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STD Awareness: Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea
Under the microscope, Neisseria gonorrhoeae infects larger human cells (click to enlarge). The bacteria resemble tiny pairs of coffee beans. Image: Dr. Norman Jacobs, CDC Writing about sexually...
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Get Smart About Antibiotics!
This week we celebrate Get Smart About Antibiotics Week. Antibiotics, or antimicrobials as they are also called, cure bacterial infections by killing bacteria or reducing their ability to reproduce so...
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STD Awareness: Antibiotic-Resistant Syphilis
Treponema pallidum under a microscope. Image: Dr. Edwin P. Ewing, Jr., CDC The image to your right, with lively yellow splotches against a pale green background, is not a long-lost Jackson Pollack...
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How Does HIV Cause AIDS?
diagram of a human immunodeficiency virus Last week, we gave a general background of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS by destroying the immune system. But how is HIV able...
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STD Awareness: An Update on Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea
Last year, we shared the fascinating and frightening story of the emergence of increasingly antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, an STD caused by the gonococci bacteria. The sexually transmitted scourge,...
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STD Awareness: Drug-Resistant Trichomoniasis
Trichomonas vaginalis organisms, which cause trichomoniasis. Image: Parasite Image Library, CDC You’ve probably heard of MRSA, which is a strain of Staphylococcus aureus that evolved resistance to all...
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STD Awareness: The Latest on Gonorrhea
Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacterium that gangs up on your body to give it gonorrhea. Image: CDC Gonorrhea is that guy with the funny name who’s always up to something new and mischievous. Last year,...
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STD Awareness: Gonorrhea, Women, and the Pre-Antibiotic Era
Penicillin, the first reliable cure for gonorrhea, was mass produced in the 1940s. It’s Women’s History Month, a time to reflect on the achievements of women worldwide — like Margaret Sanger, Rosalind...
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STD Awareness: Three Sexually Transmitted Bacteria That Will Shock and Amaze You
It’s hard to appreciate a pubic louse as an intriguing creature in its own right. Not when an infestation with pubic lice is such a vexing experience. The same can be said for the germs that cause any...
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STD Awareness: The History of Syphilis
Have you ever heard that syphilis originated in the New World, and was imported to Europe by unwitting explorers? Some say it’s a fitting revenge for Europeans, who brought deadly diseases like...
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STD Awareness: Three Sexually Transmitted Bugs That Will Fascinate and...
From creepy crawly pubic lice, which can be seen with a magnifying glass, to minuscule human papillomaviruses, which can be seen with some of the most expensive microscopes in the world, there are many...
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STD Awareness: Genetics and the Gonococcus
Illustration: CDC Ever since the discovery of effective antibacterial therapies less than a century ago, humans have been able to easily cure gonorrhea, the sexually transmitted scourge that laid waste...
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STD Awareness: Ceftriaxone-Resistant Gonorrhea
Nestled in the throat of a Japanese woman was a collection of clones that scientists abducted from their temporary habitat and christened H041 — a humdrum moniker for a strain of bacteria that would...
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STD Awareness: Which STDs Are Resistant to Antibiotics?
You’ve probably heard of MRSA, which is pronounced “mersa” and stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus — a strain of bacteria that is resistant to methicillin, as well as pretty much...
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STD Awareness: Gonorrhea’s Ever-Growing Resistance to Antibiotics
Gonococci, the bacteria that cause gonorrhea. Ever since the advent of effective antibacterial therapies less than a century ago, humans with access to these drugs can easily cure gonorrhea. Most of us...
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STD Awareness: Fully Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea Is on the Horizon
We’ve been anticipating its arrival for years now, but earlier this fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finally made an announcement: Cases of gonorrhea resistant to the last...
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STD Awareness: Gonorrhea’s Latest Dubious Honor
Wanted: Scientists who can develop novel antibiotics A few years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put out a “greatest hits” list of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. More...
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STD Awareness: Is Mouthwash a Match for Gonorrhea’s Superpowers?
Since the 1930s, we’ve enjoyed around eight decades of easily cured gonorrhea — at least in places with easy access to antibiotics — but experts fear those days are numbered. In the past year or so,...
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