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The worst part of any STD is the symptoms. (Well, aside from having to inform any and all future sex partners, but that is a blog post for a different time.)
The burning of gonorrhea. The sores of herpes. The slow demise of your immune system from AIDs
With that in mind, it sounds like scientists have unearthed the best STD ever. One that, 90 percent of the time, has no symptoms.
It’s called Mycoplasma genitalium, or MG for short, and British scientists researching it estimate that one percent of the nation’s population already has it.
It is now estimated that one per cent of the population aged 16-44 is infected – with many unaware as the condition rarely causes symptoms.
However the rate of infection was much higher in those who had reported more than four sexual partners in the past year – 5.2 per cent in men and 3.1 per cent in women.
But who cares, because…
Worryingly, the majority of people who tested positive for MG did not report any STI symptoms in the last month.
So then… is it bad? Short answer: maybe.
The long-term effects of MG are still unclear – but research has shown it can cause inflammation of the urethra and/or cervix, pelvic inflammatory disease and possibly female infertility.
Obviously, the concern is that people who are unaware they have it will unwittingly give it to other people, thus leaving us with a whole population that has swollen pee tubes.
And possibly no babies.
Ehhh. Whatever. Ain’t no worse than super gonorrhea.
[Via The Daily Mail]