WHY BLAME THE TOILET?

"Toilet infection"
Too Bad Toilet's Can't Speak for Themselves.
Time without number have I heard about this
nonexistent disease conjured up by ladies. And
each time I flip through my mental archives on
infectious disease ... not necessarily expecting to
find anything.... but because ignorance like a
communicable disease is outright contagious, and
has this uncanny knack of making wisdom look
like folly.

Ladies! Last time I checked, there's no disease
entity called "Toilet Infection", and what you guys
refer to as Toilet Infection[whether out of
ignorance or outright crafted smartness] is
actually Pelvic Inflammatory Disease[PID], an
infection of the genital tract for which the most
important risk factor is unsafe/unprotected sexual
intercourse. So if you keep on labelling yourself as
having "Toilet Infection" when actually you are
down with the classical symptoms of PID, then
you are invariably telling us your toilet is literally
screwing you![excuse the raw language.... but oh,
the "pun" was duly calculated and intended....
Lol]

Agreed, the uniqueness of the outlay of the female
extenal genitalia which brings the vagina and
urethra in close proximity with the rectum [the
oulet for faeces and hence portal for bacterial
inequities] gives room occasionally for fecal
contamination in the setting of poor hygiene, with
little risk of ascending infection. But rarely do this
happen, and even if it does it could lead to
Urinary Tract Infection or Pelvic Infection[depen
ding on the contaminated portal] and not "Toilet
infection".

#Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
This is actually a genital infection, a Sexually
Transmitted Disease that has gone beyond the
vagina spreading further upwards to affect the
cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes and the ovaries with
serious deleterious effects on these organs. It
usually arises due to untreated or poorly treated
Gonococcal or Chlamydial infection.
□ Recognising PID
In some cases PID may be indolent and relatively
assymptomatic[Without symptoms]. It can also
present with an acute fulminant course or with
symptoms of chronicity.
The classical symptoms include the following:
□Increased or abnormal Vaginal discharge[which
maybe foul smelling or not]
■Dyspareunia[excessive pain during intercourse,
especially on deep penetration]
□Frequency and Dysuria[frequent and painful
urination]
■Pain in the Lower abdomen[tummy]
□Dysmenorrhoea[painful menstruation]
■Intermensrrual Spotting [I.e bleeding within
periods]
It can also present with the following symptoms,
especially in the acute form:
□Fever and shaking chills
■Nausea and Vomiting
□Anorexia[loss of appetite]
■Malaise[feeling of being unwell]
Etc
.
□ Causes and Risk Factors
The aetiologic risk factors predisposing to PID
includes the following:
`Unprotected sex
`Frequent sex
`Multiple sexual partners
`Vaginal douching
`Previous STIs
`Abuse of antibiotics
`HIV
`Younger age
`IUCDs
Etc
Among these, the most important risk factors are
unprotected sex and multiple sexual partners.
The implicated causative microbes are mostly
Neisseria gonorrhoea and Chlamydia trachomatis.
Other microbes that help "set the stage" for the
above mentioned "chief players" include
Gardnerrela vaginalis, Haemophilus influenzae, E
coli, Mycoplasma spp, Anaerobes .... etc
□ Complications
The complications of PID ranges from potentially
life-threatening changes, through life altering
emotional ones to relatively unserious
complications. They include:
□Infertility
■Chronic Pelvic pain
□Ectopic Pregnancy[Having a baby growing
elsewhere and not in the womb!]
■Tubo ovarian abscess
□Peritonitis
■Perihepatitis
□Reactive Arthritis
■Sepsis
Etc
□ The Good News
The good news is that with prompt diagnosis and
appropriate timely course of antibiotic therapy,
PID is a fairly curable disease and so is most of
the complications. But like they say, a stich in
time saves nine . Also "prevention is better than
cure"
.
□ Preventive Measures
The preventive measures for PID is basically the
same for all STIs and can be summarised with
the acronym ABCD.
□ A- Abstinence
Hehehe, I haven't come here to preach .... so I
will save that for the churches. But abstinence is
a sure and effective way of staying clear of PID ...
unless your toilet is "screwing" you.
# TongueOut
□ B- Be faithful.
This addresses the issue of multiple sexual
partners which increases the risk of STIs in
general and by extrapolation PID. However, this is
not foolproof as the partner may be unfaithful,
and even if he is faithful, he still may have been
harbouring an STI before meeting you. Hence the
need for C
□C- Condom
The use of condom by means of forming a barrier
between the genital mucosae of both parties
during intercourse drastically reduces the risk of
STI s and by extension PID. Sexually active ladies
should have a stack of their own condoms which
they must insist the guy uses. The reason for this
is simple: these guys ain't loyal, and the guy in
question may conveniently "forget" his own and
the heat of passion may be too much for the
sense of reason to handle.
However, the use of condom is still not 100%
foolproof. Hence the need for D, which literally is
medicine after "death".
□ D- Diagnosis and Drugs.
If the above measures fails, secondary prevention
aimed at preventing progression of the disease
with it's attendant complications should be
activated. This involves prompt diagnosis and
appropriate treatment.
Note that treating an infection without eradicating
the source is like a wild goose chase. For each
STI treated, the sexual partners of the sufferer
must be traced and treated as well else the
person stands a chance of getting re infected
when he/she goes back for more.
.
□ In Conclusion
-Most ailments labelled "toilet infection" are
actually poorly treated STIs that progressed to
PID.
-Bad news is that PID is a more serious illness
than most people realise, and is saddled with a
host of complications including infertility.
-Good news however is that it is preventable, and
treatable when basic preventive measures fail. All
one needs is to go meet a doctor, get diagnosed
and the receive the appropriate course of
treatment.
.
Campaign slogan:
# Blame_them_toilets_no_more !