Gonorrhea is becoming more difficult to treat with readily available antibiotics, and it may be just a matter of time before a case shows up in California that doesn’t respond to any of the drugs currently in use.

This week, the world’s first case of drug-resistant gonorrhea – in a sex worker in Japan – was reported during a conference on sexually transmitted disease research. And last week the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported increased rates of gonorrhea cases that, while not quite resistant to antibiotics, are requiring larger doses to treat effectively.

Gonorrhea is still relatively easy to cure, and in the United States there has yet to be a patient who wasn’t successfully treated with antibiotics. but it’s likely that a strain of gonorrhea that doesn’t respond to the current treatments will begin circulating worldwide at some point – and doctors have run out of new antibiotics to replace the old ones.

“We’re not seeing any untreatable cases in the United States, but we’re seeing proof that what we’ve been worrying about for a while has actually happened” in Japan, said Dr. Susan Philip, director of STD prevention for the San Francisco Public Health Department. “If previous patterns hold true, drug resistance should slowly move its way toward us.”

S.F. has high rate

Gonorrhea is the second most common sexually transmitted infection after chlamydia, and San Francisco has among the highest rates of disease in the state and country. The city reported nearly 2,000 cases of gonorrhea in 2010, for a rate of 253 cases per 100,000 people; statewide, the rate is roughly 70 cases per 100,000 people.

While gonorrhea cases had been declining in recent years, San Francisco reported a 10 percent increase last year. there are several possible explanations for that increase – better and faster testing of STDs, for example – but epidemiologists say drug resistance could be a factor, too.

Gonorrhea is a bacterium that typically infects the male and female reproductive tracts, the rectum or the mouth. Symptoms can include a burning sensation when urinating and a discharge from the penis or vagina. but half of women, and a small percentage of men, have no symptoms, and if the infection is in the rectum or mouth, most people won’t know it.

Untreated gonorrhea can cause pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility in women, and people infected with gonorrhea are more susceptible to contracting HIV.

Antibiotics fading

For decades, gonorrhea was treated with penicillin but, like many other bacteria, gonorrhea mutates quickly and often, and eventually strains that didn’t respond to penicillin were circulating widely around the world.

Now that antibiotic isn’t working as well as it once did. Cephalosporin is still an effective treatment for gonorrhea, but over the past decade, public health labs have found more cases that require higher doses of the antibiotic to kill the bacteria.

In California, 4.5 percent of cases needed higher doses in 2010; there were no such cases in 2000. Higher doses are usually the first sign that the bacteria is building resistance to a drug.

“We’re down to our last class of antibiotics that we use to treat gonorrhea,” said Dr. Heidi Bauer, chief of program development and evaluation in the California public health department’s STD Control Branch. “One by one we’ve had to eliminate these other classes because this bacteria is so good at resistance.”

A new state law requires that all children entering seventh through twelfth grades next year get a whooping cough booster shot before beginning school in the fall. Though the law won’t take effect until July, Mount Shasta High School principal Jennifer McKinnon is urging parents to have their children immunized now to avoid the back-to-school rush. “getting the adolescent whooping cough shot now will not only help protect your child against the ongoing threat of whooping cough but will also meet the new school requirement,” McKinnon states in a press release issued last week. for the 2011-12 school year, every student entering seventh through twelfth grades will be required to show proof of having had the Tdap immunization, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough. This includes all students in both public and private schools, according to information from the California Department of Public Health. all subsequent years, only those entering seventh grade will be required to show proof of Tdap immunization. Whooping cough often starts mild with symptoms similar to a common cold, including runny nose, sneezing, low or no fever and a mild cough, said Terri Funk, Director of Nursing at the Siskiyou County Department of Health. After one to two weeks, the cough gets worse and usually starts occurring in strong coughing fits which lead to vomiting, discoloration of the face or difficulty catching breath. This may last for six or more weeks, and between coughing spells, the person often appears to be well. In young children, coughing fits are often followed by a “whooping” sound as they try to catch their breath. the disease is particularly dangerous for infants, especially newborns under six months of age who have not received enough vaccine to protect them, Funk explained. Children as young as 10 years old are recommended to get vaccinated with Tdap to ensure that they’re completely protected, according to the California Department of Health. Even students who have already had whooping cough will still need the Tdap booster. other recommended immunizations for preteens and teenagers include vaccines against meningococcal disease (brain or blood infection), flu, HPV (human papillomavirus, a cause of cervical cancer) and any other vaccines they may have missed during childhood. McKinnon reminded parents to save proof of the Tdap immunization, because the office will need a copy of the record before they’re allowed to begin school in the fall. Where to get immunized Appointments can be made with regular healthcare providers to get a Tdap booster. the shot is also available at Siskiyou County Public Health immunization clinics. on Tuesday, Feb. 8, the Mount Shasta clinic will be open at 411 Ski Village Drive Suite C, from 9 a.m. to noon, and again on Tuesday, March 8 for the same hours. on Jan. 27, Feb. 24 and March 24, the Yreka immunization clinic will be open at 810 S. Main Street from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. there is a charge of $9 per immunization. Clinics are on a first come, first served walk-in basis. A parent must be present with all children under the age of 18 unless they have a completed a Public Health Consent Form. for more information on Siskiyou County immunization clinics, go to co.siskiyou.ca.us/phs/phs.aspx or call 841-2100. for more information about immunizations, go to getimmunizedca.org

is it possible to feel pregnancy symptoms if youve been pregnant for 6 days!? and if it is then what are the symptoms? and if its not then when does a woman start to feel them and what are they?

i know many will disagree with me, but at times i think these pregnancy systems are all in the head….with both my pregnancies i started the nausea and vomiting within a couples after i found out i was pregnant…but yeah sure, i'd say its possible….

I noticed an aversion to coffee pretty quickly, and I LOVE coffee. I've had others tell me they suddenly didn't like some food that they otherwise normally loved. And I had trouble with scents. Certain scents made me nauseous, and I can't think of any scent that made me nauseous before. Honestly, I have to say that I KNEW right away I was pregnant each time. There is no scientific reason for that or research I could do to give you proof. Trust your instinct.

Good luck, I hope that you find you perfect answer within.

I felt tired starting at about a week pregnant with my first child…it was 3 weeks later when i was fired b/c they were tired of me falling asleep at my desk that i finally went to the dr. to see what was going on, lol. but with my second child i was getting sick every morning starting at 5 days pregnant! and yes i'm sure b/c my husband and i had just gotten back into our 'intimate' lives that week….so i couldn't have been any further along!