Sexually transmitted infections-microbial infections, 2007 update.

Human sexual behavior required for the continuation of humankind nevertheless has its downsides, among them sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The treatment of microbial STIs is challenging but not in itself essentially very difficult. Controlling STIs, on the other hand, is like the task of Sisyphus, a king in Greek mythology who was forced forever to roll a block of stone to the top of a steep hill, only to see it roll back to the valley, where he started the toilsome task again. This is how many a venereologist must view the day's practice, supervising patients with STIs. Yes, there are newcomers, many of them very young, but there are many others, the recidivists, whom the physician and health care staff know only too well. "You don't mind seeing me again, doc. You (collectively) were so good to me last time"--as though catching a chlamydial infection 3 or 4 times, gonorrhea 20 or 30 times, and syphilis on occasion were badges of virility or part of life's natural progression. This is the pattern of STIs in 2007.