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NEWS ABOUT: syphilis

US Infected Thousands of Guatemalans With STDs

Earlier reports said hundreds were victims

(Newser) - Earlier reports said hundreds of Guatemalans were victims of horrifying US experiments involving STDs; in fact, the number of people infected during the 1940s study may be closer to 2,500 , Guatemalan medical authorities say. A US report this week said that around 1,300 were deliberately infected with STDs... More »

US Airs Horrific Details of Guatemalan STD Studies

Researchers knew study was unethical

(Newser) - When US government researchers conducted STD studies on Indiana prisoners in 1943-1944, they asked for volunteers and told them they'd be infected. When they experimented on Guatemalans a few years later, they were not nearly so scrupulous, according to the Washington Post . Doctors brought infected prostitutes to unwitting inmates... More »

US Faces Suit for Infecting Guatemalans With Syphilis

Lawyers representing some of 700 victims seeking settlement

(Newser) - A class action suit representing some of the 700 men deliberately infected with syphilis by the US government will be filed tomorrow unless the feds come up with an acceptable settlement, plaintiffs' lawyers warned. The US intentionally affected victims from 1946-48 to study the effects of the disease. The Obama... More »

Syphilis Test Gives 1 in 5 a False Positive

CDC recommends alternate test

(Newser) - You have syphilis. OK, maybe not. That's the experience hundreds of people may have suffered thanks to inconsistencies in the dominant syphilis test, USA Today reports. Some 18% of people who tested positive since the 1980s were actually free of the disease, according to a study by the Centers for... More »

Stop Blaming Columbus for Syphilis

It was in Europe long before he sailed to America

(Newser) - Because the first recorded cases of European syphilis occurred in 1495, Christopher Columbus has often been blamed for introducing the disease to his home shores. The explorer may still may have brought syphilis back—he and his crew had ample opportunities for exposure—but it was present on his side... More »

Brits Link Syphilis Surge to Facebook

Facebook rep urges 'precautions'

(Newser) - British health officials are linking a troubling surge in cases of syphilis to the large number of casual sexual encounters triggered by Facebook meetings. Syphilis cases have increased the most in regions with the highest use of Facebook, officials tell the Telegraph . "There has been a fourfold increase in... More »

Hitler Shot Up Testosterone, Strychnine

82 drugs kept fuhrer going

(Newser) - Adolph Hitler had regular injections of dextrose and vitamins, testosterone and a flatulence preventative that included minute doses of the nerve agent strychnine, according to a new book. For an added boost on date nights with Eva Braun the fuhrer indulged in a shot of bull semen extract. War Hitler ... More »

In War on STDs, NC Tries New Weapon: Bribery

Syphilis outbreak sparks offer of gift card in exchange for test

(Newser) - The incidence of syphilis is spiking in the economically hard-hit South, and health officials have lit on a novel preventative measure, MSNBC reports: Wal-Mart gift cards. Syphilis tends to rebound in tough times, and a program in North Carolina induces patients to submit to a test in exchange for the... More »

Teen Pregnancies, STDs Increase: CDC

Figures raise concerns after positive trends

(Newser) - After declining in 1991-2005, the US teen birth rate climbed in 2006 and 2007, HealthDay News reports. Crunching numbers from 2002-07, the Centers for Disease Control found a number of trends had flatlined or worsened after a period of improvement.
  • 2004 saw 745,000 pregnancies among females under 20, including
... More »

Polish Meaning of New Name Embarrasses 'Syfy'

Slang for VD probably not what network had in mind for rebranding

(Newser) - The much-maligned rebranding of the channel formerly known as Sci-Fi has yielded another embarrassment for the network. “Syfy”—the new name—is Polish slang for syphilis, Broadcasting & Cable reports. Native Poles, however, may be less offended by the name change than hard-core fans: Polish embassy officials say... More »

Scientists Warn Doctors of Syphilis Comeback

Cases are on the rise, doctors not spotting the symptoms

(Newser) - Health researchers have warned that syphilis is making a comeback, and doctors may not be recognizing the symptoms. Developed countries came closing to wiping out the disease in the '90s, Reuters reports, but infection rates in the US went up last year for the seventh year in a row. A... More »

Columbus Gave Europe Syphilis

Disease originated with explorer's return from New World

(Newser) - New genetic evidence gives Christopher Columbus credit for bringing back a different sort of bounty from the New World—the scourge of syphilis. Columbus and his crew returned home with a sexually transmitted form of a disease native to South America, say Emory University researchers. Soon after, the first known... More »

Syphilis Makes a Surprise Comeback

Infection rates in Europe have soared on safe-sex fatigue

(Newser) - Syphilis, the sexual scourge of the 19th century, was all but vanquished in Europe in the fifties. But it's making a comeback, with 2006 UK infection rates 10 times what they were a decade earlier, and other nations boasting similar stats. Health officials blame the upsurge on the rise of... More »

Chlamydia Cases Hit Record High

Doctors worry number of hidden cases could be much higher

(Newser) - Known cases of chlamydia in the US have topped a million for the first time, with the highest rates among adolescent girls, USA Today reports. Under-reporting of the sexually transmitted disease means the real number could be nearly three times higher. Syphilis and gonorrhea are also on the rise, partly... More »

Syphilis Surges in Surprise Comeback

Experts worry about increasing infection rate among women

(Newser) - Just two years after it was almost eradicated, syphilis is experiencing a stunning comeback across the nation, health officials report. Nearly twice as many cases were reported in New York City in the first three months of this year, compared to the same time last year, the New York Times ... More »

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