Safer sex and STIs

Barriers, transmission risk, testing, prevention and treatment.

• Bacterial vaginosis, thrush and trichomoniasisThree common causes of discharge and irritation that are frequently confused with each other. What each one is, how they are diagnosed, and what actually treats them.
• Barriers: condoms, internal condoms, dams and glovesHow each barrier works, how effective it is, and the mistakes that cause failure.
• Chlamydia and gonorrhoeaThe two most commonly reported bacterial STIs: how they present, how they are tested for, current treatment including drug resistance, and follow-up.
• Doxy-PEP: doxycycline after sexTaking doxycycline within 72 hours of sex cuts bacterial STI rates substantially in some groups — and not in others. What the trials found and where the uncertainty sits.
• Herpes (HSV-1 and HSV-2)Prevalence, transmission, suppression, and why the stigma exceeds the illness.
• HPV and vaccinationThe most common STI, what it causes, and the vaccine evidence.
• LubricantsTypes of lubricant, what is compatible with what, and what irritates tissue.
• Mpox and sexual contactHow mpox spreads through close contact, and what vaccination offers.
• PrEP and PEPHIV prevention medication before and after exposure, including dosing schedules.
• Sexually transmitted infections: overviewThe main STIs, how each transmits, typical symptoms, and treatment.
• STI testingWhat to test for, from where, how often, and how window periods work.
• SyphilisSyphilis is rising sharply worldwide. Its stages, why the first sore is easy to miss, testing, penicillin treatment, and congenital syphilis.
• Transmission risk by activityA comparative view of which activities carry which risks, with the numbers behind them.
• U=U: undetectable equals untransmittableThe evidence that effective HIV treatment prevents sexual transmission entirely.
• Viral hepatitis and sexual transmissionHepatitis A, B and C: how they transmit sexually, and what prevents them.