In the interest of “responsible journalism” it’s my duty to inform you and I hope you’ll pass this link to friends; http://hwm.sgshopper.me/dangerous-sexually-transmissible-diseases-spreading-be-more-careful/
Dangerous Sexually Transmissible Diseases Spreading:
Be More Careful!
Untreatable gonorrhea threat rises in U.S., Canada
Tuesday Jan 8, 2013 By Julie Steenhuysen Reuters
The only remaining oral antibiotic used for gonorrhea failed to cure the infection in nearly 7 percent of patients treated at a clinic in Toronto, Canadian researchers said on Monday in the first published study of treatment-resistant gonorrhea in North America.
The study raised alarm among U.S. health officials, who have ordered doctors to stop prescribing the antibiotic known as cefixime because lab cultures showed gonorrhea was starting to develop resistance to the drug.
That left U.S. doctors with only one effective treatment for most cases of gonorrhea, an injectable antibiotic known as ceftriaxone.
CDC spokeswoman Dr. Gail Bolan, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division for Sexually Transmitted Diseases, said in a telephone interview; “We’ve been very concerned about the threat of potentially untreatable gonorrhea in the United States,” Now they’re more concerned than ever.
There have been a number of cases in Europe, but “this is the first time we’ve had such a report in the actual North American continent,” she said. “We feel it’s only a matter of time until resistance will occur in the United States.”
Foreign women should take note. If you’re living in Asia and you know some men from the US, Europe and Japan come to your country for “a sex vacation” you’ll have to be much more careful. At very least, just smile and roll a condom down over him and if he objects tell him, “It’s this or I’m leaving.”
Until now, signs of antibiotic resistance in North America have been detected mostly through lab tests, which have shown a steady increase in the amount of antibiotic cefixime - marketed by Lupin Ltd as Suprax - that was needed to kill gonorrhea.
”We had seen one case beforehand, but this is the first published report, and it’s also the first series of cases in North America,” said Dr. Vanessa Allen of Public Health Ontario in Canada, who led the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Allen and colleagues studied nearly 300 individuals with gonorrhea between May 2010 and April 2011 who were treated with cefixime at a clinic in Toronto, looking for any patients who were still infected during a follow-up visit. Of the initial 300, 133 returned for retesting. Of those, 13 were still infected, but only nine said they had not had sexual contact that might have reinfected them. That left a failure rate of 6.7 percent.
Allen said the study is a preliminary finding, but still important because it offers some confirmation that people treated with cefixime are not being cured.
It also points out a weakness of newer DNA-based tests commonly used to test for gonorrhea.
Previously, doctors would take fluid samples from patients and grow cultures of gonorrhea bacteria in lab dishes, which could then be used to identify drug resistance. More advanced DNA-based tests, such as nucleic acid amplification tests, cannot be used to test for antibiotic resistance.
”I do think reinvesting in culture-based methodologies is warranted,” Allen said, adding that doctors should consider sending patients for retesting to make sure they have been properly treated.
If left untreated, gonorrhea can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirths, severe eye infections in babies and infertility in both men and women. (More about complications further down this report.)
In the United States, there are approximately 300,000 reported cases of gonorrhea each year. But because infected people often have no symptoms, the actual number of cases is likely closer to 600,000, Bolan said.
So-called “superbug” drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea accounted for almost one in 10 cases of sexually transmitted disease in Europe in 2010, more than double the rate of the year before, health officials from the Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in June.
“Superbugs” can mutate. Many bacteria actually lie side by side and exchange genetic material making them more resistant to antibiotics. It is theoretically possible that a non-lethal superbug could become a killer. It is possible today’s dangerous STD could become a mass murdering monster.
In addition to closely monitoring for resistance, Bolan said the CDC it is working with its partners at the National Institutes of Health and pharmaceutical companies to encourage the development of new antibiotics and test new combinations of existing drugs
Gays in LA area warned after meningitis kills 33-year-old man
Friday Apr 12, 2013
Officials in West Hollywood, Calif., are warning members of the public to protect themselves against meningococcal infection, an illness caused by a bacteria or virus that can be fatal.
City Councilman John Duran held a news conference Friday afternoon alongside Chris Brown, director of health and mental health for the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, to sound an alarm. He told one of his long-time supporters – a 33-year-old gay man – had been diagnosed with meningitis two days ago, was hospitalized and fell into a coma. The man died Friday afternoon.
The man had attended an annual Palm Springs event known as the White Party, which took place over Easter weekend and draws thousands of gay men from across the country to the desert city.
”If this resident was in fact in attendance at the White Party, it raises the issue, so we want to get the word out to any gay men that were at the White Party, that if they have any of these symptoms, go see their physician immediately,” Duran said at the news conference.
Duran said he didn’t want to be alarmist, but wanted gay men and others to be on alert for signs of the disease, which can initially resemble the flu.
Dr. Maxine Liggins, area medical director for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said people who think they may have been exposed should be aware of a stiff neck, fever, headache, sometimes a rash, and generally not feeling well.
The West Hollywood case may be from a similar bacterial meningitis strain that circulated among gay men in New York City – an outbreak that infected 22 people and has killed seven people since 2010. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials said they have not confirmed a direct connection between the Los Angeles-area case and the New York City strain.
Meningococcal disease can have severe health impacts and can progress quickly from flu-like symptoms, rashes and a stiff neck, so health officials say early diagnosis and treatment are crucial. If treated quickly, the disease can often be cured with antibiotics.
When the bacteria infect the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord, it’s called meningitis. When the infection remains in the blood but doesn’t infect the brain or spinal cord, it’s called meningococcemia.
A teen was being treated at UC Irvine Medical Center for meningocococcemia. Doctors in an effort to save her life amputated her arms and legs.
The bacteria – Neisseria meningitidis – that causes the bloodstream infection afflicting 18-year-old K.D. also causes meningococcal meningitis, an inflammation of tissue around the brain and spinal cord, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Infections from the bacteria can be spread from person to person through respiratory and throat secretions and are common in close quarters – such as military barracks and college dormitories –according to the CDC website. Person-to-person contact such as kissing, sex or sharing food – opens an opportunity for the bacteria to spread.
Those who have been in close contact with a patient with meningococcal disease should be treated with antibiotics to prevent the illness from progressing, according to the CDC.
What Complications Can Gonorrhea Cause?
Gonorrhea is a common sexually transsmitted disease (STD). It is often cured with antibiotics. If you’re not treated in a timely manner, you can develop some serious long-term health problems, and infertility. This is true for both women and men.
Complications for Women
Untreated gonorrhea can cause infections of the fallopian tubes, cervix, uterus, and abdomen. This is called pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). It can permanently damage the reproductive system and make you infertile (not able to have children).
PID is treated with antibiotics. If you delay treatment, the infection can scar the fallopian tubes. This raises your risk for chronic pelvic pain and ectopic pregnancy (which generally leads to surgery, or possibly death.)
A healthy pregnancy starts when a sperm fertilizes an egg in the fallopian tube. The fertilized egg moves into the uterus within a few days. The embryo then settles into the uterine lining, where the baby grows and develops for the next 9 months or so.
In an ectopic pregnancy, the fertilized egg implants in the fallopian tube, where an embryo is unable to develop. Scarring caused by PID can block a fallopian tube, preventing the embryo’s passage to the uterus. An ectopic pregnancy will likely grow in the fallopian tube until it bursts and kills the mother. It must be handled surgically.
Complications for Men
The most common complication of gonorrhea in men is a condition called epididymitis. It causes inflammation around the tubes in the testicles that carry semen. Symptoms include pain and swelling in the testicles, and possibly fever.
Epididymitis is treated with antibiotics. Your symptoms may go away before you finish your course of antibiotics. But take all the medications your doctor prescribes to make sure the infection is completely gone. You may have lingering tenderness in the testicles. Applying ice packs and wearing an athletic supporter may help ease your symptoms.
Other Potential Complications
A gonorrhea infection can spread to other parts of your body. The bacteria can get into your bloodstream. It can also infect your joints, skin, and other organs. Symptoms for these types of infections include joint pain, swelling, fever, skin rashes, and sores. These complications are unusual, but they can occur if you ignore treatment.
If you have gonorrhea and give birth, your baby is at risk for complications, too. The baby’s eyes are especially at risk. After delivery, a nurse will usually place antibiotic ointment on a newborn’s eyes as a precaution against gonorrhea or other infections. Your baby might also develop sores on her head and infections elsewhere.
Preventing Complications
See your doctor if you think you or your partner has gonorrhea. If you do, both of you should be treated. You should also avoid all sexual activity for at least a week after you complete your treatment.
I feel inspired that I should write more about this issue and take it from the cold clinic to the true world outside, so let’s go there.
We’re in (of all places) Cebu City, The Philippines. You live there and you’ve been chatting with this man about age 28 via a singles service and Facebook and you think he might be “Mr. Right.”
Many American men think ALL the Filipinas are like the prostitutes in Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Angeles City…. and for you Americans, that’s totally wrong! The truth is, most schools in The Phils are in some way attached to the Catholic Church. Even if not officially so, the teachers were virtually raised by nuns and teachers who were raised by nuns. There’s a long, proud tradition of teaching little children to behave like old Spanish proper gentleman and ladies and it continues through all of their years and on into college. To make it even more absolute, everyone wears a uniform and they remain covered, with conservative hair and makeup styles.
So we’re back to our young woman and we’re watching in her dream.
and…. You have met this man. He’s very good looking, about 6 feet tall wearing black leather shiny shoes, suit slacks. Your hands are running over his long white sleeves. A white silk shirt, sort of flowing and loose with a big collar and three buttons opened from the neck down. He is “Huhhhh” soooo attractive you can’t believe it and now he is holding you in his arms and you’re aware he’s so close his pelvis is brushing yours. You’re beginning to lose your mind! You want him and the fear of all of this is even more exciting. Your heart is racing. He is smiling into your eyes and telling you that you’re the woman he’s been seeking most of his life.
Running your hands over his shoulders, then his back and then his chest you realize he’s about 190 pounds (86.3 kilos) and solid muscle, as strong as a Carabao. (The carabao (Filipino: kalabaw; Bisaya: karabaw) is a domestic swamp-type water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) native to the Philippines.)
He has kissed you several times and now he is holding you close while his face is beside yours.
Suddenly he lifted his chin off your shoulder and with his hands behind your head he kissed you with such a deep kiss you weren’t sure it was the kiss of a man or a demon from outer-space! His tongue slipped deep and deeper into your mouth and you felt a grain of something in the back of your throat and then it melted and was sweet; and then you really did lose your mind.
You vaguely remember going into the hotel-room’s C.R. (bathroom) in the middle of the night; with him mostly carrying you and then you woke at about 5:30 with the sun rise and he was there with you, still the sex beast with the fabulous physique. There was breakfast together and then he settled you into a taxi, paid the driver a lot more than one-hundred pesos, said something very quietly to the driver, and then the driver dropped you off at home. and…You don’t really know what happened, or when, or that lover’s full real name or where he went.
…And you haven’t heard from him in the past three weeks. He just disappeared.
Yesterday evening, around 11 PM you had a sore throat and then sore tongue and sore spots in your mouth. By morning you were asking your dentist for an emergency exam. He took one look and said, “This is beyond the scope of my practice. You need to see a medical doctor immediately.” You said you weren’t sure who. His assistant set an appointment for you. There was another somewhat painful ride with one of the other dental assistants, and you were guided up steps into the medical office.
The end of day; you’re in the hospital, the doctor is upset, the lab is working on this, there’s an antibiotic I.V. drip into your arm. Your mother is asking you the questions you don’t want to answer.
No you haven’t had your normal cycle. You kind of think he made love with you but you don’t remember. You’ve concluded you were drugged. No, you have not heard from him again. Tears are running down your face. “Mama I’m so sorry.”
Sometimes, our sins, our minor indiscretions can seem so sweet and innocent.
That’s reality and it could be life threatening. It can be that bad and it can be a lot worse. We live in a world that is so wicked, the prettier a young woman is, the more accursed she is because some wolf is going to abuse her. She’s a walking target.
There is no such thing as being “too cautious.” The more caution you display the smarter and better you are. Watch wild cats and learn from them. They know when to be very cautious.
About a third of the American population has a sexually transmissible disease and many of those people have 8 or more of them and don’t have any symptoms. They don’t know. They look healthy. They have different lovers every month. They are the devil’s children.
Please be VERY thoughtful and careful.
Forgive me for bringing this briefly to real-life mental images. Someone has to say it and I am the only one I know who can or will at a moment’s notice.
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