Syphilis Is Surging, and U.S. Public Health Officials Aren't Sure Why  

 It's hard to miss "SYPHILIS EXPLOSION" ads that prominently feature those capitalized words before a fiery red erupting volcano. They were plastered across BART stations in the Bay Area and billboards in Los Angeles late last year courtesy of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which says the campaign has already appeared in or is heading to Cleveland, Columbus, Baton Rouge, Brooklyn and other cities.  

 Syphilis, which can cause serious health problems if untreated, is on a troubling upswing across the United States. The rate of primary and secondary syphilis infections fell by nearly 90 percent between 1990 and 2000, but has increased most years since, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report analyzing public health data through 2013. This recent wave of syphilis is mostly a problem confronting gay men—or, to use the broader medical term, men who have sex with men. Between 2000 and 2004 alone, the CDC reports that the estimated proportion of primary and secondary syphilis infections attributable to men having sex with men rose dramatically, from 7 percent to 64 percent.  

 Nationwide, the CDC reports that primary and secondary syphilis rates increased by 10 percent between 2012 and 2013—an infection rate more than twice as high as figures from 2001. The Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Los Angles, Miami, Orlando, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego and San Francisco metro areas have some of the highest syphilis rates, according to the CDC.  
 In the San Francisco Bay area, reported cases rose from 438 in 2009 to 814 in 2013. In Washington, D.C., Dr. Raymond C. Martins, senior director of clinical education at Whitman-Walker Health,says that the clinic saw a 32 percent increase in syphilis cases among patients between 2011 and 2014. And in recent months, at least 15 cases of ocular syphilis, a serious complication of the disease that can cause blindness, have been reported in California and Washington state, according to an alert released earlier this month by the CDC. Most of these infections have occurred among HIV-positive men who have sex with men.  

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/syphilis-is-surging-and-us-public-health-officials-arent-sure-why/ar-AAb3qBf  

Meningitis Spreading Via Gay Sex: Officials  

 Health dept. urges men to get vaccinated  

 (Newser) – New York City's health department is warning men who engage in anonymous, gay sex to get vaccinated against meningitis, ABC News reports. An outbreak has already killed seven New Yorkers and sickened 22, spreading mostly through men who meet at bars, parties, or online. "I urge all men who meet these criteria—regardless of whether they identify as gay—to get vaccinated now and protect themselves from this disease before it is too late," says the city's health commissioner.  

 It's not known which websites and apps are linked to the outbreak, but more than half of infected men have HIV—which weakens the immune system and more easily leads to severe infections. Bacterial meningitis infects the membranous lining of the brain and includes symptoms like fever, vomiting, and headaches; it can lead to brain damage or death if left untreated. (Read about an outbreak that killed at least 15 people and sickened more than 200 last year.)  

http://www.newser.com/story/164951/meningitis-spreading-via-gay-sex-officials.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=united&utm_campaign=rss_3_2