Category Archives: Sexual Health

Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea Arrives in North America

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This is a story to all sexually active folks out there to take notice of.

GonGonorrhea resistant to antibiotics has been reported for some time. What you should be concerned about is that it has now arrived in North America:

In a study released Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a group of scientists led by Vanessa Allen of Public Health Ontario, found that 6.7 percent of patients with gonorrhea at a Toronto clinic still had the disease after a round of cephalosporins, the last effective oral antibiotic used to treat the disease. Of 133 patients who returned for a “test of cure” visit, nine remained gonorrhea-positive. This is the first time cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea has been found in humans in North America.

“These are the clinical cases we’ve been waiting for,” Allen says. “This is the translation of the lab information into what the clinical consequence is.”

The report:

In an accompanying editorial, Robert D. Kirkcaldy, M.D., M.P.H., of the Division of STD Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues write that the findings of this study, of documented cephalosporin treatment failures in North America, although expected, “its arrival is deeply troubling; clinicians now face the emergence of cephalosporin-resistant N gonorrhoeae without any well-studied, effective backup treatment options.”

“New antibiotics for treating gonococcal infections are needed. A clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases examining novel combinations of existing drugs just completed enrollment, and a small study of a new oral agent is ongoing. But the antibiotic pipeline is running dry: continued investment in antibiotic development is critical. Meanwhile, the gonococcus has continued to develop the capability to defeat each new antibiotic used. The threat of drug-resistant gonorrhea is increasing and has reached North America. Clinicians, drug developers, and public health professionals must act now.”

UPDATE: A better article from NPR notes that the gonorrhea can be eventually cured at this stage:

…even in the Canadian study, all patients eventually recovered when they were given larger doses of cefixime or a related antibiotic. Nevertheless, there have been worrying signs of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea in the U.S.

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com

HIV Testing Will Now Be Covered Under Obamacare

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The experts on the U.S. Preventative Task Force, a government-backed panel of scientists and medical professionals, are now recommending that every American between the ages of 15 and 65 be tested for HIV. Since the Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover the preventative services that are recommended by the task force, regular HIV testing will now be covered under Obamacare as a routine part of a check-up.

Dr. Carlos Del Rio, an expert in AIDS research in Atlanta, told ABC News that the task force’s announcement is “very exciting” because it will help ensure that her patients are routinely screened for HIV, just as they are already tested for their blood pressure or cholesterol levels:

“People are terrible at knowing their own risk,” said Del Rio, adding that people may be unaware of the HIV status of their sexual partners. “And doctors are terrible at asking them about risk. It can be difficult to discuss sex and drugs with our patients.”

The task force recommendations are used by Medicare and other insurance companies to determine what laboratory tests should be covered. Other important task force recommendations included screening for breast and colon cancer, as well as high cholesterol.

“I don’t have to ask my patients if they eat hamburgers before ordering a cholesterol test,” said Del Rio. “Now I can do a routine HIV test when patients come to clinic.”

The task force first indicated they were considering updating their recommendations on HIV testing in August. Their previous guidelines on HIV screening — which hadn’t been changed since 2005 — left the decision to test for HIV up to each individual doctor, and only strongly recommended testing for the adults who were considered to be at “high risk” for contracting the virus after having multiple sexual partners. But according to researchers, since 20 percent of HIV-positive Americans are currently unaware they have the virus, regular screening could help identify more people who could benefit from early treatment.

Although gains in HIV treatment still remain somewhat stratified by race and class, Obamacare does represent an important step forward for HIV-positive individuals. Guaranteed coverage for HIV testing isn’t the only way that the health reform law will help combat the virus; Obamacare also increases resources for HIV research and prevention, helps ensure that the drugs for HIV treatment are more affordable, and prevents insurance companies from discriminating against Americans simply based on their HIV status.

Article Via thinkprogress.org

Handy HIV Tests Help More Learn Status

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Jim W. a phlebotomist at Magnet Health Center draws blood for HIV testing in San Francisco Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012. The center does testing for a variety of STDs free of charge although donations are accepted. Magnet expects to test 12,000 people for HIV in 2012. Photo: Alex Washburn / SF 

 

Incredible advances in the treatment and prognosis of HIV infections mean that a diagnosis is no longer quite as terrible as it once was – and getting tested for it is far less fraught with dread than it was a decade or two ago.

But roughly 1 in 6 San Francisco residents who are HIV-positive doesn’t know it, and nationwide, the number is even higher – 1 in 5 Americans with HIV, or about 200,000 people, is unaware of the infection.

That’s bad news for those individuals who could be taking life-saving drugs to stall their infections. It’s bad news for their communities, too, because people with untreated HIV in their blood are much more likely to spread the virus than those who have the infection under control. Continue reading →

MAP: HIV/AIDS Cases Concentrated In Southeast United States

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When the HIV epidemic began in the U.S. in 1981, the cases appeared mainly in major coastal cities, like New York and San Francisco, among gay and bisexual men and injecting drug users. And interactive maps showing current HIV cases from AIDSvu at Emory University shows the geographic path of how the disease expanded through the U.S.:

 

Cases are still concentrated in population centers, so Los Angeles, for example, has a high rate of HIV infections even though the Southwest appears to have had less impact than other regions. And as NPR points out, one of the reddest sections of the map — showing the highest rate of adults living with HIV — stretches through the Southeast:

The Southeast has been hard hit by HIV, with infections concentrated along the I-95 corridor from Washington to Florida, and in the Mississippi Delta. Eight of the 10 U.S. states with the highest rates of new HIV infection are located here. High rates of poverty factor in as well, as does the region’s low ranking on many basic health measures. Nearly 50 percent of newly diagnosed U.S. AIDS cases each year are reported in the South.

MORE

May 19 is National Hepatitis Testing Day: San Francisco AIDS Foundation Syringe Access

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May 19 is National Hepatitis Testing Day. Roughly 25% of people living with HIV are also living with Hep C (and 80% of these people are injection drug users). Did you know we offer Hep C testing through our Syringe Access program?

San Francisco AIDS Foundation has provided street-based syringe access services to injecting drug users (IDUs) since 1993.

The syringe access program currently has 11 sites a week and is one of the nation’s largest programs, providing more than 2.3 million clean syringes a year.  The program is driven by more than 80 volunteers.

Not only does the syringe access program provide safer injection supplies, it also offers community-based services such as HIV testing, drug treatment referrals and medical care.

Looking for syringe access sites?

See the schedule

Interested in volunteering?

Read more, or just go to our online registration form and tell us about yourself!

Want or need other information?

Check the Frequently Asked Questions page, call (415) 241-5100 or email us at hpp@sfaf.org.

The Stigma Project: Neutralize Stigma Associated with HIV Through Education Via Social Media and Networking

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If you’re still refusing to kiss someone merely because of their status you don’t know HIV. Saliva alone does not contain a sufficient amount of the virus. So unless both individuals have bloody gums or open sores in their mouth there is no transmission risk from playing a little tonsil hockey. Now pucker up and LIKE The Stigma Project on Facebook!

A grassroots organization that aims to lower the HIV infection rate and neutralize stigma through education via social media and networking.
Mission

The Stigma Project seeks to create an HIV neutral world, free of judgement and fear by working with both positive and negative individuals from all walks of life, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, race, or background. We aim to lower the HIV infection rate by defeating the stigma that strengthens it.

Description
It’s (Y)OURS ± We strongly encourage you to not only LIKE our page but SHARE our posts and creative materials!

In order to succeed in our mission (above) we need visibility from both sides of the spectrum. So whether your HIV-positive or HIV-negative, you should to be informed of the constantly evolving state of HIV/AIDS. We’re here to help! We ask that you join us in our attempt to defeat stigma and educate the world. Join the neutral revolution!

Check out more info  www.thestigmaproject.org

FDA Review Favors First Drug for HIV Prevention

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WASHINGTON — A pill that has long been used to treat HIV has moved one step closer to becoming the first drug approved to prevent healthy people from becoming infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that Gilead Sciences’ Truvada appears to be safe and effective for HIV prevention. It concluded that taking the pill daily could spare patients “infection with a serious and life-threatening illness that requires lifelong treatment.” Continue reading →

“Playa Case” – The Condom Holder For Your iPhone (Video)

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The Playa Case, protection for your dong and your iPhone. The latest product from the guys that brought you the Opena Case! http://openacase.com. And a friendly reminder guys, condoms have expiration dates on them, be sure to check. We love your willy as much as you do.

Public Health Campaign Promotes Safe Sex Among Young, Gay Men in Ohio

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new public health campaign in Columbus, Ohio, is attracting attention for its ads promoting sexual health among young gay men.

The “Take Care Down There” campaign billboards and print ads feature shirtless men with arrows pointing below their waistlines.

Makeda Porter, the prevention-services manager at Columbus Public Health told LGBTQ Nationthat Columbus health officials anticipate that their message — “essentially, take good care of yourself — will be perceived as straightforward without being preachy.”

According to Porter, over a period of a few months, she and her colleagues met with several focus groups, concentrating on young men in general and young black men in particular.

In a report published last August by the Centers for Disease Control, the annual number of new HIV infections in the United States was at approximately 50,000 new infections each year between 2006 and 2009.

The CDC’s first multi-year estimates from its national HIV incidence surveillance find that overall, the annual number of new HIV infections in the United States was relatively stable at approximately 50,000 new infections each year between 2006 and 2009.

However, HIV infections increased among young men who have sex with men (MSM) between 2006 and 2009, driven by alarming increases among young, black MSM – the only sub-population to experience a sustained increase during the time period. MORE

Gay Men’s Support Group to Discuss Erectile Dysfunction :: STUDIO CITY, CA

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STUDIO CITY, Calif. — Gay men with erectile dysfunction (ED) will meet Saturday, March 10, in Southern California to talk about their common experiences and find ways to connect around impotence.

Gay men have long faced homophobia when seeking care for problems common to both gay and straight men. Many gay-focused national nonprofits have long histories of helping gay men with diseases such as prostate cancer and HIV/AIDS. Now, for the first time, gay men will be meeting to discuss ED among men who enjoy sex with men.

“Gay men experience health issues from their unique perspective, but, health care professionals continue to ignore this, causing needless harm to thousands upon thousands of gay men who experience erectile dysfunction,” said Darryl Mitteldorf, LCSW, executive director of the national men’s cancer survivor nonprofit organization, Malecare Cancer Support, which is involved in the meeting.

“Malecare wants all gay men to find the help they need, from men who care about them and we are proud that one of our support group leaders, Dennis Bogorad, has developed a supportive meeting focused on erectile dysfunction,” Mitteldorf said.

This social gathering will offer single gay men with erectile dysfunction a chance to meet other gay men with erectile dysfunction. It will be a chance for men to mix and mingle in a no stress environment, share experiences, make new friends or maybe meet the love of their life.

“This is one silent sexual issue both gay and straight men share in common,” said Bogorad, a film producer who volunteers as leader of the gay men with prostate cancer support group that is co-sponsored by Malecare Cancer Support and the Cancer Support Community at the Benjamin Center in Los Angeles.

Gay men are best supported by each other, in a gay friendly atmosphere, organizers said.

Erectile dysfunction may be caused by many different diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, HIV, antidepressants, prostate issues, physical injury, aging and more.

Although the cause may vary, the life changes resulting from ED can challenge the quality of life for many gay men. Unfortunately, caregivers, medical professionals and advertisements present treatment options and social remedies almost always from a heterosexual point of view. Success with this first gay men and erectile dysfunction event will likely lead to similar events throughout the United States.

If you’d like to attend, please send an email to dennis@malecare.org.

About Malecare Cancer Support

Founded in 1998, Malecare Cancer Support is the national men’s cancer survivor support and advocacy national nonprofit organization. Malecare facilitates in-person and online cancer survivor support groups and develops men’s health awareness and advocacy campaigns. It currently manages the largest global prostate cancer support network online. VIA