Rare Infection Spreading Among Gay Men

[Guest guest]

Atlanta, Georgia) Most gay men have never heard of Lymphogranuloma venereum, or LGV, but it is spreading in gay communities across Europe and the Centers for Disease Control warns it is heading to North America. LGV is usually associated with chlamydia but the CDC said that this new strain, showing up in men who have sex with men, is marked by gastrointestinal bleeding, inflammation of the rectum and colon, genital ulcers, swollen lymph glands, and flu-like symptoms.

Cases have been reported in The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Sweden and the UK. In The Netherlands, heath authorities have reported 92 cases of LGV in the past 12 months. The country usually sees fewer than five cases per year.

Complicating the situation is general ignorance of the disease in the medical community because it is uncommon in industrialized nations and easily misdiagnosed.

Many of those diagnosed in Europe, the CDC said, were gay men who had engaged in risky sex.Efforts to combat the disease also are complicated by the tendency of some gay and bisexual men to engage in high-risk sexual behavior. The CDC is urging doctors across the country to be prepared for an onslaught of cases of LGV. If correctly diagnosed, the disease can be cured by a three-week course of antibiotics. Untreated it could be fatal.

Dr. Stuart Berman, chief of the epidemiology and surveillance branch in the CDC's division of STD prevention said that it is only a matter of time before LGV enters the US.

365Gay.com 2004

[Guest guest]

Here is another story about this:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/10/29/sex.infection.reut/index.html

> Atlanta, Georgia) Most gay men have never heard of Lymphogranuloma

venereum,

> or LGV, but it is spreading in gay communities across Europe and

the Centers

> for Disease Control warns it is heading to North America.

> LGV is usually associated with chlamydia but the CDC said that

this new

> strain, showing up in men who have sex with men, is marked by

gastrointestinal

> bleeding, inflammation of the rectum and colon, genital ulcers,

swollen lymph

> glands, and flu-like symptoms.

> Cases have been reported in The Netherlands, Belgium, France,

Sweden and the

> UK. In The Netherlands, heath authorities have reported 92 cases

of LGV in

> the past 12 months. The country usually sees fewer than five cases

per year.

> Complicating the situation is general ignorance of the disease in

the

> medical community because it is uncommon in industrialized nations

and easily

> misdiagnosed.

> Many of those diagnosed in Europe, the CDC said, were gay men who

had

> engaged in risky sex.Efforts to combat the disease also are

complicated by the

> tendency of some gay and bisexual men to engage in high-risk

sexual behavior.

> The CDC is urging doctors across the country to be prepared for an

onslaught

> of cases of LGV. If correctly diagnosed, the disease can be cured

by a

> three-week course of antibiotics. Untreated it could be fatal.

> Dr. Stuart Berman, chief of the epidemiology and surveillance

branch in the

> CDC's division of STD prevention said that it is only a matter of

time before

> LGV enters the US.

> 365Gay.com 2004

[Guest guest]

Since I had been infected for two years and significant damage had been done I was prescribed 3 weeks of doxycycline treatment. The improvement was immediate and dramatic. It still required a second 3-week course of doxycycline before the doctor was satisfied that the infection had been stopped. It has been another six months of recovery since then and I'm still not quite back to normal, but I am mostly functional again. I am just so thankful that the colorectal surgeon had recognized the symptoms of LGV and I was able to avoid the surgical alternatives.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THIS WITH US! At least we can be prepared now!

VergelDirectorProgram for Wellness Restoration, PoWeRA 501 © 3 non profit national organization"Only what we are not giving can be lacking in any situation"The Course of MiraclesLinks to our web sites:www.nelsonvergel.comwww.powerusa.orgwww.facialwasting.orgwww.salvagetherapies.orgJoin our free listservers by sending a blank email to:pozhealth-subscribe fuzeonsupport-subscribe

[Guest guest]

Rare indeed!

I just recently (mostly) recovered from LGV after suffering with severe pain,

bleeding, mucous, constipation, bloating, gas, ulcers, etc., etc. for over two

years. Three GI doctors misdiagnosed my problem. I had four flexible

sigmoidoscopies and prednisone treatment. The sigmoidoscopies revealed multiple

ulcerations, all located within 20 cm of the anus. I was virtually

non-functional, not able to venture far from a bathroom for more than an hour or

so.

The last GI doctor had prepped me for the next step - resection and colostomy

bag in hopes that the infection could be cured and all the pieces could be

reassembled somewhere down the road. Anal cancer was also mentioned as a

possible cause of the symptoms. As part of the next step I was referred to a

colorectal surgeon to get his opinion on surgical options and next steps. He

spent about 30 seconds examining me before pronouncing that he was quite certain

I was suffering from LGV, which I had never heard of.

Two years ago I had external hemorrhoids and anal warts removed. Recovery was a

nightmare. The LGV must have been contracted prior to the surgery and made

itself known during the recovery from the surgery, making it difficult to

distinguish when one pain ended and another started.

At the time I realized something else was wrong I specifically requested testing

for STDs. A blood test was taken for chalmydia that came back negative. Once the

colorectal surgeon identified LGV as the likely cause he ordered a swab culture

blood test that later came back positive for chlamydia. He and my GI doctor

agreed that the blood test taken earlier was not the correct test for LGV; the

swab test was really the needed test. Since I had already been to two GI doctors

before the last one, the newest GI doctor hadn't rechecked for chlamydia. This

latest GI doctor, by the way, specializes in STDs. He had never seen a case of

LGV here in the U.S. It is mostly seen in Asia and Europe. In the documentation

I read no more than 200 cases have shown up in the U.S. in " the last few years. "

Leave it to me to be exposed to something rare. I had to have been exposed to it

in Los Angeles.

Since I had been infected for two years and significant damage had been done I

was prescribed 3 weeks of doxycycline treatment. The improvement was immediate

and dramatic. It still required a second 3-week course of doxycycline before the

doctor was satisfied that the infection had been stopped. It has been another

six months of recovery since then and I'm still not quite back to normal, but I

am mostly functional again. I am just so thankful that the colorectal surgeon

had recognized the symptoms of LGV and I was able to avoid the surgical

alternatives.

>

> From: beefymusclebud@...

> Date: 2004/10/29 Fri AM 09:18:41 PDT

> To: PoWeRTX@..., mmooney@..., pozhealth

> Subject: Rare Infection Spreading Among Gay Men

>

> Atlanta, Georgia) Most gay men have never heard of Lymphogranuloma venereum,

> or LGV, but it is spreading in gay communities across Europe and the Centers

> for Disease Control warns it is heading to North America.

hakuna matata

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

m.muaddib@...

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/1/2004 11:08:35 AM Central Standard Time, Kinderdoc writes:

Dear ,

I have also already seen cases of LGV, anal as well as penile. I have also seen multiple cases of anal chlamydia which is detected easily with a rectal culture. Thanks for bringing this to the attention of patients and physicians. Once detected it is easily treated.

Kindest regards,

Ford

Ford Kinder, MD

3661 S. Miami Ave. Suite 806

Miami, Fl 33133

VergelDirectorProgram for Wellness Restoration, PoWeRA 501 © 3 non profit national organization"Only what we are not giving can be lacking in any situation"The Course of MiraclesLinks to our web sites:www.nelsonvergel.comwww.powerusa.orgwww.facialwasting.orgwww.salvagetherapies.orgJoin our free listservers by sending a blank email to:pozhealth-subscribe fuzeonsupport-subscribe

Dear ,

I have also already seen cases of LGV, anal as well as penile. I have also seen multiple cases of anal chlamydia which is detected easily with a rectal culture. Thanks for bringing this to the attention of patients and physicians. Once detected it is easily treated.

Kindest regards,

Ford

Ford Kinder, MD

3661 S. Miami Ave. Suite 806

Miami, Fl 33133

fax