Syphilis Comeback Could Wipe Out Control Gains, Make Gonorrhea Resistant

"Dr. David H. Martin, professor and chief of the Section of Infectious Diseases at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, updated reporters and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases on sexually transmitted diseases in the United States on July 22, 2009 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Martin, whose presentation was titled “Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Neither Gone nor Forgotten,” revealed significant information about STDs including Chlamydia trachomatis, gonorrhea, syphilis, and a relatively new STD, Mycoplasma genitalium."

Medical News: Improvements in Teen Sexual Health Waning - in Public Health & Policy, Public Health from MedPage Today

"After decreasing for more than 20 years, gonorrhea infection rates leveled off, while syphilis rates have been increasing, CDC's Lorrie Gavin, PhD, and colleagues reported in the July 17 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

'The sexual and reproductive health of America's young persons remains an important public health concern,' the researchers said. 'Earlier progress appears to be slowing and perhaps reversing.'"

MMWR Report on Gonorrhea and Chlamydia Incidence among MSM Spurs AHF to Call for FDA Approval of Newer Testing Technologies

MMWR Report on Gonorrhea and Chlamydia Incidence among MSM Spurs AHF to Call for FDA Approval of Newer Testing Technologies: "-On the heels of the publication today of a landmark, five city US study of gonorrhea and Chlamydia infections and related testing protocols among populations of at-risk men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)—a clinical participant in the research trial component in Los Angeles—today called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to fast track approval of newer and alternative testing technologies highlighted in the study for use in the diagnosis of gonorrhea and Chlamydia infections among high-risk populations."

What Is Gonorrhea? What Causes Gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea (from Late Latin gonorrhoia where gonos means 'seed' and rhoe means 'flow') is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection that tends to attack the mucous membranes of the body. It is the second most common sexually transmitted disease in the U.S.; the first being Chlamydia. The bacteria reside in the warm and moist body cavities of both men and women and are highly contagious."