Sex Superbug Could Be 'Worse Than AIDS'

[BlueGin]

Pretty shocking that half of the people infected by these superbugs actually die...AND 1 in 20 hospital patients become infected with them while in the hospital.

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An antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhea—now considered a superbug—has some analysts saying that the bacteria's effects could match those of AIDS.

"This might be a lot worse than AIDS in the short run because the bacteria is more aggressive and will affect more people quickly," said Alan Christianson, a doctor of naturopathic medicine.


Even though nearly 30 million people have died from AIDS related causes worldwide, Christianson believes the effect of the gonorrhea bacteria is more direct.

"Getting gonorrhea from this strain might put someone into septic shock and death in a matter of days," Christianson said. "This is very dangerous."

"It's an emergency situation," said William Smith, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors. "As time moves on, it's getting more hazardous."

This gonorrhea strain, HO41, was discovered in Japan two years ago in a 31-year-old female sex worker who had been screened in 2009. The bacteria has since been found in Hawaii, California and Norway.

Sex Superbug Could Be 'Worse Than AIDS'

 

[waltky]

Experimental vaccine clears AIDS from monkeys...

Researchers Say Vaccine 'Completely Clears' AIDS Virus from Monkeys
September 12, 2013 ~ An experimental HIV/AIDS vaccine appears to have completely cleared a primate form of HIV from test monkeys. The primate version of HIV, called simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV, causes AIDS in monkeys.

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University hope an HIV-form of the vaccine can soon be tested in humans. "To date, HIV infection has only been cured in a very small number of highly-publicized but unusual clinical cases in which HIV-infected individuals were treated with anti-viral medicines very early after the onset of infection or received a stem cell transplant to combat cancer,” said Louis Picker, M.D., associate director of the OHSU Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute. “This latest research suggests that certain immune responses elicited by a new vaccine may also have the ability to completely remove HIV from the body.”

To develop the vaccine, scientists used cytomegalovirus, or CMV, a common virus already carried by a large percentage of the population, and paired it with SIV. They found that a modified version of CMV engineered to express SIV proteins generates T-cells, a type of white blood cell, that are “capable of searching out and destroying SIV-infected cells.”

A scanning electron micrograph shows HIV particles infecting a human H9 T cell, colorized in blue, turqoise, and yellow.

About 50 percent of monkeys given highly pathogenic SIV after being vaccinated with this vaccine became infected with SIV, but over time eliminated all traces of SIV from the body. “Through this method we were able to teach the monkey's body to better 'prepare its defenses' to combat the disease," said Picker. “Our vaccine mobilized a T-cell response that was able to overtake the SIV invaders in 50 percent of the cases treated. Moreover, in those cases with a positive response, our testing suggests SIV was banished from the host. We are hopeful that pairing our modified CMV vector with HIV will lead to a similar result in humans.”

The Picker lab is now investigating the possible reasons why only a subset of the animals treated had a positive response in hopes that the effectiveness of the proposed vaccine can be further increased. These research results were published online today by the journal Nature. The results will also appear in a future print version of the publication.

Researchers Say Vaccine 'Completely Clears' AIDS Virus from Monkeys

 

[waltky]

Watch out for CMV...

Silent virus a rare, dangerous risk for the unborn
17 May`14 — It's a common, usually harmless virus. But in a rare, unlucky set of circumstances, it can be devastating for infants whose mothers become infected during pregnancy.

Brain damage, deafness and other birth defects are among potential problems when women inadvertently transmit the virus in the womb. Because those complications are so rare, most people have never heard of CMV — shorthand for cytomegalovirus. Infectious disease specialists, parents of affected children and, now, some legislators, are trying to spread awareness about the virus. Erica Steadman learned about CMV when her daughter Evelyn was born with a small head and probable brain damage last year. The baby is deaf and potentially faces developmental problems. "It's pretty devastating to us. I did everything I was supposed to do when I was pregnant to make sure she was healthy and I didn't know about this one thing," said Steadman, who lives in Crete, Illinois, outside Chicago. "We have to face the consequences of that."

CMV is related to germs that cause genital herpes, cold sores, and chickenpox. It spreads by exposure to body fluids from an infected person. Infections are usually silent but can also cause sore throats and fatigue. However, the virus can be serious for people with weakened immune systems, including HIV-infected patients and organ transplant recipients. It can also interfere with prenatal brain growth. The chances of getting infected while pregnant are small, and the chances of passing along the virus in utero are even smaller. Of about 4 million annual U.S. births, about 30,000 babies — less than 1 percent — are born with a CMV infection. About 5,000 of those babies will have CMV-related permanent problems.

The first law in the nation mandating a CMV awareness campaign took effect last July in Utah. It requires urine or saliva tests in newborns who fail already required hearing tests. Studies suggest early treatment with anti-viral medicine may limit hearing loss and may benefit the child's development, too. Lawmakers in Illinois and Connecticut introduced similar measures this year. These efforts signal "a very exciting potential shift" in thinking about congenital CMV, said Dr. Gail Demmler-Harrison, a CMV specialist at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. She's involved in trying to get similar legislation drafted in Texas. Evidence indicates doctors don't often mention CMV to pregnant patients; that gap led to Utah's law. It was sponsored by state Rep. Ronda Menlove, whose 3-year-old granddaughter has CMV-caused deafness. The law has led to a new state health department Web page and pamphlets for doctors' offices.

About 50 Utah newborns have had CMV tests so far; nine tested positive, said Stephanie McVicar, director of newborn hearing screening for Utah's health department. Farah Armstrong of Katy, Texas, joined advocates for Connecticut's proposed law after her 2-week-old daughter Maddie died from severe CMV complications in February. "This is something that no mother should ever have to face," Armstrong wrote in testimony supporting that measure, which didn't get approved before the legislative session ended this month.

More Silent virus a rare, dangerous risk for the unborn

 

[coldpizza]

All people should use condoms even for BJ

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Pretty shocking that half of the people infected by these superbugs actually die...AND 1 in 20 hospital patients become infected with them while in the hospital.

*****************************************************************


An antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhea—now considered a superbug—has some analysts saying that the bacteria's effects could match those of AIDS.

"This might be a lot worse than AIDS in the short run because the bacteria is more aggressive and will affect more people quickly," said Alan Christianson, a doctor of naturopathic medicine.


Even though nearly 30 million people have died from AIDS related causes worldwide, Christianson believes the effect of the gonorrhea bacteria is more direct.

"Getting gonorrhea from this strain might put someone into septic shock and death in a matter of days," Christianson said. "This is very dangerous."

"It's an emergency situation," said William Smith, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors. "As time moves on, it's getting more hazardous."

This gonorrhea strain, HO41, was discovered in Japan two years ago in a 31-year-old female sex worker who had been screened in 2009. The bacteria has since been found in Hawaii, California and Norway.

Sex Superbug Could Be 'Worse Than AIDS'

If you recall, Stallone's "Demolition Man" (1993) when his character and the female future-cop start fooling around, she's rebuffs his physical advances for the way they do it in her time, all virtually. She explains how a host of sexually-transmitted diseases were why and rattles off a bunch including many after HIV.

Point being, there's always been a latest terror to plague humankind intended to scare everyone off of having sex. But that fear only lasts so long as we're seeing now with people practising safer-sex less as the horrors of HIV and AIDS become history.

Governments only stay in power as long as people are afraid enough to give them their power. Without fear and power governments can't function. So when you hear about disease outbreaks, consider the source then ask who fear of it benefits most.

 

[Moonglow]

All people should use condoms even for BJ

Even if you give yourself the BJ?

 

[Delta4Embassy]

All people should use condoms even for BJ

If only to get used to sex with condoms, not the worst idea. But in the history of HIV, the only person to get HIV from oral sex had open sores n bloody gums providing the entry point to the virus. Why they suggest not brushing teeth prior to sex, only after. Can make our gums raw or even bleed. By and large though, it's not a major risk factor. Stomach acid actually kills the virus, so even if you swallow HIV-infected semen, assuming there's no 'to-blood' entry point inside, the virus will be killed and neutralized in the stomach.

As ever the best advice is before starting an ew sexual relationship, get tested. Some things are worth waiting a few days. And in the meantime there's fun things you can do together that have zero risk for transmission of anything. Masturbate together, each other, hugging and cuddling and intercrual sex (penis between the thighs, basically masturbation.)

Then if everyone's neg, can have sex sans condoms without that nagging worry in the back of your mind. I'll wait a few days for some bareback fun