Vaginal Lesions Case Study

Vaginal lesions can be of different origins, such as herpes, syphilis, and chancroid. A diagnosis of this condition necessitates a comprehensive assessment of the patient to include family history. A focused history of the presenting illness should be performed, along with a health history, social and family history. More importantly, a thorough sexual history should be taken. The patient should be interviewed alone to provide privacy and increase her ability to provide honest answers to questions asked. The patient should be questioned about the number of sexual partners that she’s had as well as her symptoms, and whether she has practiced safe sex at all time. According to Neinstein (2008), HSV can bring about symptoms of malaise, fever, headache, myalgia, dysuria, dyspareunia, itching, burning at the site of infection; thus the patient should be asked about these signs and symptoms. HSV can be passed to babies at birth. Therefore, it would be valuable to know if there is a family history of HSV from either sides. I have interviewed patients who claimed to be virgins,

The external genitalia will be assessed for lesions and ulcers. Herpetic lesions usually appear in the form of vesicle. Due to the age of the patient, no pap-smear is indicated. However, a vaginal swab would be obtained to assess for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), particularly HSV 1 and 2. However, Neistein (2008) stated that a PCR is the preferred method of testing for a woman with vaginal lesions. A PCR for syphilis and chancroid. The patient will also be tested for other STIs such gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV. Women who test positive for HSV2 have a three-fold chance of having HIV than their non-HSV positive cohorts (Neistein, 2008). The patient and her boyfriend will be counseled about risky behaviors and how to prevent future infection by using condoms or abstain from sex. They boyfriend will be encouraged to seek medical care as