Young People's Guide to
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
and AIDS/HIV Disease
- Index of images
- Complete list of STDs
- Short STD guide in various languages
- Reproductive anatomy Diagrams
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Message to parents
- Anatomy of the sex organs
- Physiology of the sex organs
- STDs
- How to check yourself for STDs
- AIDS
- How to prevent getting STDs and AIDS
- How to use a condom
VAGINITIS
Summary
- Infection of the vagina that usually causes a vaginal discharge. It is sometimes smelly
or irritating.
- Caused by one of many different germs such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, or yeast. Also
can be caused by other germs such as trichomonas or gardnerella.
- Found by examining the discharge under a microscope.
- Treated by the right medicine depending on the germ that caused it.
What is vaginitis?
In medical language as with other words, you can figure out what a word means by breaking it down into sections. The first part of vaginitis means vagina and the second part, itis, means inflammation. Therefore vaginitis is an inflammation of the vagina. Inflammation means that the body is responding to something and that something is often a germ. In vaginitis, there are a number of different germs that can cause this vaginal inflammation. These include germs that we already discussed such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis. There are also other germs that can cause vaginitis.
What are the symptoms of vaginitis?
One of the most common symptoms of vaginitis is an increased discharge from the vagina. A women usually has some amount of normal vaginal discharge and it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between this and an abnormal discharge. The discharge of vaginitis can be of a different color or it may have an odor. There may also be a vaginal discomfort or itching.
What germs cause vaginitis?
As mentioned above, germs that have been discussed in earlier sections of this book such as gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis can cause vaginitis. Other germs include yeast, trichomonas('trick') and gardnerella. Each one of these produces a different type of discharge. For example, gardnerella produces a discharge with a fishy smell. Yeast makes a thick, white, cottage-cheese-like discharge.
How is vaginitis diagnosed?
A doctor or health provider will take a bit of the discharge and examine it under a microscope where s/he can actually see the germs or the change from what a normal discharge should look like. Sometimes a culture will be taken too. A culture is where the laboratory tries to grow the germ in an incubator to properly identify it.
Is vaginitis a serious medical problem?
In general it is not a serious problem and it is usually easily treatable but it can be caused by germs such as gonorrhea or chlamydia which can, if untreated, progress into very harmful problems such as PID or infertility.
How is vaginitis treated?
The treatment for vaginitis depends on the germ that caused it. For example, a yeast vaginitis would be treated by a cream that is put into the vagina while a vaginitis caused by gonorrhea or trichomonas would be treated by pills taken by mouth. The health provider would treat you with the proper medicine depending on the germ that was found on examination. It is necessary to have an examination in order to find out what particular germ is causing the infection.