STI

Week 4 Journal Entry
Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Week 4 Journal Entry
During the practicum week, I encountered a female patient who presented with symptoms of a sexually transmitted infection. Patient Y was a 24-year-old woman who came to the clinic complaining of abnormal vaginal discharge that had lasted for two weeks. The main symptoms that indicated an STD include abnormal discharge. The patient reported pain during urination and during intercourse. She also had mild pain around the genital area and in the lower abdomen. The patient had experienced these symptoms for two weeks. The patient also had symptoms of a non-STI related infection. She had a mild fever, headache, and a running nose that had persisted for two days. The symptoms were concurrent with a flu diagnosis (CDC, 2018). The patient had taken over the counter antihistamines for the flu a day before reporting to the clinic. She was on the daily combined oral contraceptive pill. She had no history of chronic illnesses and no hospitalizations. The last infection was six months ago that was diagnosed as chlamydia and treated with 1g azithromycin.
Based on the presenting complaints, we diagnosed the patient with chlamydia. Before the diagnosis, the patient had indicated that she had multiple sexual partners over the last six months, and had suspected that she contacted the infection from one of her partners. Disclosing the diagnosis was therefore easy. The condition was recurrent and the patient was familiar with the treatment regimen.

I, however, had to explain the risks of multiple sexual partners and the patient was not comfortable with reducing the number of partners. The treatment plan according to the current guidelines is oral Azithromycin 1g as a single dose (CDC, 2015). The diagnosis is likely to affect the patient’s life positively if she decides to practice safe sex and minimize the number of sexual partners. Patients with recurrent chlamydia infection should receive directly observed therapy and individualized follow up (Hosenfeld et al., 2009). We also advised the patient to join a support group and attend follow-up visits.
References
CDC. (2015, June 4). Chlamydial Infections – 2015 STD Treatment Guidelines. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/std/tg2015/chlamydia.htmCDC. (2018, September 18). Flu Symptoms & Complications | Seasonal Influenza (Flu) | CDC. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/flu/consumer/symptoms.htm
Hosenfeld, C. B., Workowski, K. A., Berman, S., Zaidi, A., Dyson, J., Mosure, D., … & Bauer, H. M. (2009). Repeat infection with Chlamydia and gonorrhea among females: a systematic review of the literature. Sexually transmitted diseases, 36(8), 478-489.