Emergency Medical Minute

Educational Pearls: Most common sexually transmitted disease (STD) in North America: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) From the emergency department patients should be connected to follow-up care and educated on vaccine series Most common non-viral STD in North America: Trichomonas Vaginalis   While men may be asymptomatic, they can transmit the disease to women who may experience irritation leading to increased likelihood of PID and contraction of other STDs and HIV Trichomonas is diagnosed via wet preparation with visualization of motile parasites  Similarly, men’s urine can be tested for visualized motile parasites  Expedite lab as parasites are motile for about one hour    PCR test is becoming more available Most common bacterial STD in North America: Chlamydia trachomatis  Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a less common bacterial STD but does have high rates of drug resistance  Empiric STD treatment includes IM Ceftriaxone and PO Doxycycline  Providers should consider adding Flagyl for Trichomonas Vag