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Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhea.

Those infected with gonorrhea often show no symptoms, however, the disease can lead to serious complications, including infertility and chronic pelvic pain in women, and in men, a painful inflammation of the ducts attached to the testicles that may cause infertility.

Left untreated, according to the CDC. If the bacteria spread to the blood or joints, the condition can be life-threatening, the CDC says.

Over the last several decades, the bacteria that cause gonorrhea have developed resistance to many antibiotics used to treat the condition, including penicillin, tetracycline and fluoroquinolones.

That left just one class of drugs, called cephalosporins — which include the drugs cefixime and ceftriaxone — to be used as treatment.

But today, the CDC announced it no longer recommends cefixime, an oral medication, as a first-line treatment for gonorrhea, citing data over the last several years that show cefixime has become less effective at treating the infection.

The FDA has approved a rapid at home HIV test.

OraSure Technologies Inc. of Bethlehem PA. has produced OraQuick for over-the-counter sales.

The hope is that the at-home test will reach the 20 percent of HIV infected people who do not know that they are infected.

Taking the test will not eliminate the need to follow up with further testing.

The test has the potential to identify large numbers of previously undiagnosed HIV infections. An estimated 1.2 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV infection. About one of every five don’t know they’re infected. About 50,000 new HIV infections are diagnosed every year.
percent accurate in correctly identifying positive results, a measure known as sensitivity, clinical trials showed. That means that one false negative test result could be expected out of every 12 tests.
It was also about 99.98 percent accurate at correctly identifying negative results, a measure known as specificity. That means one false positive would be expected out of every 5,000 test results in uninfected individuals.

OraSure expects the at-home HIV test to be available starting in October at more than 30,000 retail outlets across the U.S. and online.

A Public Service Announcement for senior citizens may seem too racy for some but the message is crucial.

Rates of sexually transmitted disease have doubled in those 50-90 years old.

According to the editorial, an estimated 80 percent of 50- to 90-year-olds are sexually active. This activity has contributed to rises in cases of syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea among 45- to 64-year-olds in the U.S. and the U.K.

According to CDC estimates, there were almost 900 cases of syphilis in 45 to 64-year-olds in 2000, and in 2010, the number grew to more than 2,500. In the elderly age group, 6,700 people were diagnosed with chlamydia in 2000; by 2010? 19,000. The number of new HIV diagnoses in people over 50 has also doubled between 2000 and 2009, according to the editorial’s authors.

Modern medicine and willing partners has increased the incidence of sexual activity amount this age group.

No longer fearing pregnancy they need to be re-educated about condoms and the prevention of STD’s.

What seems like the simplest form of birth control and protection from sexually transmitted disease, condoms are actually more complicated than we thought.

“We chronically underestimate how complicated condom use can be,” University of Kentucky professor Richard Crosby, who co-authored the study, said in a statement. “It involves the use of a condom, while negotiating the condom use and sex with a partner all at the same time.”

With perfect use, condoms prevent pregnancy with 98 percent success, according to the World Health Organization. Typically, however, the rate of unintended pregnancy with condoms is around 15 percent.

With proper use, condoms offer excellent protection from disease and unwanted pregnancy.

Condoms are also a highly affordable form of protection with little to no side affects which are available to everyone.

Sexually transmitted disease among seniors is rising amid more social, sexually active lifestyles.

New research published Thursday by the British Medical Journal shows that 80% of 50 to 90 years olds are sexually active. And with that, cases of sexually transmitted diseases have more than doubled in this age group over the past 10 years

Men often avoid condoms because of issues with erectile dysfunction and older women are more vulnerable to disease physiologically because of the changes which occur as their bodies age.

Numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that incidences of syphilis and chlamydia in adults aged 45 to 64 have nearly tripled over the past decade. Cases of Gonorrhea are up as well.