SlyfoxandVixen
Sex Fiend
Joined: Jan 21, 2006
Posts: 98
Location: Barrie, ON, Canada
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 Posted:
Aug 08, 2007 - 02:46 AM |
 
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Yikes. I hope this is not a concern in our community as swingers know to wrap the salami....
| Quote: | Gonorrhea comeback raises alarm in Montreal
Aug 07, 2007 04:30 AM
Sean Gordon
QUEBEC BUREAU CHIEF
MONTREAL–It is often branded as Canada's sexiest city, but public health officials recently issued a stark reminder that Montreal's carnal side has its perils.
According to new figures, gonorrhea is making a monster comeback in Quebec's largest city.
In Montreal, where roughly three of every four of Quebec's gonorrhea cases were reported in 2006, the numbers have shot up by 65 per cent in the last five years.
Similar trends have been noted in other major cities, but Montreal seems to be setting itself apart.
"Clearly we are seeing a major increase in high-risk sexual behaviour. ... It's quite discouraging. I think we're basically back to where we were in the early 1980s," said Dr. Réjean Thomas, founder of l'Actuel, a Montreal AIDS clinic.
Thomas said the 40 per cent hike in the number of reported cases of gonorrhea in 2006 – the province chalked up 1,299 infections – is an ominous portent.
That's because in Quebec, 30 per cent of those infected can't be treated with regular antibiotics because the gonorrhea strain has become drug-resistant, compared with 7 per cent in 2004.
Sexually transmitted disease researchers also note the correlation between the prevalence of gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis and the incidence of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
"Gonorrhea is nowhere near as serious as HIV, but it is a reflection of sorts, and I think that very soon we're going to see an explosion in the number of HIV and AIDS cases again," Thomas said.
Researchers at Quebec's Institut national de santé publique compiled the data, and noted that "the control of this infection must constitute a public health priority by the mere fact of its prevalence in certain populations and its consequences on fertility."
Gonorrhea is especially prevalent among men aged 20 to 29 and women who are between 15 and 24. In Canada, there were 9,000 reported cases of gonorrhea in 2005, with the highest per capita rates of infection in the Prairies and Nunavut.
According to a report from Toronto's Medical Officer of Health, there were 1,659 cases in the city in 2005, a slight drop from 2004.
In Vancouver, the number of gonorrhea infections in 2005 was 522.
Quebec officials also suggest that the number of cases is likely a conservative estimate of the true picture. In many cases, family doctors don't report cases and routinely prescribe treatment without sending away for lab results.
Thomas said efforts aimed at prevention and educating Quebec youths about the dangers of sexually transmitted maladies have all but stopped.
"There's also the fact that HIV/AIDS isn't an automatic death sentence any more, which means people aren't scared. Public health experts blame hedonism, cultural factors and a waning commitment to education, but Thomas also said recent changes to Quebec's school curriculum have had unintended consequences.
An overhaul of the elementary and secondary programs did away with specialized hygiene and health classes, which are now taught as part of other courses.
"Sometimes it means you end up having the math teacher give that part of the course," Thomas said. "(Last week) I had to tell a 17-year-old boy that he has HIV. He was stunned. He told me he thought it was an African disease. We have created an entire generation of people who don't know about AIDS."
Thomas added that in recent years he has treated increasingly virulent strains of gonorrhea, and that travel habits and tourism have brought diseases to Montreal that were previously unheard of.
According to l'Actuel's records, the number of syphilis cases it treats topped 400 last year, and will be more than 500 next year.
"To give some perspective, we had three cases in the entire province in 1998. And more than half the people who contract syphilis are HIV-positive," Thomas said.
But the situation isn't irretrievably bleak. Thomas just returned from a conference in Brazil, where public health officials have managed to rein in the number of AIDS cases and cut down on other sexually transmitted diseases.
"They did it with a lot less resources than we have. I think it's just a question of talking about it and putting the focus back on prevention." |
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/243790 |
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