I'm always hearing about how superfluous use of antibiotics leads to them becoming ineffective owing to the ability of bacteria to mutate and become immune to the treatments.

So, in the long run, maybe this is not such a good idea.

After reading the 2 earlier posts dealing w/ STDs, I sometimes wonder if it would be easier to just get on prophylaxis.  Hypothesis: if the person(s) that is the common link or at greatest risk for BOTH contracting & exposing others (providers>hobbyist) would take prophylactic or suppressive treatment, then the rates of STDs would be lower.  For example, 1 hr before I see a provider I take a does of Valtrex to prevent getting HSV-1 or HSV-2 from the provider (since 90% of provider have HSV-1, & HSV-2 % is the real gamble).
I like DFK & BBBJ = both of these can & do give HSV-1 & 2.  Unfortunately the effect of the drug is much greater if the person w/ the HSV is taking it.  
As w/ the earlier 2 posts dealing w/ a case of oral GC from BBBJ & case of Chlamydia: a single 2 gram dose of Azithromycin kills both.  Maybe if a provider takes it weekly while on the clock, she will cure herself & also not transmit it.  Unfortunately the lovely ladies are visited by men, all of whom are not scupulous.  I sometimes marvel at their cojones (or ignorance) to place themselves in this hobby.
If one hobbys' in Eastern Europe and Asia then vaccines for Hep A, B, & C should be a must. Because rates are pretty high there.

I agree.

Thank you
2011 = 28

Please provide a citation for this assertion. Thank you.

even worse, prophyllactic antibiotics can grow the next generation of superbugs for which there is no cure.

1. Valtrex is a very limited use drug.
HSV ,Lupus,Shingles,Chicken Pox & Cold Sores

*It is used to treat the symptoms /outbreaks it is not a preventative.

"Valtrex is approved for use only by individuals with genital herpes. There is no indication that it has any effectiveness as a preventative medication, so the uninfected partner should not take it"

http://search.columbia.edu/search?num=10&filter=0&entqr=0&ud=1&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&output=xml_no_dtd&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&client=goaskalice&proxystylesheet=goaskalice&site=Go_Ask_Alice&q=Valtrex&x=23&y=10


2.Its irresponsible to someone take a prescription medication without
consulting a Dr first.



3. No MD who values his license is just going to fork over a prescription without an exam testing and
  a positive result.

20% to 25% adults have genital herpes.*

More than 80% of the adult population has oral herpes and a recent study suggests this number could be 98% among adults.*

Everyone here should be informed about the risks. If 73% to 98% of the general public has HSV-1 it is fair to assume that providers and hobbyists both are at least that high or higher rate of infection. People in the hobby are also at least as likely to carry HSV-2 as the general populace as well, which is 17.3% to 25% of us.

Some sites on HSV if you want to learn more.

http://www.stdmedicaltreatment.com/SexuallyTransmittedDiseases/herpes-simplex-type-1-symptoms-and-statistics-hsv-1/

http://www.best-herpes-treatments.com/herpes-statistics.html

http://www.cdc.gov/std/Herpes/STDFact-Herpes.htm

http://chealth.canoe.ca/channel_section_details.asp?text_id=1364&channel_id=1020&relation_id=8287

http://chealth.canoe.ca/channel_section_details.asp?text_id=1375&channel_id=1020&relation_id=71057

His idea on taking prophylactic or suppressive treatment does not work with herpes, and is a good way to breed super bugs with the bacterial STD's. He is also wrong on there being an hepatitis C vaccine. Everyone should in my opinion should get the hepatitis A&B vaccine series. Safer sex practices and regular testing are the best weapons we have against STD's.

I did not expect to get a factual reply from the OP, and your numbers are not much better. Once you weed out the sites that are trying to sell you something, you have actual CDC reported evidence.

How common is genital herpes?

Results of a nationally representative study show that genital herpes infection is common in the United States. Nationwide, 16.2%, or about one out of six, people 14 to 49 years of age have genital HSV-2 infection. Over the past decade, the percentage of Americans with genital herpes infection in the U.S. has remained stable.

Genital HSV-2 infection is more common in women (approximately one out of five women 14 to 49 years of age) than in men (about one out of nine men 14 to 49 years of age). Transmission from an infected male to his female partner is more likely than from an infected female to her male partner.
















-- Modified on 6/1/2011 9:05:48 PM

I got tested for the whole shabang and came back NEGATIVE for everything--Even HSV-1. So....suck it! Actually, I will.

When was the last time you got your junk checked?

I take prophylaxis for Herpes. Not for other STDs because I do even BJs covered. However I did speak to some experts(Std experts and not regular Mds) about taking prophylaxis for herpes and found this out:

Meds such as Acylovir and Valtrex are basically ineffective against Herpes in the main form. So they say that taking them does not prevent getting infected. The drug is activated when the virus starts replicating. Having said that , they also said that theoretically latent infection can be prevented if the drug is in your system before exposure to virus as the virus commits suicide when it starts replicating. In fact Animal studies have shown that Acylovir prevents infection when the animals were given the meds 1-2 hrs before the inoculation.

However taking the meds after exposure is ineffective, even if you take it within 1 hr of exposure.

Coming to resistance of Meds against the virus: It is not going to happen as the drug is inactive unless there is active replication of virus. Also the drug is extremely safe with little if any side effects. Even pregnant women take it to suppress activity of herpes for months together.

Now antibiotics for bacterial infection( such as chlamydia, Gonorrhea, NGU etc) is a different story and I would not recommend( neither do the experts recommend) them because of high chances of resistance

So if you want to take acylovir or valtrex, take atleast 1 dose 1 hr before and 1 dose 1-2 hrs later. It is not going to harm you even if it won't work.

Hep-B vaccine is a must for everyone whether or not you Hobby.

Hep-A vaccine is needed if you participate in Rimming or have Sex with other Men/TS

There is no vaccine for Hep-C.  Hep-C is rarely if ever transmitted sexually. In fact there was a study done where they followed 1000 couples for 5 yrs where 1 partner had Hep-C and they practiced in unprotected sex for 5 yrs. At the end of 5 yrs, only 2 were positive for Hep-C and they had other risk factors....

Now, I am a regular MD (not an STD expert), so pretty sure about the above info.

If any drug company could PROVE that their drug was an effective prophylactic, it would be on every billboard, TV ad, and in every magazine from Hustler to Reader's Digest. Even after several clinical trials, the prophylactic effectiveness of Nonoxynol-9 against STDs (versus contraceptive properties) is controversial.

You are confusing HPV with HSV.

Estimates for HSV are around 30% - and this includes both HSV-1 and HSV-2 (cold sores as well as genital herpes).

HPV, aka Human Papilloma Virus - is estimated to be as high as 70% among the general populaton. Not the 90% estimated by the OP.

Furthermore, there are literally hundreds of strains of HPV, most of which are completely harmless that the human body will shed on its own, usually within a few years. Many strains will also go dormant following a single initial outbreak, and while dormant cease to be contagious. The concern is that 4 strains of HPV have now been identified as causing cervical cancer in women. Studies now show that those same strains may also cause esophageal cancer.

The good news though, is that a vaccine is now available for those strains known to be cancer causing. Currently, only young girls are recommended to get the vaccination, but everyone - men and women alike - would be wise to get tested for the cancer causing strains of HPV, and get vaccinated if negative, or make appropriate changes if they test positive for them.

From American Society for Microbiology,

"Using type-specific serologic assays, the seroprevalence of HSV-1 infections in the United States has been redefined utilizing sera obtained from the randomized National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (37, 64). By the age of 5 years, over 35% of black children and 18% of white children are infected by HSV-1. Through adolescence, blacks have approximately a twofold higher prevalence of antibodies to HSV-1 than do whites, and females have a slightly higher antibody prevalence than do males. By the age of 40 years, both blacks and whites have a similar prevalence of antibodies, with 70 to 80% being HSV-1 seropositive. A similarly high prevalence of antibodies to HSV-1 exists among persons worldwide, although a high degree of country-to-country variability is seen."

http://cmr.asm.org/cgi/content/full/17/1/1

Some telling facts:

-35% of black and 18% of white 5 YEAR OLDS have a HSV-1 infection.

-70% to 80% have it by 40.

In anther smaller study of 50 people showed this about HSV-1 rates.

" Shedding was intermittent, but overall, 49 participants (98%) shed HSV-1 DNA at least once during the study. Thirty-seven participants (74%) had positive blood test results"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050106111129.htm

To small to be conclusive but 98% of that study was shedding, that is telling.

The CDC puts the number of genital HSV-1 and HSV-2  at 16.5%.

http://www.cdc.gov/std/Herpes/STDFact-Herpes.htm

Now most people are infected with HSV do not know it and testing for HSV-1 is not included in most STD tests. Nevada brothels do not test for it and neither does the porn industry. They do test for HSV-2. An oral infection of HSV-1 is not considered an STD as most people do not get it through sex. I looked into this disease quite a bit as I have had it since I was very small.

"The fact that HSV-1 DNA was discovered in such a high percentage of healthy people in the general population tells us that the virus is everywhere and it's unavoidable," - Dr. Herbert Kaufman, Boyd Professor of Ophthalmology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, who developed the first effective antiviral drug for herpes infections of the eye

I have documented my source where are yours?