Statement I: Early symptoms of most sexually transmitted infections are minor and include itching, fluid discharge, slight pain and swellings in the genital region.
Statement II: Infected females may often be asymptomatic and hence may remain undetected for long.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Both statements I and II are correct.
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are diseases passed on through sexual intercourse, such as gonorrhoea, syphilis, genital herpes and chlamydiasis. Most of them can be cured if they are detected early and treated properly. The difficulty is that they are often not noticed in the early stages.
Statement I: Early symptoms of most sexually transmitted infections are minor and include itching, fluid discharge, slight pain and swellings in the genital region. — True. The early signs are minor, so a person may ignore them. This, along with the social stigma attached to STIs, keeps many people from going for timely detection and treatment.
Statement II: Infected females may often be asymptomatic and hence may remain undetected for long. — True. Asymptomatic means showing no symptoms. An infected female may feel nothing, so the infection can remain undetected for long. Late treatment can lead to complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), still births and infertility.
NCERT Extract:
Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) – “… Except for hepatitis-B, genital herpes and HIV infections, other diseases are completely curable if detected early and treated properly. Early symptoms of most of these are minor and include itching, fluid discharge, slight pain, swellings, etc., in the genital region. Infected females may often be asymptomatic and hence, may remain undetected for long. Absence or less significant symptoms in the early stages of infection and the social stigma attached to the STIs, deter the infected persons from going for timely detection and proper treatment.”