Biology · Reproductive Health · NEET
NCERT (Reproductive Health, p.47) lists exactly eight common STIs: Gonorrhoea, Syphilis, Genital herpes, Chlamydiasis, Genital warts, Trichomoniasis, Hepatitis-B, and HIV leading to AIDS. NEET often asks you to identify which of a given list are STIs, so memorise this set.
Bacterial STIs: Gonorrhoea (Neisseria gonorrhoeae), Syphilis (Treponema pallidum), and Chlamydiasis (Chlamydia). Viral STIs: Genital herpes, Genital warts (Human Papilloma Virus), Hepatitis-B, and HIV/AIDS. Trichomoniasis is caused by a protozoan (Trichomonas). Knowing the type of pathogen also tells you if the STI is curable — most bacterial ones are curable, most viral ones are not.
Syphilis is caused by the bacterium Treponema (Treponema pallidum), and Gonorrhoea is caused by the bacterium Neisseria (Neisseria gonorrhoeae). Students often swap these two in match-the-pair questions. Trick: Treponema and syphilis both have the 'p' sound; Neisseria pairs with goNorrhoea (both have the 'n' sound).
Genital warts are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). AIDS is caused by HIV (Human Immuno-deficiency Virus), a retrovirus. Both are viral, so both are not completely curable. This exact pairing appeared in the NEET 2017 match-the-following question.
No. Trichomoniasis is caused by a protozoan parasite (Trichomonas), not a bacterium and not a virus. This is a common trap because it sits in a list with bacterial and viral STIs. NCERT still counts it among the curable STIs when detected and treated early.
Match the following sexually transmitted diseases (Column-I) with their causative agent (Column-II) and select the correct option. Column-I: (a) Gonorrhoea (b) Syphilis (c) Genital Warts (d) AIDS Column-II: (i) HIV (ii) Neisseria (iii) Treponema (iv) Human Papilloma virus
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
NEET frequently asks direct match-the-pair or 'identify the causative agent' questions from Reproductive Health. Knowing whether a pathogen is a bacterium, virus or protozoan also lets you answer 'which STIs are curable' questions, so this one table earns marks in multiple topics.
No. Among the 8 common STIs, Gonorrhoea, Syphilis and Chlamydiasis are bacterial; Genital herpes, Genital warts (HPV), Hepatitis-B and HIV/AIDS are viral; and Trichomoniasis is caused by a protozoan.
NCERT states that except for Hepatitis-B, Genital herpes and HIV infections, the other STIs are completely curable if detected early and treated properly. The three exceptions are all viral.
No. Hepatitis-B and HIV/AIDS are transmitted sexually but do not specifically affect the reproductive organs — they affect the liver and the immune system respectively. This is a favourite NEET distinction.
