Question

What are sexually transmitted diseases? Name an STD which damages the immune system of the human body?

Answer 1

Hint: As from the name sexually transmitted diseases we came to know that any type of diseases that are transmitted through sexual intercourse. Some suxually transmitted diseases also damage the immune system of our body like the diseases caused by HIV virus.

Complete answer:
Sexually transmitted diseases also known as STD or venereal diseases. These are a group of diseases in which sexual contact is the most important mode of transmission. These diseases have many causative agents like bacteria, virus, fungi or parasitic. Some of the STDs have a great effect on our immune system. AIDS (Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) caused by human immune virus (HIV) which is a retrovirus is one of the sexually transmitted diseases that have a great effect on our immune system. It breaks down the body's immune system leaving the patient vulnerable to a host of life threatening opportunistic infections , neurological disorders or also malignancies. It mostly occurs in males. HIV is a RNA virus which has a unique ability to destroy T4 Helper cells. This virus is found in great concentration in body fluids like semen, CSF and blood. There are different routes of transmission of these diseases – organ transplantation, contaminated needles , sexual contact with infected partners. The incubation period of these diseases varies from a few months to 10 years.

Note: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 1.2 million Americans that are 13 years and older are living with HIV. One in four people living with AIDS in the United States in 2014 was a woman. An estimated 128,778 women have died of AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic in 1981.