Chancroid is caused by a bacterium called Haemophilus ducreyi

You can become infected with Chancroid through:

• Penetrative Sex
• Insertive or Receptive Anal, Oral, and Vaginal Sex.

You can also become infected through:

• Intimate Skin Contact (direct skin-to-skin touching of open sores)
• Secondary Contact (for example through your hands or a dildo).

Infected areas include:

• Mouth
• Throat
• Lips
• Tongue
• Vagina
• Penis
• Anus

Chancroid is completely curable by antibiotics.

Spreading chancroid to other parts of the body (called "auto-innoculation") is considered a complication.

This can happen with many STDs.

Contact your doctor as soon as you think you may have gotten an STD the sooner you are treated, the better your chances of recovery, and it is less likely you will get complications.

Also, have your partners checked out, and stop having sex until you get better. Otherwise, you and your partners could keep passing the disease back and forth to each other.

Having an open sore makes it easier for secondary or opportunistic infections to happen.

This is especially true for HIV, which can easily get into your body if your skin is broken.

Also, if you have HIV and an open chancroid sore, then you are more likely to transmit HIV to another person.