From Khajuraho to condoms, we as a country are known for hypocrisy about ‘SEX’ in our mindset. A nation that has swung from the extremes of religious rigors to the extremes of uninhibited debauchery, STIs duck and display voluntarily. It leaves us no surprise when ongoing reports point at expanding patterns of STIs among teenagers. The reasons are their undisclosed curiosity and no sex education at schools or at home. Numerous reports point towards increasing number of child abuse reports in both rich and economically backward sections of our country.

Many people in India, consider STI as an ‘appearance from God,’ ‘an indication of developing youthfulness,’ ‘an indication of development,’ ‘the consequence of eating nettle leaves’ and ‘from sex with menstruating lady’. Not just in our country, such misleading thoughts regarding the causation of STIs are common throughout the world with shifting accentuation.

STIs are in general, more dynamic than other existing community infections. It is important to keep track of epidemiological changes in STIs especially in a densely populated country like India. A thorough understanding of the patterns of infections spread in a geographical region is important for planning its control strategies. Each year about 357 million STIs (chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and trichomoniasis) are reported worldwide. As per the warning from the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance in gonorrhea is emerging strongly while cases of untreated chlamydia and syphilis with reported antibiotic resistance are also making the news. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) is defined as resistance to at least ≥3 antimicrobial categories which are used earlier successfully. The gonococcus mutates rapidly and acquiring resistance even against new classes of antibiotics. Chlamydia is the world’s most common non-viral STI and gonorrhea is the second most common MDR infection. Gonorrhea might have existed since ages but its authentic records in India can only be found during and after the British Empire in India. It was referred to as “clap” disease before the actual cause was discovered and is caused by the obligate pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae which infect only humans. Chlamydia and syphilis are caused by Chlamydia trachomatis and Treponema palladium respectively.

Researchers in India have isolated around 124 strains of gonorrhea from Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, and Secunderabad for testing antimicrobial susceptibility. As per their results, 98% isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin, 52% to penicillin, 56% to tetracycline and 5% to azithromycin. Irrational use of antibiotics, gradual accumulation of antibiotics in the food chain, innate antimicrobial resistance and development of resistance due to mutation were major culprits for developing resistance. MDR in Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a big public health challenge.

Peoples, who have chlamydia, are more susceptible to gonorrhea and syphilis. These infections do not spread by shaking hands or toilet seats. The bacteria that cause syphilis can enter the body through a cut in the skin or through contact with a partner’s syphilis sore. It can also be passed from mother to newborn as the baby passes through the infected birth canal.

The incubation period, the time from exposure to the bacteria until symptoms develop depends on the sex of the patient, age and immune status of the infected person. In the case of gonorrhea, it is usually several hours to 4-5 days in males while in women it takes much longer and ranges from 7 to 14 days. In younger people, it proceeds rapidly, and its incubation period is also very brief. In older patients, sometimes infection is asymptomatic, progress to become chronic and eventually evident after a few months. In case the infected person was taking antibiotics for other medical ailments, its incubation period may extend further. In chlamydia, the incubation period is one to three weeks while in syphilis it is 21 days but can range from 10 to 90 days.

Infection and symptoms of chlamydia and gonorrhea are common which makes it difficult to distinguish these from each other. In comparison to men, women are around five times more prone to have asymptomatic urogenital infections. This infection can spread throughout the body, and affect joints, heart valves or other vital organs which can be deadly.

Symptoms of syphilis include 3 stages. In the primary stage of syphilis, it first appears as a painless chancre which goes away without treatment in 3-6 weeks. If it is not treated, the second stage begins as the chancre is healing or several weeks after the chancre has disappeared, when a rash may appear. The rash usually appears on the soles of the feet and palms of the hands, flat warts may be seen on the vulva. Some patients may exhibit flu-like symptoms. The rash and other symptoms may go away in a few weeks or months, but that does not mean the infection is gone. It still exists and referred to as the latent stage of its infection.

Unlike testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea, routine screening for syphilis is not recommended for women who are not pregnant. Diagnosis of these is cumbersome and time-consuming. Also, one may be tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea at a time as these two often occur together. Oral medicines and injectable antibiotics are prescribed in general to the patient and his/her partner to kill the infection and prevent its spread.

Sixty percent of all mothers today work, either part-time or full time outside their home. Moreover, statistics show that the No. 1 emotion working mothers struggle with is guilt – guilt because they are not home when the kids get home from school, guilt because their son does not like his sitter and guilt because they cannot be a room mother. “Working mothers suffer from two major ailments: guilt and role strain,” says Devika Singh, psychologist at International based in Dubai Herbal Treatment Center.

A universal mom problem

Guilt and parenting go hand in hand. Every mother experiences it, as she somehow believes if something is wrong with the children it must be her fault. In addition, because a working mother is not physically present with her kids 24 hours a day, she naturally blames herself even more when there is even the slightest of problems.

Working mothers face challenges all the time. Mixed with the responsibilities they have as concerning their children are the commitments of their careers. Devika adds, “Women who must work, may feel guilty that they do not spend sufficient time with their children and worry that their child-care arrangements are inadequate, but they find some comfort in the fact that their working will provide the best for their children.”

“Women who choose to work in order to develop their own potential and to prevent boredom or even depression, which may result if they feel forced to stay home, feel guilty that they are ‘abandoning’ their children. Professional women also feel guilty that they are not devoting themselves as thoroughly to their careers as they ought to in order to move forward. These women struggle with their anger at children who present extra, time-consuming demands.

Whatever the reasons why they work, few working mothers do not feel a constant undercurrent of guilt about the effects of their working on their children. The guilt is usually most intense for mothers of infants and preschool children,” she says.

Affects On Moms Guilt On Mental And Physical Health

“Role Strain’ is the somewhat euphemistic term for the chronic fatigue, anxiety, sense of always being behind, and near panic that working mothers so commonly feel from trying to manage their separate and often conflicting roles. Working mothers of small children who need them in the night may suffer as well from sleep deprivation, which leaves them less alert, less productive, and somewhat irritable on the job. Even those rare few who seem to manage both work and mothering without suffering stress may face periodic exhaustion, lack of private time, and neglect of exercise and appearance.”

“A crucial conflict in professional women today is between achievement and the fear of loss of love. They worry that men will be put off by their competence or their interest in their careers may present conflicts in their marriages. Most women do not realize that these conflicts may underlie their anxieties, disappointments, loss of meaning, lack of ambition, frustrations, or boredom in their working lives.”

“It is important for working women to recognize the internal obstacles that they bring to the situation. Then they will be freer to recognize and deal with external limitations that society continues to impose on women in the workplace. Most working mothers keep their guilt and role strain within tolerable limits, although some may need professional help to deal with the stress and self-criticism. Most try hard to focus on the quality of the time they spend with their children rather than its amount. Many try to compensate with special activities and material benefits they are able to shower their child with. They cope with role strain; most often by lowering their career ambitions or slowing down, at least until the children no longer need them as much, and by teaching their children earlier to be self-reliant and independent.”

Tip For Moms To Ease Their Mommy Guilt

A mother should recognize that her feelings are trying to tell her to change something and the change always requires at least a two-step process. First, you have to learn to let go of the things that are causing you problems. Sometimes it is just a matter of looking at a situation in a new light. Other times it is a matter of getting the training of handling your parenting job differently (like learning yell-free discipline techniques or meal-planning tricks). Second, you have to replace the old ways with new ones, which is not hard. Once you begin prioritizing the enjoyment of your parenting experience, you will want to create even more ways to do so. You will be modelling for your kids what it means to be a happy, balanced, well-adjusted parent, so your whole family will be better off.

Moms, View Your Career In A Positive Light

You do not have to be there every second; most children will obey and act accordingly. Even if you are not around all the time, they instinctively know when they are loved.

Set your priorities and evaluate them often. Focus only on what is truly important, not what that stereotype in your head is saying.

Do not be slack on the rules for discipline and routine give them a sense of security no matter how much they rebel and complain about it. Your children want to know that you are there if they need you.

Remember when you leave your child at day-care that nonworking parents may also use childcare help even though they are at home. If your child is having a particularly rough time with separation, it is most likely a phase that he/she is going through rather than something that she would really want to change.

Working Moms Can Benefit Their Children, Too

They encourage independence and cultivates a sense of responsibility in children. Kids of working moms are with adults who are not their parents for at least part of the day. This separation, which makes moms feel guilty, can actually breed a kind of self-reliance that improves self-esteem. Children with working moms get used to starting homework on their own; watch their siblings and help with dinner preparation.

For children, having two working parents can go a long way in shaping their understanding of men, women and families. This means boys may be more likely to have supportive attitudes toward the woman being equal in his future household. For little girls, the idea of achievement in a career outside of mothering can be stimulating, and encourage them to do the same.

Seeing a mom as a working person often confirms for children the sense that people, especially women, are multidimensional. Best of all, their feelings of pride in you doing your job well can carry over into feelings about their own self-worth and give them encouragement about their own capabilities in the future.

Many working parents see the benefit of having caregivers, who offer more opportunities for socialization and a wider range of activities for children than they could at home.

Want to write for InnoHEALTH? send us your article at  magazine@innovatiocuris.com

Read all the issues of InnoHEALTH magazine:
InnoHEALTH Volume 2 Issue 3 (July to September 2017) – https://goo.gl/MCVjd6
InnoHEALTH Volume 2 Issue 2 (April to June 2017) – https://goo.gl/Nv3eev
InnoHEALTH Volume 1 Issue 2 (October to December 2016) – https://goo.gl/4GGMJz
InnoHEALTH Volume 1 Issue 1 (July to September 2016) – https://goo.gl/iWAwN2

Connect with InnovatioCuris on: 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/innovatiocuris
Twitter: https://twitter.com/innovatiocuris
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7043791
Stay update about IC by visiting: www.innovatiocuris.com

Connect with InnoHEALTH 2017 on: 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/innohealth2017
Twitter: https://twitter.com/innhealth2017
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7043791
Stay update about the conference by visiting: www.innohealth.in