STD is an abbreviation for "Sexually Transmitted Diseases". STD defines infections that are transmitted by sexual contact, thus, every sexually active person basically bears a risk of becoming infected.

If STD are in consideration, they should be diagnosed and treated immediately. The primary goal is to attend and treat the patient. Some STDs pose a serious threat to the patients as they can result in sterility, tumours or even in death. Many patients do not even know or feel that they are infected with a STD.

Secondly, it is vital to clarify whether the sexual partners of the victim are already infected or in danger of becoming infected.

During the last years, STDs have distinctly increased worldwide as well as in Germany.

Some related facts:

  • The prevalence of syphilis, a well-known STD, has doubled during the years 2001 to 2005 in Germany and stabilised on a high level (approx. 3000 cases each year). Syphilis mostly affects gay men.
  • The rate of newly HIV-infected patients in Germany that was stabile at about 2000 new cases every year from 1995 until 2002, is increasing during the last years and is now approx. 3000 cases every year. The momentary estimate is that there 70.000 people living in Germany, who are infected with HIV. Round about a quarter of that estimate (approx. 16.000) does not know about their infection. Experts estimate that these 16.000 people cause approx. half of the new infections every year.
  • Gonorrhoe that, if not attended, leads to sterility of women appears more often than in the past (> 50,000 cases every year in Germany)
  • Chlamydia infections that also result in sterility increase rapidly as well (> 300,000 cases every year in Germany)
  • Around 20% of the sexual active women are infected with HPV; every 15th. of these with a virus type that can cause cancer
  • Around 25% of the sexual active people in the industry nations are infected with the herpes simplex virus (HSV), which is the most common 

You’ll find more information on STDs in German here:

- in our STD-Leporello

- in the chapter “Syphilis” by A. Plettenberg, Book “Infectious Diseases of the Skin”, Thieme Verlag, 3rd edition 2010 more information