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Hi from Slovenia, asking a favor
🕑 Added 2018-12-03 22:17:27 +0000 UTC I'm at a hotel that looks over Lake Bled in Slovenia. I've been traveling through beautiful countrysides and eating amazing food for a week. The tour group is full of strong relationships and the guide is excellent.How is this my life? Answer: a really great deal on travelzoo.com and a lot of hard work supported by you.
It has been a great time away from home but I'm not away from work. When I'm not climbing stone walls from the 1500s, studying Balkin culture, sleeping, or eating, I've been enjoying my ability to work here. Last night I finished the first draft of my TEDx Talk at Oxford and today it's been all about the latest research on STIs.
I decided somewhere in the process of crossing the border from Croatia to Slovenia that it would be cool to compare each of the STIs to a villain. Then I realized that my knowledge of villains is pretty limited and it's hard to access what I do know with a saturated tour brain. If you'd be so kind, please help me match each STI to an appropriate villain (Disney, Marvel, DC or otherwise). I'll put a little description of each to help you out and I'm happy to give you credit in the video.
HIV - smart, uses the immune system to reproduce itself, so essentially turns the “avengers” into “villains.” It’s not curable at this time but it is manageable. It is passed through four body fluids: blood, seminal fluid, breast milk, and vaginal fluid. Symptoms don’t usually show up for a couple of weeks and then it can go undetectable for years without signs that it’s there. What makes it so dangerous is that it weakens the body so that other infections/villains that we’d normally be able to fend off can take us out.
Hepatitis B (and in rare cases HepC)- is inflammation of the liver caused by a virus that is spread through body fluids (often through unprotected sex). Some people get it and can clear it on their own. Other times it can make a big mess of the liver: liver damage, liver failure, liver cancer. Strange to me 1 in 10 asians living in the U.S. have had chronic HepB probably since birth.
Chancroid - this is one that shows up more often in countries with fewer resources (food, water, shelter, etc.). It’s a bacterial infection that spreads skin to skin or from infected fluid specifically around the genitals. Chancroids refer to little red bumps on the anus, penis, scrotum, labia, and or thighs that become sores or ulcers after a few days. They can make urinating and defecating uncomfortable, can cause swelling and scarring. But they’re curable with medication, sometimes surgery.
Trich - is caused by a parasite called Trichomonas vaginalis (great drag name!) being passed through genital to genital contact (mainly penis to vulva and vulva to vulva). 70% of people who have it are asymptomatic, meaning they there aren’t any signs of it but it’s still in their bodies and still able to be transmitted to others. If there are symptoms they include: itching, burning, abnormal discharge, redness, soreness, and or pain during sex. Curable.
HPV - is one of the most common STIs (almost everyone who is sexually active will have it at some point in their lives). It can be spread through skin to skin contact. There are many different strains of this virus. Some cause warts on your vulva, vagina, cervix, rectum, anus, penis and or scrotum. Other strains can lead to cancer of the cervix, penis, mouth and throat. There are three vaccines that can prevent some of these strains but not all of them and they’re really only promoted for people ages 11 to 26.
Herpes - my arch nemesis. Herpes is a viral infection most people get as children from being kissed on the mouth by an infected relative. This is usually HSV1 called oral herpes or coldsores. HSV2 is typically genital and doesn’t have a nice euphemism. Both are passed from skin to skin contact and can be asymptomatic or lead to sores and so on. The virus is clever. My understanding of it is that it used to be 1 was only oral and 2 was only genital but now they’ve mutated in order to survive. So someone with 1 can go down on a partner and that person can get HSV1 on their genitals. I should add that this virus goes in cycles. It isn’t curable but it does hide out waiting until the person is stressed, exposed to harsh environmental conditions like wind and sun, or if the site gets some acid on it from citrus or vaginal fluid -- bam, herpes!
Chlamydia - is the most commonly reported STI in the U.S. It’s passed through vaginal, anal, and oral sex. It’s bacterial so it can be easily treated with antibiotics if you know you have it! Most people don’t experience symptoms and don’t know they have it so they spread it and spread it and spread it. Having a chlamydia for long periods of time can lead to bigger problems like pelvic inflammatory disease, scarring, and infertility.
Gonorrhea - I wouldn’t call it a sidekick of Chlamydia but it’s similar. It has a lot of the same symptoms (if there are any): burning, itching, abnormal discharge and if a test comes back saying a person has chlamydia, they’re likely going to be given antibiotics to cover chlamydia and gonorrhea. The thing now though is that there’s antibiotic resistant gonorrhea!??!
Syphilis - this one has been around for a long time. It was misunderstood for a long time and people tried to treat it but ended up doing additional damage to their bodies and dying anyway. It’s a bacterial infection so it can be treated with antibiotics but that’s only if you know to seek treatment. There are multiple stages of this one. Sores, then a rash called the “copper penny rash” because the spots on the palms and soles of the feet look like tiny pennies, then nothing for a while, and the final stage is possible paralysis, loss of eyesight, loss of hearing, dementia, and death.
Scabies - itchy mites, I’ll leave it at that.
Pubic Lice - another type of parasitic infect that is all about coarse hair of the pubic region and blood.
Molluscum Contagiosum - this one can be spread through sharing towels in addition to skin to skin and sexual contact. If you get it, they’re usually tiny, harmless bumps on the skin. Usually they go away on their own but some people will ask a medical provider to remove them or give them medicine to hurry the process along.
Bacterial Vaginosis - some consider it an STI, others don’t. It’s the most common infection in vaginas but it isn’t certain if it’s transmitted from sexual contact.
