5.7 Sexually Transmitted Infections

Flashcards covering key terminology, bacterial pathogens, signs, symptoms, and stages of common sexually transmitted infections based on lecture notes.

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)

Infections of the reproductive tracts that are spread through sexual contact.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

A fastidious, gram negative diplomatic bacterium that grows best on chocolate agar and causes gonorrhea.

Pili

Protein filament appendages that help Neisseria gonorrhoeae cells adhere to host tissue.

Gonorrhea

A reproductive tract infection named by a second-century Roman physician, meaning 'flow of seed'.

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

A complication in females where bacteria hitchhike on sperm into the fallopian tubes, causing inflammation, abscesses, tissue damage, scarring, and swelling.

Ectopic Pregnancy

A condition when a fertilized egg implants outside of the uterus.

Treponema Palladium

A gram negative spirochete bacterium that causes syphilis and is best visualized by dark field microscopy.

Chancre

Sores that develop at the initial infection site during the primary stage of syphilis.

Primary Stage of Syphilis

The phase lasting three to six weeks characterized by chancres at the infection site and bacterial invasion of the central nervous system.

Secondary Stage of Syphilis

The phase lasting about three months characterized by a persistent infection with a disseminated rash of red or brown spots, fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches, and fatigue.

Latent Stage of Syphilis

The stage of syphilis infection where symptoms disappear and the patient becomes asymptomatic, which can last over thirty years.

Late or Tertiary Stage of Syphilis

The final stage occurring ten to thirty years after initial infection, characterized by GUMA lesions, paralysis, blindness, dementia, heart damage, organ failure, and death.

GUMA Lesions

Necrotic tissue that forms as one of the signs of the late or tertiary stage of syphilis.

Chlamydia trachomatis

A gram negative, non motile, bacillus shaped obligate parasite that causes chlamydia.

Elementary Body

An infective but dormant form of Chlamydia trachomatis with lipopolysaccharide in its membrane that causes the host cell to phagocytose the bacteria.

Reticulate Body

A non-infectious but highly metabolically active structure of Chlamydia trachomatis that replicates inside host cells.