‘Out of control’ U.S. STD situation prompts call for changes

[onthedarkside]

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Sharply rising cases of some sexually transmitted diseases — including a 26% rise in new syphilis infections reported last year — are prompting U.S. health officials to call for new prevention and treatment efforts.

 

“It is imperative that we ... work to rebuild, innovate, and expand (STD) prevention in the U.S.,” said Dr. Leandro Mena of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a speech Monday at a medical conference on sexually transmitted diseases.

 

Infections rates for some STDs, including gonorrhea and syphilis, have been rising for years. Last year the rate of syphilis cases reached its highest since 1991 and the total number of cases hit its highest since 1948. HIV cases are also on the rise, up 16% last year.

 

(more)

 

https://apnews.com/article/monkeypox-science-health-covid-epidemics-aaac64591251293f45c225d3fe963d0c

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

Giving out free condoms to anyone would help.

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Giving out free condoms to anyone would help.

 

 

A very practical and sensible idea.

 

I wonder who might object to it?!

[2009]

Jeez

 

STDs are either relatively harmless or easily treated.

 

I say "relatively" compared to the really scary lethal things like heart attack, stroke, and cancer, which seem to be inevitable with our modern unhealthy lifestyle.

 

Even diabetes is more serious than any STD, but we don't hear from them about how prevalent it is becoming. Lol. That's old news.

[placeholder]

Just now, 2009 said:

Jeez

 

STDs are either relatively harmless or easily treated.

 

I say "relatively" compared to the really scary lethal things like heart attack, stroke, and cancer, which seem to be inevitable with our modern unhealthy lifestyle.

 

Even diabetes is more serious than any STD, but we don't hear from them about how prevalent it is becoming. Lol. That's old news.

Tell that to women who come down with cervical cancer, a disease caused by herpes viruses.

Syphilis can have very mild symptoms at first that are easy to overlook. In the long run, the consequences of an infection are disastrous. As the article points out, congenitial syphilis can cause blindness, deafness, or even death.

Then there's AIDs. Treatable now, but not yet curable.

[Credo]

22 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Tell that to women who come down with cervical cancer, a disease caused by herpes viruses.

Syphilis can have very mild symptoms at first that are easy to overlook. In the long run, the consequences of an infection are disastrous. As the article points out, congenitial syphilis can cause blindness, deafness, or even death.

Then there's AIDs. Treatable now, but not yet curable.

HIV is treatable, but in the US the cost of the medication is between $3,000 - $4,000 per month.  Even with insurance -- if you have it -- the copay is enormous.   

 

[2009]

39 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Tell that to women who come down with cervical cancer, a disease caused by herpes viruses.

Syphilis can have very mild symptoms at first that are easy to overlook. In the long run, the consequences of an infection are disastrous. As the article points out, congenitial syphilis can cause blindness, deafness, or even death.

Then there's AIDs. Treatable now, but not yet curable.

It's caused by HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), not Herpes Simplex Virus, by the way.

 

HPV is unavoidable for the sexually active, even with condoms. So it can't be prevented from an STD point of view, and therefore can't be treated as an STD. Unless, you just become celibate.

 

We have a really good vaccine program for that anyway. Would be nice if males would get this vaccine too, btw.

 

 

Syphilis testing and treatment are widely available, cheap, and effective. It's really not a concern if you get tested somewhat regularly.

 

Pregnant women get a Syphilis test routinely to prevent congenital infection.

 

Yes HIV exists, but is particularly rare in the major community (heterosexuals). If you are in a high risk minority group (men who have sex with men) you need to be vigilant.

 

In any case, your outcome of having HIV and being on treatment is still far better than diabetes even. And it ain't nothing compared to heart attack, stroke, and cancer.

 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by 2009

[2009]

38 minutes ago, Credo said:

HIV is treatable, but in the US the cost of the medication is between $3,000 - $4,000 per month.  Even with insurance -- if you have it -- the copay is enormous.   

 

Yeah, I mean that's just the US healthcare system which in general I think is ridiculously shocking regarding cost.

[placeholder]

1 hour ago, 2009 said:

It's caused by HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), not Herpes Simplex Virus, by the way.

 

HPV is unavoidable for the sexually active, even with condoms. So it can't be prevented from an STD point of view, and therefore can't be treated as an STD. Unless, you just become celibate.

 

We have a really good vaccine program for that anyway. Would be nice if males would get this vaccine too, btw.

 

 

Syphilis testing and treatment are widely available, cheap, and effective. It's really not a concern if you get tested somewhat regularly.

 

Pregnant women get a Syphilis test routinely to prevent congenital infection.

 

Yes HIV exists, but is particularly rare in the major community (heterosexuals). If you are in a high risk minority group (men who have sex with men) you need to be vigilant.

 

In any case, your outcome of having HIV and being on treatment is still far better than diabetes even. And it ain't nothing compared to heart attack, stroke, and cancer.

 

 

 

Thanks for the corrections. But condoms do lower the odds of being infected with HPV, Though not nearly as much as for bacterially transmitted disease. Also it does seem that a woman infected with both HPV and Herpes runs a higher risk for cancer. But I don't understand why you think vaccination against HPV s doesn't qualify to be part of a public health program against HPV's.

 

As for congenital syphilis, it's on the rise according to the article. So apparently either testing isn't foolproof, or it isn't always done. And syphilis that goes undetetected, because its symptoms can be very mild, is fully as awful as any other fatal disease.

Edited September 24, 2022 by placeholder

[2009]

27 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Thanks for the corrections. But condoms do lower the odds of being infected with HPV

Doctors consider it as being a normal part of being human and basically unavoidable; virtually everyone gets it at some point in life.

 

Condoms offer almost no protection. It was found in a study that every college female graduate would have HPV if she slept with just three partners (even if condoms were always used).

 

27 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Also it does seem that a woman infected with both HPV and Herpes runs a higher risk for cancer.

How does that work?

 

27 minutes ago, placeholder said:

As for congenital syphilis, it's on the rise according to the article. So apparently either testing isn't foolproof, or it isn't always done. And syphilis that goes undetetected, because its symptoms can be very mild, is fully as awful as any other fatal disease.

Testing is foolproof if done at the right time, unless of course she gets infected a few weeks before giving birth perhaps.

 

Aside from that, Syphilis is one of the rarest diseases on the planet (especially in heterosexuals).

 

It is even rarer than HIV, which is also exceedingly rare in heterosexuals.

 

Industrialized countries have so few cases (like a few thousand cases a year only, and most in the gay community; only a few hundred cases a year would be in heterosexuals in an entire country), it's a borderline extinct disease.

 

Maybe this is why doctors aren't more vigilant with testing pregnant women.

 

And in any case, it is fully curable at any stage with a course of antibiotics, though it could result in a surprise stroke or blindness in some cases of neurosyphilis, so I understand that it can cause disability and fatality in adults too.

 

But it ain't a top 3-5 killer in humans, jeez, you can't compare. It's a rare borderline extinct disease.

 

27 minutes ago, placeholder said:

But I don't understand why you think vaccination against HPV s doesn't qualify to be part of a public health program against HPV's.

Where did I say that? I said boys should get it too (as well as girls).

Edited September 24, 2022 by 2009

[placeholder]

3 minutes ago, 2009 said:

Doctors consider it as being a normal part of being and basically unavoidable.

 

Condoms offer almost no protection. It was found in a study that every college female graduate would have HPV if she slept with just three partners (even if condoms were always used).

 

How does that work?

 

Testing is foolproof if done at the right time, unless of course she gets infected a few weeks before giving birth.

 

Aside from that, Syphilis is one of the rarest diseases on the planet (especially in heterosexuals).

 

It is even rarer than HIV, which is also exceedingly rare in heterosexuals.

 

Industrialized countries have so few cases (like a few thousand cases a year only, and most in the gay community; only a few hundred cases a year would be in heterosexuals in an entire country), it's a borderline extinct disease. Maybe this is why doctors aren't more vigilant with testing pregnant women.

 

And in any case, it is fully curable at any stage with a course of antibiotics, though it could result in a surprise stroke or blindness in some cases of neurosyphilis, so I understand that it can cause disability and fatality in adults too.

 

But it ain't a top 3-5 killer in humans, jeez, you can't compare. It's a rare borderline extinct disease.

 

Where did I say that? I said boys should get it too (as well as girls).

I think you should read the article in its entirety and then rethink your comments about syphilis. It's sharply on the rise and while highest among gay men and the black and native american community, it's rising fastest among women. And as I pointed out, it's easy to ignore because the symptoms are often mild. 

 

As for the odds of coming down with cervical cancer being increased by co-infection of Herpes

Cervical Cancer Risk Rises If Women with HPV Also Have Herpes Infection

"Women who have human papillomavirus (HPV) infection of the cervix have a greater risk of invasive cervical cancer if they also have genital herpes, according to a pooled analysis of case-control studies.¹ Women with invasive cervical cancer were much more likely than women without cervical cancer to have HPV-infected cervical cells, but they were also nearly twice as likely to have antibodies to herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). Among all women who had HPV-infected cervical cells, women who also had antibodies to HSV-2 had more than twice the risk of squamous cell carcinoma and more than three times the risk of adenocarcinoma or adenosquamous cell carcinoma relative to women who did not have these antibodies."

https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/ipsrh/2003/06/cervical-cancer-risk-rises-if-women-hpv-also-have-herpes-infection#:~:text=Cervical Cancer Risk Rises If Women with HPV Also Have Herpes Infection,-Susan London%2C Guttmacher&text=Women who have human papillomavirus,analysis of case-control studies.

 

And here's what you wrote about HPV

"HPV is unavoidable for the sexually active, even with condoms. So it can't be prevented from an STD point of view, and therefore can't be treated as an STD. Unless, you just become celibate"

It's clearly not unavoidable and should be treated as an STP preventable by vaccination and part of a pubic health program.

[placeholder]

8 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

It's on the rise in the USA because seeing the doctor is too expensive for many people.

In Thailand you can treat it yourself for 150bht from any pharmacy. 

(Also every Thai pregnant woman and her spouse are tested free of charge)

 

Maybe you should actually make the effort to read about STDs before posting misinformation https://thoughtcatalog.com/mark-manson/2013/07/your-honest-to-god-guide-to-stds/

You think this person's post is authoritative? What I most enjoyed about it was the utter lack of reference to any scientific research. Maybe at one point the odds of contracting syphilis were so low as that it would take on average having sex with 10000 to come down with it.I believe the information on this webpage dates from 2013. As the article on which this thread is based points out, the rate has since risen dramatically)But that figure depends on the percentage of people infected with it. And it's on the rise. And of course the transmission rate is going to differ by the percentage infected among different cohorts. But even on a general basis, as the prevalence rises, so do the odds of contracting the disease. And because the disease can have symptoms that are easy to ignore, it can go untreated until it's too late. Still, I do agree with him about this:

"Living With It: Itchy. Then 15 years later you go insane and kill yourself… (no, seriously.)"

[2009]

10 minutes ago, placeholder said:

And here's what you wrote about HPV

"HPV is unavoidable for the sexually active, even with condoms. So it can't be prevented from an STD point of view, and therefore can't be treated as an STD. Unless, you just become celibate"

Actually, see below for what I wrote:

 

2 hours ago, 2009 said:

HPV is unavoidable for the sexually active, even with condoms. So it can't be prevented from an STD point of view, and therefore can't be treated as an STD. Unless, you just become celibate.

 

We have a really good vaccine program for that anyway. Would be nice if males would get this vaccine too, btw.

 

I did mention that it's being well treated by the vaccination program for girls/women.

 

I think you missed that part. Lol

[2009]

16 minutes ago, placeholder said:

I think you should read the article in its entirety and then rethink your comments about syphilis. It's sharply on the rise and while highest among gay men and the black and native american community, it's rising fastest among women. And as I pointed out, it's easy to ignore because the symptoms are often mild. 

 

As for the odds of coming down with cervical cancer being increased by co-infection of Herpes

Cervical Cancer Risk Rises If Women with HPV Also Have Herpes Infection

"Women who have human papillomavirus (HPV) infection of the cervix have a greater risk of invasive cervical cancer if they also have genital herpes, according to a pooled analysis of case-control studies.¹ Women with invasive cervical cancer were much more likely than women without cervical cancer to have HPV-infected cervical cells, but they were also nearly twice as likely to have antibodies to herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). Among all women who had HPV-infected cervical cells, women who also had antibodies to HSV-2 had more than twice the risk of squamous cell carcinoma and more than three times the risk of adenocarcinoma or adenosquamous cell carcinoma relative to women who did not have these antibodies."

https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/ipsrh/2003/06/cervical-cancer-risk-rises-if-women-hpv-also-have-herpes-infection#:~:text=Cervical Cancer Risk Rises If Women with HPV Also Have Herpes Infection,-Susan London%2C Guttmacher&text=Women who have human papillomavirus,analysis of case-control studies.

 

And here's what you wrote about HPV

"HPV is unavoidable for the sexually active, even with condoms. So it can't be prevented from an STD point of view, and therefore can't be treated as an STD. Unless, you just become celibate"

It's clearly not unavoidable and should be treated as an STP preventable by vaccination and part of a pubic health program.

That one study on the link between HPV, HSV, and cancer is quite interesting.

 

Nonetheless, like I said originally: compared to the big killers (cancer, heart attack, and stroke....even diabetes actually) STDs are mostly harmless, curable, or easily treatable, in comparison.

 

You are bringing up a lot of really small matters and trying to make them sound like massive public health issues.

 

Yes, cervical cancer is serious, but it can't be treated like an STD, and there's so many other health issues affecting the masses too.

 

Syphilis is not going to be a mass public health issue, nor HIV and the other STDs are trivial.

[2009]

25 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Still, I do agree with him about this:

"Living With It: Itchy. Then 15 years later you go insane and kill yourself

I ain't following.

 

You talking about herpes or warts? Lol.

 

There is nothing itchy about Syphilis. 

 

And most cases (70%) of untreated Syphilis never manifest tertiary symptoms. It just stays dormant.

 

The other cases will manifest tertiary symptoms, but not necessarily a neurological component (e.g. going insane).

 

25 minutes ago, placeholder said:

And because the disease can have symptoms that are easy to ignore, it can go untreated until it's too late

You keep saying this, but I think you have never seen the rash of secondary Syphilis.

 

It is pretty hard to ignore. It is usually body-wide (entire torso and back) including palms and soles and continues to become more pronounced for up to several months before disappearing on its own.

 

Not many people make it through a couple months of that without going to the doctor.

 

But Syphilis is known as the great imitator and can sometimes look like other recognizable disease, which is quite fascinating, almost like the bacteria is intelligent enough to camouflage.

 

It could certainly be misdiagnosed.

Edited September 24, 2022 by 2009

[BritManToo]

29 minutes ago, placeholder said:

But even on a general basis, as the prevalence rises, so do the odds of contracting the disease. And because the disease can have symptoms that are easy to ignore, it can go untreated until it's too late. Still, I do agree with him about this:

"Living With It: Itchy. Then 15 years later you go insane and kill yourself… (no, seriously.)"

Almost any antibiotic kills syphilis, doubt anyone in the western world could manage to keep it alive for 15 years.

I've already had 5 courses of antibiotics this year alone!

Edited September 24, 2022 by BritManToo

[xylophone]

29 minutes ago, placeholder said:

You think this person's post is authoritative? What I most enjoyed about it was the utter lack of reference to any scientific research.

I'm not sure how much store one should put on the contents of that link, especially when the author/writer describes syphilis as a virus, when it is in fact a bacteria.

[2009]

11 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Almost any antibiotic kills syphilis, doubt how anyone could manage to keep it alive for 15 years.

I've already had 5 courses of antibiotics this year alone!

 

Part of the theory why Syphilis rarely gets to the tertiary stage nowadays is due to the common use of penicillin and amoxicillin for a variety of common things, like throat infections, ear infections etc. etc.

 

Also doxycycline, as a common antimalarial.

 

The gold standard treatment is penicillin injection and for those allergic to that, then doxycycline is used at second line treatment.

 

But amoxicillin is also highly effective and it is probably the most commonly prescribed antibiotic in the world of the last few decades and actually stronger than traditional penicillin capsules.

 

Syphilis has, however, developed resistance to azithromycin in some parts of the word, probably due to it being over used as part of a preventative "catch all" STD cocktail.

 

 

 

 

11 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

 

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by 2009

[placeholder]

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Almost any antibiotic kills syphilis, doubt anyone in the western world could manage to keep it alive for 15 years.

I've already had 5 courses of antibiotics this year alone!

So there's no such thing as tertiary syphilis? Believe it or not, the bacteria aren't nearly as fragile as you might think. In the absence of treatment they don't die off. The external symptoms vanish and the bacteria attack, among other things, the nervous system. And people, particularly women, often don't even realize that they have it.

[onthedarkside]

A post linking to a conspiracy-pseudoscience website has been removed.

 

[placeholder]

19 hours ago, 2009 said:

Yes, cervical cancer is serious, but it can't be treated like an STD, and there's so many other health issues affecting the masses too.

This is obviously disingenuous. The main cause of cervical cancer is a viral infection that is an STD.

[placeholder]

19 hours ago, 2009 said:

Syphilis is not going to be a mass public health issue, nor HIV and the other STDs are trivial.

 

From the article:

"While the rate for women is lower than it is for men, officials noted that it’s has been rising more dramatically — up about 50% last year.

That ties to another problem — the rise in congenital syphilis, in which infected moms pass the disease on to their babies, potentially leading to death of the child or health problems like deafness and blindness. Annual congenital syphilis cases numbered only about 300 a decade ago; they surged to nearly 2,700 last year. Of last year’s tally, 211 were stillbirths or infant deaths, Mena said."