LOS ANGELES – In an effort to quash any fears of a patterned outbreak, Los Angeles County health officials said a fatal case of meningitis found this month is not connected to any others across the country.
“Public Health has not identified any other cases of meningococcal disease associated with this patient, nor identified any linkage between this patient and cases being reported in other areas of the country,” according to a news release from the Department of Public Health.
Officials hope the report puts to rest questions about whether the death of a 33-year-old lawyer from West Hollywood, diagnosed with meningitis this month, was connected to a strain of the disease found over the last couple of years in New York City.
The outbreak of a particular strain in New York, primarily among gay men, has infected nearly two dozen people and killed seven. And the death of West Hollywood resident Brett Shaad this year and other cases last year prompted concern among some health advocates that a possible outbreak could have started in L.A. County.
While some called those reports alarmist, West Hollywood City Councilman John Duran and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation pursued the issue aggressively. The organization started offering free meningitis vaccines and called on the county to do the same. Health officials eventually did so for low-income and uninsured residents.
Duran said Monday that although the county’s results show there is no current outbreak, he wishes officials would be more proactive about the issue. He wants them to focus on prevention and continue offering free vaccines.
“Someone will die of meningitis in the next three months and it won’t be one of the 3,000″ who were recently vaccinated, Duran said.
The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center also issued a statement Monday, saying that it was “relieved” the county had “determined the most recent case of meningitis is unrelated to earlier cases among gay men in New York and Los Angeles and that there is no outbreak among gay/bi men here.”
“We’re also pleased that DPH is on high alert and will advise us of any new cases so we can keep the community informed,” spokesman Jim Key said.
The county health department describes meningitis as “a rare infection of the lining of the brain and the spinal cord” that is “spread by very close exposure to sneezing and coughing or direct contact with” saliva or nasal mucus. The disease is generally rare and harder to catch than the common cold but can be deadly.
L.A. County averages about 25 cases of meningitis annually, health officials said. In the news release, they said that “even with prompt treatment, the mortality rate is 10% to 15%.”
Symptoms may include a stiff neck, fever, severe headaches, an altered mental state and low blood pressure.
County officials also described how they came to their findings and said they first compared the strain of bacteria from the case in April to others in the county.
Though they found that some of the recent cases in L.A. County were all part of a sub grouping that included some similar cases of men who had a history of sexual contact with other men, officials ultimately determined that “a preliminary reading of the genetic fingerprints … shows it is not highly related to other cases in Los Angeles County, Southern California, or New York City.”
from The Los Angeles Times
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Related Posts:

Two More Men Died From Meningitis Last Year

Health Experts Address Meningitis Death Of Gay Man

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CHINA – A porn addict who inserted a live eel up his backside had to endure an all-night operation – after it got STUCK.
The man – from southern China – preformed the bizarre act after seeing it done in a kinky blue movie.
But the unmarried man had to rush himself to a hospital casualty unit in Guangdong province telling medics: “Please, please help me. The eel is moving through my body.”
Surgeons finally removed the 20-inch long Asian swamp eel – which weighed more than half-a-kilo – in the early hours of the morning after a lengthy treatment with drugs and medical probes.
One of the medical team explained: “The eel was simply trying to find its way out.”
“It was still alive when we got it out but it died soon afterwards, which was probably a mercy.
“This was a particularly idiotic stunt and could have caused him a serious injury. Eels have small but very sharp teeth,” they added.
A police spokesman said: “We are aware of what happened and a 39-year-old man will be interviewed over alleged animal cruelty.”
from The Sun

CALIFORNIA – Two more men died from bacterial meningitis late last year, according to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
The organization said Tuesday that a 30-year-old Los Angeles man and a 30-year-old San Diego student both died in December from the disease.
Public health officials have not said whether the cases were the same strain as the one that caused the death of a 33-year-old West Hollywood lawyer last weekend. State officials said they were investigating the additional deaths and would report their findings if bacterial meningitis is confirmed.
The death of West Hollywood resident Brett Shaad, who died less than a week after becoming ill, has prompted concern among some health advocates that a possible outbreak of the contagious disease may have started.
An outbreak in New York, primarily among gay men, has infected nearly two dozen people and killed seven people in recent years. Officials do not yet know whether the cases in New York are related to the local one.
“We came before you a couple of days ago to say that we’re here to raise an alert and not an alarm,” said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “And that’s still the case,” he said, adding that it is unclear what, if any, connections there are among the cases in Southern California and New York City.
Nevertheless, he and West Hollywood City Councilman John Duran criticized Los Angeles County for not being more proactive about the issue or the potential for an outbreak, and said the county should be more forthcoming with information.
Officials from the county’s Department of Public Health did not immediately return phone calls and emails Tuesday. But in a health advisory posted on the agency’s website earlier in the week, they said: “At this point in the investigation, Public Health has not identified any other cases of meningococcal meningitis associated with this patient, nor identified any linkage between this patient and outbreaks that have been reported in other areas of the country.”
The agency says meningococcal meningitis disease “is a rare infection of the lining of the brain and the spinal cord” and is “spread by very close exposure to sneezing and coughing or direct contact with” saliva or nasal mucus. While it is generally rare, and harder to catch than the common cold, meningitis can be deadly.
from The Los Angeles Times
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Related Post:

Health Experts Address Meningitis Death Of Gay Man

Brett Shaad

Health experts worked hard Sunday to defuse fears of a national epidemic among gay men after a Sacramento native died Saturday from a lethal strain of bacterial meningitis that has claimed seven lives in New York City this year.
Brett Shaad, a 33-year-old commercial and real estate lawyer, had just resigned his job in Los Angeles to run a nonprofit seeking to prevent suicide by getting mental health care to those who couldn’t afford it, said family spokeswoman Elizabeth Ashford. “He also planned to work on his brother Brian’s organic farm in Natomas, Feeding Crane Farms.”
haad was declared legally brain dead from the disease Friday. His family took him off life support at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles on Saturday night.
“The doctors don’t know where or how Brett contracted meningitis,” Ashford said.
The 1997 graduate of Jesuit High School was “an incredibly generous person who was adored by his many friends and our family,” said his brother, Brian Shaad. “He had the biggest heart, and a deep passion for social justice.”
Thirteen cases of bacterial meningitis in gay men in New York have been reported this year, including seven deaths. But health experts discounted concerns about an epidemic among gay men.
“This is not a disease transmittable mainly by sexual contact,” said Dr. Parveen Kaur of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “It’s spread by respiratory droplets, which means you can be sitting and having a prolonged conversation with somebody and spread the disease without having sex. It can also be transmitted through saliva and intimate activities.”
Shaad lived in West Hollywood and friends said he was in good health. He reportedly attended a gathering of about 10,000 gay men known as the White Party in Palm Springs two weeks ago. But so far, no one else at the party has contracted the disease, Kaur said.
Anything that ties Shaad’s death to the party “is just conjecture,” Ashford said.
Bacterial meningitis inflames the covering of the brain and spinal chord, Kaur said.
The disease usually starts with a fever, rapidly followed by an intense headache with increased sensitivity to light followed by neck stiffness and a rash, Kaur said. “Out of 100 cases, 10 to 15 people will die, and 11 to 20 will have hearing loss, mental retardation and other neurological damage.”
Many people who have bacterial meningitis “are asymptomatic carriers who themselves are not ill,” said Dr. Otto Yang, a UCLA medical professor and expert on infectious diseases. “This is extremely preventable with vaccinations: People who were in contact with the person who died should seriously consider it.”
Los Angeles County officials have not determined whether Shaad was afflicted with the same strain that killed gay men in New York, Ashford said.
Shaad, who graduated from Boston College and attended Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, would take long weekend trips abroad with friends, to destinations as far flung as Colombia, Brazil, Hawaii and Asia, Ashford said. “He’d been to China in the two weeks prior to his death.”
When he became ill, he resigned from his job to focus more on Feeding Crane Farms. He also planned to start a nonprofit with a friend to get mental help to people who either couldn’t afford it or were afraid to seek help because of the social stigma, Ashford said. “He wanted to help prevent suicides.”
from The Sacramento Bee

Gay and lesbian couples living together report poorer health than straight married couples, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday, speculating that legalizing same-sex marriage could reduce the disparities.
Studies have shown that married couples enjoy better health than people who are single, divorced or separated.
When Dr Hui Liu, an assistant professor of sociology at Michigan State University, and her team studied the health of gay and straight couples, they found marriage made a difference.
“When we controlled for socioeconomic status, the odds of reporting poor or fair health were about 61 percent higher for same-sex cohabiting men than for men in heterosexual marriage, and the odds of reporting poor to fair health were about 46 percent higher for same-sex cohabiting women than for women in heterosexual marriages,” Liu said.
Although the researchers did not study the impact of legalizing gay marriage, Liu said it is plausible that if gay unions were sanctioned by law it could improve health by reducing stress and discrimination and providing health benefits enjoyed by married couples.
“If marriage can promote health, it is reasonable for us to expect that if same-sex couples had the advantage of legalized marriage their health may be boosted,” Liu added in an interview.
Nine U.S. states and Washington, D.C., have legalized same-sex marriage, assuring gay couples the benefits of a legalized union.
The researchers compared the health of 1,659 gay couples living together and a similar number of married heterosexuals. They pooled data from 1997 to 2009 National Health Interview Surveys in which people across the country were asked to rate their overall health as excellent, very good, good, fair or poor.
The study, which is published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, showed that black women living together as a couple were the most disadvantaged. They reported worse health than any other non-married black women.
Liu and her co-authors, Corinne Reczek an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Cincinnati, and Dustin Brown, a post-graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, suggest that the discrimination and stress that gay couples experience could contribute to their poorer health.
“Legalizing same-sex marriage could also provide other advantages often associated with heterosexual marriage – such as partner health insurance benefits and the ability to file joint tax returns – that may directly or indirectly influence the health of individuals in same-sex unions,” Liu added.
from Reuters
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UNITED KINGDOM – “Unsafe sexual behavior” and a lack of testing is being blamed for a failure to cut the number of cases of HIV among gay and bisexual men in the last decade.
The number of cases of the virus in England and Wales among men who have sex with men (MSM) has stayed the same over 10 years despite a significant increase in availability of testing and treatment, according to a new study published today.
One in 20 gay and bisexual men in the UK now has HIV, rising to one in 12 in London, according to the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Health Protection Agency (HPA), which carried out the research.
Dr Valerie Delpech, the HPA’s head of HIV surveillance, said: “We are seriously concerned about the level of ongoing HIV transmission and the significant impact this is having within the MSM community.
“The most plausible explanation for these results is continuing unsafe sexual behaviour coupled with insufficient HIV testing, showing us just how vital safe sex programmes engaging MSM remain.”
The study, published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, found no evidence of a decline in levels of HIV over the last decade, with new infections plateauing at 2,300-2,500 annually from 2006 onwards.
Undiagnosed HIV infections in gay and bisexual men increased from 7,370 in 2001 to 7,690 in 2010.
And despite a 20% reduction in the average time between infection and diagnosis, from four years to 3.2 years, 38% of infections in 2010 were still diagnosed after the time patients should have started antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.
Over the same time period HIV testing of gay men and bisexual men increased by 370% to 59,300 per year and the number receiving HIV care rose from 69% to 80%.
Dr Delpech said gay and bisexual men should get tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases annually – or every three months if having unprotected sex with new or casual partners.
Yusef Azad, director of policy at the National AIDS Trust, said the research made “depressing reading”.
“Around seven gay or bisexual men a day in the UK are getting HIV,” he said.
“To tackle this issue we urgently need the HIV epidemic amongst gay and bisexual men to be treated as a public health priority.
“Prevention services so far have been under-resourced, without a clear focus on outcomes or effectiveness.
“They often do not address the cultural and structural drivers of HIV transmission amongst gay and bisexual men – including drug use, mental health issues and the gay scene.”
He said that a new approach was needed, which as well as promoting condoms, tackled mental health and drug problems, made the “gay scene” promote safe sex better and provided more and better education about symptoms and the importance of testing.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “HIV continues to be a serious health issue, especially for gay and bisexual men, and people from African communities.
“Last year we gave the Terrence Higgins Trust a contract for £6.7 million over three years to support prevention of HIV in these groups.
“We urge people at risk to get tested.
“Free and confidential HIV testing is widely available from the NHS. We will set out detailed plans for sexual health and HIV services shortly.”
from The Independent
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UNITED KINGDOM – The British Medical Association has urged the government to give the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to gay men.
Colm O’Mahony and Penelope Toff of the BMA wrote to health minister Anna Soubry about protecting gay men against the sexually transmitted disease.
They asked that the government introduce a vaccination programme for gay men to reduce the number of anal and mouth cancer cases.
The HPV vaccine is currently given to teenage girls as it reduces the risk of developing cervical cancer in later life. HPV is the most common cause of cervical cancer, which killed 936 women in 2010.
It was introduced in 2008 for girls aged 12 and 13. It is thought it will save around 400 lives every year.
In September last year, Gardasil was replaced with Cervarix as the HPV vaccine. Gardasil is highly effective in protecting against two strains of HPV that cause 90 percent of genital wart cases and 70 percent of cervical cancer cases.
After the vaccination was introduced to girls in Australia, there was a significant drop in the number of men suffering from genital warts, which was the result of the “herd immunity effect”, O’Mahony and Toff said.
However, the number of HPV cases among MSM (men who have sex with men) has increased dramatically, they said.
They wrote: “The increasing incidence of HPV and development of anal lesions in gay men, particularly HIV positive gay men, is alarming.
“As doctors of this cohort, we need to be sensitive to any factors that could impact on individuals being able to protect themselves and work towards protecting them from acquiring infections at an early age.
“We believe that a vaccination programme with Gardasil which included this group would be of enormous benefit in reducing the increasing incidences of anal warts, anal pre-cancers and cancers, as has been borne out in Australia.
“Infection with high-risk types of HPV causes more than 80 percent of anal cancer. During the last 20-30 years the incidence of anal cancer has been increasing. Incidence of anal cancer is highest in MSM who are about 20 times more likely than heterosexual men to develop the disease.
“HIV positive men are at even greater risk with evidence that rates are increasing despite the introduction of effective antiretroviral therapy from 1996 onwards,” the letter said.
They also note that research now shows that a strain of HPV also causes many oropharyngeal cancers (mouth cancer).
James Taylor, senior health officer at lesbian, gay and bisexual charity Stonewall, said: “We support the BMA’s announcement on an HPV vaccine in principal, although it’s clear there’s still research to be done on the effectiveness of the proposal.
“Research published by Stonewall last year highlights the shocking levels of discrimination many gay and bisexual men experience when accessing healthcare, which impacts on whether gay and bisexual men take advice on testing and monitoring services.”
O’Mahony and Toff accept it would not be economically viable in the UK at present, so suggest another means of protecting MSM.
As a result, they recommend a vaccination programme among gay men, it would be easy to have it as an “add-on” vaccination for those being vaccinated with Hepatitis B.
Taylor added: “It’s clear the NHS needs to rethink how it approaches many of its patients, as well as telling gay and bisexual young men what they need to know about safe sex and same-sex relationships in the school curriculum.”
from The International Business Times

Jackson Carter / ‘The Biggest Looser’ – NBC

LAYTON, UTAH – He is gay, lives in Utah and soon could become The Biggest Loser.
Layton resident Jackson Carter will sweat it out on the reality TV show and weight-loss competition, which is set to kick off its newest season Sunday on NBC.
Dubbed the “first openly gay contestant,” the 21-year-old Utahn auditioned for the show in Salt Lake City because he wanted to inspire others to be themselves, whether overweight or gay. He knows about both.
“I think the biggest thing for me, not being accepted by my peer group and fitting in, I became a people-pleaser and never took care of myself,” Carter said. “I put everyone else’s needs before my own. [I am now] aware of it and can try to fix it.”
At 21, he weighed 328 pounds. Carter decided to do something about it by joining the show. In his eyes, he is shedding the pounds like a bulky sweater, tossing it off into the corner.
Show producers will showcase his battle in season 14, not only with his weight but also with his sexuality.
“I think Utah has come a long way the last few years, Mormons Building Bridges and other people are becoming more aware of queer issues,” Carter said. “The hardest work [on the show] is not the workout. You have to deal with people who have shut themselves off from their emotions.”
And dealing with those emotions can be uncomfortable.
“I don’t want to do that one on one, let alone 22 million on one,” said Carter of opening himself up to the country through TV cameras.
He volunteers at the Ogden OUTreach Resource Center, which helps about 350 LGBT and other youths. The majority who seek help at OUTreach live below the poverty line, and 27 percent are homeless.
“I think there are issues everywhere when coming out,” Carter said. “Particularly in Utah, with a religious sect, it can be more difficult for acceptance.”
Carter was born in Roosevelt, a small town on a Ute Indian reservation, and raised there with his two younger siblings before moving at age 7 to Layton.
He remembers a brief time in high school of being fit, when he transferred from public school to a charter school for the performing arts. But he has been overweight for most of his life, bullied both for his weight and his sexuality after coming out at age 14.
Today, Carter is a student at Weber State University, where he is majoring in theater education with a minor in social work, while also working and volunteering. He said a busy lifestyle resulted in his weight gain.
Once he loses weight, Carter said he looks forward to participating in physical activities with his OUTreach kids, being able to go to the beach and take his shirt off, and changing the lives of those around him who are also struggling with their weight.
Peggy Bon, volunteer co-coordinator at the OUTreach, said Carter serves as an inspiration to many with whom he shares his experiences. Carter received services at the center as a kid, but now he helps counsel teens and adults alike, she said.
“When Jackson walks into the room, everybody loves him when he’s been in a room about a minute. There’s just something about Jackson,” said Bon, adding that he’ll be a great representative for Utah’s LGBT community on the show.
Layton man is first openly gay contestant on ‘The Biggest Loser’
The new season of “The Biggest Loser” will feature three children, whose focus will be on getting healthy rather than their weight, so they will not be eligible for elimination and will not weigh-in on camera.
This season’s 15 contestants will be divided into three teams and supervised by three trainers. Each trainer and team of five adults will be paired with one child participant who will compete with and contribute to their respective teams.
The adults compete for $250,000.
Carter said he hopes his story will inspire other gay teens.
“I think it’s good to have positive LGBT people in the media,” Carter said. “It can be scary and really hard to come out, but if you feel like you’re ready, then it’s a personal choice. If you’re not comfortable to tell people, then you don’t have to.
“The sad truth is it’s not always safe, so find some supporters that you can trust,” he said.
from The Salt Lake Tribune

This week, Mexico will become the first country in North America to lift the ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, according to the Huffington Post. Instead, the new regulations will ask prospective donors to recount their sexual history rather than their sexual orientation. Men who have sex with men (MSM) will be eligible to donate blood, along with other individuals, as long as they are practicing and have practiced safe sex in the past, do not test positive for HIV or hepatitis, do not work as prostitutes and do not inject drugs. The move went into effect on Christmas day, though it was approved this summer in August.
The move was applauded by several influential groups, particularly the government body called the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (CONAPRED). The organization confirmed and applauded the change in a statement released on its website, saying, “In making these discriminatory distinctions, the [previous] norm explicitly violated the prohibition against discrimination present in the Constitution and the Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination, as well as Article 24 of the American Convention on Human Rights and Article 26 of the International Civil and Political Rights Treaty, among other international instruments of law, which establish that every person is equal before the law regardless of any condition.”
Currently, in many countries, including in the United States, a person must divulge on a form whether they have had sex with a person of the same gender as themselves if they want to donate blood.
Another outlet, the South Florida Gay News, notes that, though Mexico is the first country to approve the move, it is not the only country in the Americas that is considering this change. Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies, the equivalent of the House of Representatives in the United States, approved a similar bill that would allow gay and lesbian individuals to donate blood. The bill will go up for a vote in the Senate in 2013.
from Medical Daily

Psychological distress is lower among lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals who are legally married to a person of the same sex, compared with those not in legally recognized unions, according to a new study led by Richard G. Wight from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and the Williams Institute at UCLA Law.
The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, also has implications for understanding mental health disparities based on sexual orientation: There were no statistically significant differences in psychological distress between heterosexuals, and lesbian, gay and bisexual persons in any type of legally recognized same-sex relationship.
A large body of research has shown that lesbian, gay and bisexual people generally experience higher distress levels than heterosexuals due to social exclusion, stigma and other stressors. Research also shows that, on average, married heterosexuals experience better mental health outcomes than their unmarried counterparts. Since most lesbian, gay and bisexual people are denied the opportunity to legally marry a same-sex partner, they are potentially denied the positive emotional benefits of the institution of marriage and they appear to be dually disadvantaged in terms of their psychological well-being.
“Same-sex or different-sex, there appear to be positive mental health benefits associated with legal recognition of one’s relationship,” said Wight. “Mental health benefits of extending marriage to same-sex couples might be derived from a heightened sense of social inclusion concomitant with the social institution of marriage.”
The study was based on data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey, the nation’s largest population-based state health survey. Respondents between the ages of 18 and 70 were asked about their sexual orientation and same-sex relationship status. The study also included measures of psychological distress and multiple socio-demographic controls.
“Proposition 8, a 2008 statewide referendum, legally bars Californians in same-sex couples from marrying their partner, at least until the Supreme Court issues an opinion next summer. The continuing legal exclusion and the contentious arguments surrounding Proposition 8 may put their mental health at risk,” Wight added.
The authors recommend that researchers continue to examine the potential health consequences of extending marriage to same-sex couples. Further study could highlight the extent to which marriage for same-sex couples is at least in part a public health concern.
The study, entitled “Same-Sex Legal Marriage and Psychological Well-Being: Findings from the California Health Interview Survey,” was conducted by Richard G. Wight, MPH, PhD (Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, and the Williams Institute, School of Law, UCLA), Allen J. LeBlanc, PhD (Department of Sociology and the Health Equity Institute, San Francisco State University), and M.V. Lee Badgett, PhD (Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law and the Department of Economics and Center for Public Policy and Administration, University of Massachusetts, Amherst).
from 10,000 Couples
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The number of Americans newly diagnosed with chlamydia continued to rise in 2011, likely due to increased screening and more sensitive tests, while rates of syphilis remained unchanged and rates of gonorrhea hovered at near-historic lows, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual report on sexually transmitted diseases, which tracks cases of the three reportable STDs – chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis – young people and gay and bisexual men continue to be most affected by STDs.
In 2011, gay and bisexual men made up nearly three-quarters, or 72 percent, of all cases of syphilis. Young people had the most cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea, the CDC report found.
If left untreated, gonorrhea and chlamydia cause infertility, and syphilis can lead to serious long-term complications, including brain, heart and organ damage.
People with any of these diseases are at greater risk for infection with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Here are some details from the report: * Gonorrhea – Overall, rates of gonorrhea rose 4 percent to 321,849, the second consecutive year of increases. But the disease remains at historically low levels. * Chlamydia – Reported cases of chlamydia rose 8 percent to 1.4 million in 2011, compared with 2010, continuing the 20-year increase in diagnoses due to expanded screening efforts and more sensitive screening tests. * Syphilis – The overall number of syphilis cases held steady in 2011 at 13,970, after falling 1.6 percent in 2010. According to the CDC, the steady trend masks declining infections among women and increases among men, especially gay and bisexual men.
from Reuters

Does the comfort and fit of condoms have an impact on safer sex among gay and bisexual men? In 2010, Hunter College’s Center for HIV Educational Studies and Training (CHEST) surveyed nearly 500 men in NYC to get some answers about penis size and condom failure rates. Dr. Jeffrey Parsons, CHEST’s director, says, “This type of public health research is very important, no matter how politically volatile. Studies like this allow us to better understand sexual health and risk so that we can address effectively the health needs of gay and bisexual men.”
What did Dr. Parsons and his colleagues seek to discover through their study? Dr. Christian Grov, the study’s lead author, says he had wondered if a “one-size-fits-all approach to condom distribution” might be inadvertently creating a group of men at risk for engaging in unprotected sex due to problems with condom fit. And the findings of CHEST’s study suggest his initial hypothesis may have validity: close to half of respondents reported condom slippage during sex and almost a third reported condom breakage in the previous three months.
There was also an association between condom breakage and unprotected sex, suggesting that some men may have unprotected sex simply because they cannot find proper fitting condoms. Less than forty percent of those surveyed said it was “easy” to find a condom that fit them.
“These findings indicate that the fit of a condom matters,” says Grov. “A client at an HIV service agency might see a bowl filled with ‘standard’ condoms and have to ask a provider if they have other sizes available. That extra step could make the difference between someone leaving with a condom—the right condom—or going home empty handed.”In recent years condom manufacturers have been expanding their selection to include different sizes. “Unfortunately, the default condom freely distributed by many health care providers is still a standard size,” says Grov. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has increased the distribution of condoms in a variety of sizes to health centers. However, the findings of the CHEST study show there is more work to do.
In the US, gay and bisexual men are among the most likely to be exposed to HIV. Condoms remain among the best strategies to prevent new transmissions. Offering a wider assortment of condoms could improve the ease and enjoyment – and thus likelihood – of safer sex practices.
About the study:
The results of this study titled, “Self-reported penis size and experiences with condoms among gay and bisexual  men,” by Christian Grov, Brooke E. Wells, and Jeffrey T. Parsons will be published in the February 2013 issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior. Data were collected in 2010 from 463 gay and bisexual men in at large scale community events in New York City.
from CHEST
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When it comes to sperm counts, French men aren’t what they used to be, according to a new study.
Researchers found that between 1989 and 2005, the number of sperm in one milliliter of the average 35-year-old Frenchman’s semen fell from about 74 million to about 50 million – a decrease of roughly 32 percent.
“That’s certainly within the normal range, but if you think about it, if there continues to be a decrease, we would expect that we’ll get into that infertile range,” said Grace Centola, president of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology in Birmingham, Alabama.
And the French aren’t the only ones who should be concerned, the researchers said.
“A decline in male reproduction endpoints has been suspected for several decades and is still debated all around the world. Geographical differences have been observed between countries, and between areas inside countries,” said Joëlle Le Moal from the Institut de Veille Sanitaire in France, who led the study.
Writing in the journal Human Reproduction, Le Moal’s team said global analyses have found decreases in sperm counts, as did recent studies in Israel, India, New Zealand and Tunisia.
Centola, who wasn’t involved with the new research, told Reuters Health she had also found similar results in a group of young sperm donors from Boston in the United States.
For the new study, Le Moal’s team used a database of France’s 126 fertility clinics that recorded men’s semen samples from 1989 through 2005. They then narrowed their study to 26,600 samples provided by men whose female partners were later found to be infertile. That, they say, minimizes the risk the men had a fertility problem.
Over the 16-year period, the researchers found there was about a 2 percent annual decrease in the number of sperm in one milliliter of the average man’s semen.
“One would look at that and say it’s not all that much. It isn’t, but if it’s occurring on a yearly basis it can add up,” said Centola. “Clearly if this type of decrease continues, we’re going to find that we’re going to have young men that have low sperm counts,” she said.
The World Health Organisation defines anything over 15 million per milliliter of semen as normal. However, the study’s authors suggest that it may take longer for men with counts in the lower range of normal to conceive.
The researchers also found that there was an increase in the number of abnormally shaped sperm over the study period, which can also influence fertility.
Part of that finding, however, can be explained by scientists getting better at recognizing misshapen swimmers, but not all of it. “So both results are important,” said Le Moal.
from Reuters

Christine & Didier Jambart

UNITED KINGDOM – British drugs firm GlaxoSmithKline was ordered to pay £166,000 to Didier Jambart for the transformations in his life after taking Glaxo’s ReQuip tablets.
The 52-year-old says the pills made him become a compulsive gay sex addict who started cross-dressing and exposing himself on the internet.
He sold his children’s toys to fund online gambling sessions and his dangerous sexual encounters led him to being raped, he claimed in court in the French city of Rennes.
He also attempted suicide three times, he said.
Mr Jambart was initially awarded £100,000 by a court in Nantes 18 months ago.
Glaxo appealed the ruling but the higher court in Rennes this week upheld the earlier decision, and then increased the compensation to Mr Jambert by another £66,000.
During the first hearing, he told the court: “After first taking the drugs I was bursting with energy. I would get up at four in the morning and run ten-and-a-half kilometers.
“Then my neurologist increased the dose and I completely lost the plot.
“I discovered internet gambling, and at first it was just a bit of fun but I soon became addicted.
“In total I lost between £60,000 and £90,000 online.
“Then in November 2005 my neurologist increased the dose again, and I became more addicted until I was gambling 8,000 pounds a month.
“I stole bank cards, around eight in all from friends and colleagues, and used them to gamble. I also sold my children’s toys and I borrowed money.
“At other times, I had an urge to kill someone.”
Mr Jambert said the drug also turned him into a “hypersexual, gay, cross-dresser”.
He added: “I started seeking out sex with men and exhibiting myself on the internet.
“Those around me could simply not understand what was going on.
“It was only in 2006 that I discovered what was going on when I read a Canadian website.
“I sought help and was told of the side-effects, and have expert medical advice that I was the victim of an addiction.”
Mr Jambert said although his marriage has survived, his family became “pariahs” in the community due to his extreme behaviour.
He said: “There was no warning of these side effects that came with the drug, although this finally appeared on the packet in 2006, showing the makers were aware of the risks much earlier.”
ReQuip, also sold under the name Ropinirole, is used to adjust dopamine levels in the brain to treat Parkinson’s disease – a disorder of the nervous system that affects movement, muscle control and balance.
He added after Wednesday’s judgement: “It’s a great day. It’s been a seven-year battle with our limited means for recognition of the fact that GSK lied to us and shattered our lives.”
Glaxo has so far refused to comment on the case.
from The Sun
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NEW YORK CITY – A deadly cluster of bacterial meningitis has erupted among HIV-infected gay men in New York City. It’s left one person dead in the last month and another in critical condition.
The city’s health department on Thursday alerted local doctors about the outbreak. It includes a dozen cases in the last two years. But it seems to have accelerated with four cases in the last four weeks.
Of the 12 total cases, four died.
The new cases are spread across several boroughs of New York City and affect men ages 31 to 42 years old, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said in a statement.
Investigators are trying to find out how the infection spread. People the men were in close contact have been treated with antibiotics.
Bacterial meningitis can cause swelling of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The disease is rare, but people with HIV-weakened immune systems are more susceptible. People with HIV are also more likely to die from the infection, according to the health department.
This disease is spread by prolonged close contact with nose or throat discharges from an infected person. Examples of prolonged contact include living in the same household, or activities including kissing and sexual contact.
“The biggest challenge with this infection is once you get sick it causes illness very, very quickly,” Deputy Commissioner for Disease Control in the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Dr. Jay Varma told CBS New York. “Once they develop symptoms such as fever, headache, a stiff neck or a rash, the symptoms progress very, very quickly and people can become severely ill.”
The New York City Department of Health has more information on invasive meningococcal disease.
from CBS News