FIRE-EARTH ALERT: STDs Surging in WA

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) surging in Western Australia (WA)

More than 3,000 people were diagnosed with gonorrhea in the 12 months to September 2016, up from 2,170 in the previous year, reported the Health Department’s Communicable Disease Directorate.

• Cases have more than tripled in the past five years.
• WA has experienced a large increase in gonorrhea cases in women.
• Syphilis cases have risen from 139 to 308 in the 12-month period.
• WA has a population of about 2.61 million, most of whom live in Perth (2.04 million).

Details are available from:

http://www.healthywa.wa.gov.au/

 

Global Disasters/ Significant Events – December 27, 2015

Powerful storm system brings tornadoes and flooding, killing at least 8 in Dallas, Texas

Death toll from a week of severe weather in the southern United States has now climbed to at least 26, with hundreds of homes destroyed or damaged by tornadoes, and flooding.

At least 6 tornadoes touched down in Dallas, Ellis and McClain counties on Saturday, according to the reports received by the storm prediction Center.

Meanwhile, forecasters have warned a “historic blizzard” could hit Texas and Oklahoma with up to 41cm of snow.

Dangerous Weather Continues Through Sunday Across the Middle of the Country

A variety of dangerous weather conditions will continue across the middle of the country through Sunday. Blizzard conditions will stretch from the High Plains of west Texas into northwest Oklahoma and Kansas. Hazardous ice accumulations will occur in Oklahoma. Dangerous flooding will extend from north Texas to central Illinois. Thunderstorms and a few tornadoes are possible in Texas. [NWS]

UK homes evacuated after ‘unprecedented’ flooding

Police have advised hundreds of people to evacuate near the River Ouse and River Foss in York, as floods threaten thousands of properties, said a report.

Hundreds of flood alerts and warnings are in place for England, Wales and Scotland, including more than 20 severe warnings—indicating danger to life.

UK PM David Cameron has called the flooding “unprecedented” and the situation for many as “incredibly serious” in an emergency conference call, promising more troops.

Super gonorrhea ‘could become untreatable’

“Gonorrhea is at risk of becoming an untreatable disease due to the continuing emergence of antimicrobial resistance,” the UK Chief Medical Officer has warned.

The warning follows the detection of a highly drug-resistant strain of the infection in the north of England in March.

The strain can resist the antibiotic azithromycin, which is normally used alongside another drug, ceftriaxone.

The bacteria that cause gonorrhea can mutate and develop new resistance, so we cannot afford to be complacent, said a UK health official.

North of England ‘super gonorrhea’ outbreak triggers nationwide alert

‘Highly resistant’

“This azithromycin highly resistant outbreak is the first one that has triggered a national alert,”  a consultant in sexual health based in Bristol, told the BBC News website.

“If this becomes the predominant strain in the UK we’re in big trouble, so we have to be really meticulous in making sure each of these individuals has all their contacts traced and treated.”

In 2011, Japan reported a case of complete resistance to cephalosporin-class antibiotics, which included the main treatment ceftriaxone.

About 35,000 cases of gonorrhea were reported in England in 2014, an increase of almost 20% compared with the previous year. It is the second most common sexually transmitted disease in the UK after chlamydia.

Emergency declared as train carrying sulfuric acid derails in NW QLD

A freight train carrying 200,000 liters of sulfuric acid has derailed east of Julia Creek in NW Queensland, Australia.

The locomotive and all 26 carriages derailed at 10:20am about 20km east of the outback town, prompting authorities to declare an emergency and impose a two-kilometer exclusion zone around the crash site.

110 Million Americans Infected With Sexually Transmitted Diseases

More than Third of U.S. Population Have STIs

CDC’s analysis suggests that there are more than 110 million people with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) nationwide. This estimate includes both new and existing infections.

[NOTE: The estimate actually translates to about half of the sexually active population in the U.S. ]

There are about 20 million new sexually transmitted infections in the United States each year, costing the American healthcare system nearly $16 billion in direct medical costs alone: CDC Fact Sheet

Breakdown of new STIs by age group.

Source: CDC

CDC’s analyses included eight common STIs:

• Chlamydia
• Gonorrhea
• Hepatitis B virus (HBV)
• Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2)
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
• Human papillomavirus (HPV)
• Syphilis
• Trichomoniasis

“By contrast, there were 1,524,092 bachelor’s degrees awarded in the United States in the 2007-2008 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That means the total number of new STIs in 2008 outpaced the total number of new bachelor’s degrees by nearly 13 to 1, and the number of new STIs among Americans in the 15-to-24 age bracket outnumbered new bachelor’s degrees by more than 6 to 1.” Said a report.

Possibly Related Links

• Want a Mandate to Kill Life on the Planet?
• 133,000,000 Wise Monkeys

.

DISASTER CALENDAR – March 29, 2013 — 
SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,079 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,079 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History
• The countdown began on May 15, 2011 …

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

Legionella Outbreak in Scotland: 1 Dead, 16 Critical

The worst single outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Scotland kills one, leaves 16 in critical condition

At least one person has died and 16 others are in a critical condition in hospital in the worst single outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Scotland.

A further 15 suspected cases of the illness are being investigated by the health authorities in Edinburgh, reports said.

The worst legionella outbreak in the UK occurred in 2002 in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, where at least 172 people were infected and seven died from the illness. It’s believed that a contaminated cooling tower was the source of that outbreak.

Legionella bacteria.  Legionnaires’ disease  is caused by a type of bacteria called Legionella. Each year, up to 18,000 people are hospitalized with Legionnaires’ disease in the U.S.  However, many infections are not diagnosed or reported, so this number may be higher. Legionnaires’ disease can have symptoms like many other forms of pneumonia, so it can be hard to diagnose at first. Signs of the disease can include: a high fever, chills, and a cough. Some people may also suffer from muscle aches and headaches. Chest X-rays are needed to find the pneumonia caused by the bacteria, and other tests can be done on sputum (phlegm), as well as blood or urine to find evidence of the bacteria in the body. These symptoms usually begin up to 14 days after exposure to the bacteria.  Legionnaires’ disease can be very serious and can cause death in up to 30% of cases.  Source CDC.

Other Global Disasters, Significant Events

• Florida, USA.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported a 16 percent increase in tuberculosis (TB) cases in Duval County in the past year, making it the largest outbreak of TB in the U.S.
  • Most of the cases are reportedly among the homeless.
  • There were 85 cases of TB reported in Florida of which 67 were in Duval County.

• Washington, USA.  Whooping cough epidemic in the state of Washington has so far surpassed 2,000 reported cases.

• Utah and S. Dakota, USA.  Hantavirus, a rodent-borne disease has claimed at least 2 lives in the State of Utah and a thir in South Dakota.
  • “We get maybe one case a year,” Baker said Tuesday. “It’s unusual to see two fatalities so early in the summer.” Utah Department of Health epidemiologist JoDee Baker said.
  • The third victim, who died from the infection is SD was a 7-year-old girl.
  • In 2011, some 587 cases of the disease throughout the U.S. were reported to CDC, including 16 in S. Dakota.
  • The young girl’s death is the fifth in the state from hantavirus, so far this year, said the South Dakota Department of Health.

• Global.  Multi-drug resistant Neisseria gonorrhea.  The numbers of sexually transmitted infections (STIs, STDs) have climbed to about 500 million new cases globally each year.  The STIs include Gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia and trichomoniasis.
  •  Gonorrhea represents about a fifth (~ 100 million cases) of all STIs  annually.
  • A superbug strain of gonorrhea, first identified in Japan, which  is resistant to all recommended antibiotics, has spread to  many more countries around the globe, including Australia, China, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the U.K., UN WHO reported.
  • The strain is found to be resistant to cephalosporin antibiotics, the last treatment option against gonorrhoea, WHO said.
  • “There are verified treatment failures to cefixime (oral cephalosporin) treatment in Japan and Norway as well as reports from China (Hong Kong SAR) and the United Kingdom. This emergence of decreased susceptibility of N. gonorrhoeae to the ‘last line’ treatment option of cephalosporins together with AMR already shown to penicillins, sulphonamides, tetracyclines, quinolones and macrolides (including azithromycin) make N. gonorrhoeae a multidrug-resistant organism.” WHO reported.
  • “Antimicrobial resistance is caused by the unrestricted access to antimicrobials, overuse and poor quality of antibiotics, as well as natural genetic mutations within disease organisms. In addition, gonorrhoea strains tend to retain genetic resistance to previous antibiotics even after their use has been discontinued. The extent of this resistance worldwide is not known due to lack of reliable data for gonorrhoea in many countries and insufficient research”

Gonorrhea is a common sexually-transmitted disease (STD), caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae. An electron micrograph of gonorrhea bacteria.  Image courtesy http://women.webmd.com/slideshow-pelvic-pain-causes

See also:

• Superbugs Invasion Has Begun Posted on May 19, 2012
• Gonorrhea: First superbug strain found Posted on July 12, 2011
• Resurgence of C. difficile in Ontario, Canada Posted on July 4, 2011
• New superbug spreading from India Posted on August 11, 2010
• New superbug spreading from India Posted on August 11, 2010

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

Gonorrhea: First superbug strain found

“Superbug” strain of gonorrhea has been discovered by Sweden – Japan researchers

The strain is said to be resistant to all the common antibiotics

The superbug strain was discovered by a Swedish scientist Magnus Unemo, who received the samples from his colleagues in Kyoto, Japan.

The strain is said to be extremely resistant to all cephalosporin-class antibiotics—the only antibiotics still effective in treating gonorrhea.

He described the discovery as “alarming” and “predictable.”

“Since antibiotics became the standard treatment for gonorrhea in the 1940s, this bacterium has shown a remarkable capacity to develop resistance mechanisms to all drugs introduced to control it,” he said.

The fact that the new strain had been found in Japan also follows an alarming pattern, he told reporters.

“Japan has historically been the place for the first emergence and subsequent global spread of different types of resistance in gonorrhea,” he said.

In the past few years trends of gonorrhea drug resistance have emerged in Australia, China, Hong Kong and other Asian countries.

Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is a common sexually-transmitted disease (STD), caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

An electron micrograph of gonorrhea bacteria. Image courtesy http://women.webmd.com/slideshow-pelvic-pain-causes

The infection is readily transmitted when an infected person has ANY type of sex. The infection is spread by contact with the mouth, vagina, penis, or anus.

This was a newborn with gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum caused by a maternally transmitted gonococcal infection.Unless preventative measures are taken, it is estimated that gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum will develop in 28% of infants born to women with gonorrhea. It affects the corneal epithelium causing microbial keratitis, ulceration and perforation. Source: CDC/J. Pledger. Click image to enlarge

The lesion on this patient’s left hand was due to the systemic dissemination of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria. Though sexually transmitted, and involving the urogenital tract initially, a Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacterial infection can become disseminated systemically, manifesting itself as a cutaneous erythematous lesion anywhere on the body. Source: CDC/Dr. S. E. Thompson, VDCD./J. Pledger

Gonorrhea—Rates, United States, 1941–2009

Reported Gonorrhea rates in the United States, 1941–2009. Source: CDC 

Gonorrhea—Rates by State, United States and Outlying Areas, 2009

The total rate of gonorrhea for the United States and outlying areas (Guam, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands) was 97.8 per 100,000 population. Source: CDC

What is gonorrhea?

[Sourced from CDC] Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Gonorrhea is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a bacterium that can grow and multiply easily in the warm, moist areas of the reproductive tract, including the cervix (opening to the womb), uterus (womb), and fallopian tubes (egg canals) in women, and in the urethra (urine canal) in women and men. The bacterium can also grow in the mouth, throat, eyes, and anus.

Why Treat the Gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea can spread to the blood or joints. This condition can be life threatening. In addition, people with gonorrhea can more easily contract HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. HIV-infected people with gonorrhea can transmit HIV more easily to someone else than if they did not have gonorrhea.

Gonorrhea can affect the anus, eyes, mouth, genitals, or throat.

In men, gonorrhea can cause epididymitis, a painful condition of the ducts attached to the testicles that may lead to infertility if left untreated.

In women, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) can lead to serious consequences including infertility.

PID occurs when certain bacteria, such as chlamydia or gonorrhea, move upward from a woman’s vagina or cervix (opening to the uterus) into her reproductive organs.

About 750,000 women each year in the United States develop PID.

What Next?

• A major challenge to monitoring emerging antimicrobial resistance of N. gonorrhoeae is the substantial decline in capability of laboratories to perform essential gonorrhea culture techniques required for antibiotic susceptibility testing. This decline results from an increased use of newer non-culture-based laboratory technology, such as a diagnostic test called the Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT). Currently, there is no reliable technology that allows for antibiotic susceptibility testing from non-culture specimens. Increased laboratory culture capacity is needed. ~CDC

Global Scope

About 340 million new cases of STD including syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis are reported each year among the 15 to 49 age group, World Health Organization estimates.

Related Links

• Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea (ARG)
• NZ women are world’s most promiscuous