Talk:Venereal disease

Ths article will cover, in detail, the traditionally defined venereal diseases, rather than all diseases (STD) that are epidemiologically noted to be prevalent in sexually promiscuous people or can possibly be spread through sexual contact. In this way, the difference between the spread of a disease like hepatitis B and syphilis can be better understood by the reader who reads this article , and Sexually transmitted diseases. Hopefully, by the time they are both fully written.Nancy Sculerati 08:25, 5 May 2007 (CDT)

references - with notes

George R Kinghorn Chapter 75 – Syphilis in Cohen & Powderly: Infectious Diseases, 2nd ed. copyright 2004

Waugh M. The centenary of Treponema pallidum: on the discovery of Spirochaeta pallida. [Historical Article. Journal Article] International Journal of STD & AIDS. 16(9):594-5, 2005 Sep. UI: 16176623

Schwartz RS. Paul Ehrlich's magic bullets. [Biography. Historical Article. Journal Article] New England Journal of Medicine. 350(11):1079-80, 2004 Mar 11. UI: 15014180 "Ehrlich's third triumph was in chemotherapy, another term that he coined. Reapplying the notion of the magic bullet that he had conceived in characterizing antibodies, he developed the concept of a chemical that binds to and specifically kills microbes or tumor cells. The culmination of this work was arsphenamine (Salvarsan, or compound 606), the first effective treatment for syphilis. At a meeting in Wiesbaden in 1910, Ehrlich and his colleagues announced the experimental and clinical effects of their treatment of syphilis with this compound. The result was an avalanche of demands for the drug, which the Hochst Chemical Works began to manufacture on a large scale. More than 65,000 doses were distributed free of charge. Arsphenamine was the first in the line of antibiotics - sulfamidochrysoidine (prontosil), a sulfonamide discovered in 1932 by Gerhard Domagk, was the next one - that revolutionized medicine."

Morton RS. Rashid S. "The syphilis enigma": the riddle resolved?. [Historical Article. Journal Article] Sexually Transmitted Infections. 77(5):322-4, 2001 Oct. UI: 11588273

Green T. Talbot MD. Morton RS. The control of syphilis, a contemporary problem: a historical perspective. [Historical Article. Journal Article] Sexually Transmitted Infections. 77(3):214-7, 2001 Jun. UI: 11402234

Bosch X. Look to the bones for clues to human disease. [Historical Article. News] Lancet. 355(9211):1248, 2000 Apr 8. UI: 10770315 "And the oldest example of syphilis comes from the Colorado Plateau of North America and dates back 1800-2000 years. Rimantas Jankauskas (University of Vilnius, Lithuania) notes that the long-running argument about the origin of syphilis in Europe-namely whether it came from the New or the Old World-should at last be resolved by use of molecular techniques.

Corbie-Smith G. The continuing legacy of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study: considerations for clinical investigation.[see comment]. [Historical Article. Journal Article] American Journal of the Medical Sciences. 317(1):5-8, 1999 Jan. UI: 9892266The Tuskegee Study, an observational study of over 400 sharecroppers with untreated syphilis, was conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service to document the course of the disease in blacks, and racial differences in the clinical manifestations of syphilis. The men were not told they had syphilis, not given counseling on avoiding spread of the disease, and not given treatment throughout the course of the study. The study became the longest (1932-1972) nontherapeutic experiment on humans in the history of medicine, and has come to represent not only the exploitation of blacks in medical history, but the potential for exploitation of any population that may be vulnerable because of race, ethnicity, gender, disability, age or social class. It is important for physicians who will be caring for an increasingly diverse nation to understand the lasting implications of this study for their patients, but the effects of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study are demonstrated most strikingly by unsuccessful attempts at improving representation of minority patients in clinical trials.

Rob CG. Use of penicillin for venereal disease in World War II. [Biography. Historical Article. Letter] Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 17(3):156-7, 1990 Jul-Sep. UI: 2247809

Yakubovsky A. Sokolovsky E. Miller WC. Sparling PF. Ryder RW. Hoffman IF. Syphilis management in St. Petersburg, Russia: 1995-2001. [Journal Article. Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural] Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 33(4):244-9, 2006 Apr. UI: 16565645 Similar to the profile of centuries-old syphilis in Europe,31–33 this Russian syphilis epidemic was principally confined to sexually active men and women in their 20s and 30s. Although the HIV epidemic in Russia is clearly driven by sexually active intravenous drug users (IDUs) with a similar profile, IDUs only made up a reported 8% of this cohort, and less than 1% of all the syphilis cases were infected with HIV. In contrast, the HIV prevalence is 30% and HIV incidence is 4.5 cases per 100 person-years among IDUs in St. Petersburg.3

Grassly NC. Fraser C. Garnett GP. Host immunity and synchronized epidemics of syphilis across the United States.[see comment]. [Journal Article. Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't] Nature. 433(7024):417-21, 2005 Jan 27. UI: 15674292 Primary and secondary syphilis and gonorrhoea both have a relatively short duration of infection (<6 months) In both treated and untreated syphilis partial immunity to re-infection occurs, either due to acquired immune memory or continued presence of antigens respectively 4. The presence of immunity has important effects on the dynamics of infectious diseases. When the period of infectiousness is short compared with immunity, fluctuations in incidence occur over a timescale determined by the supply of susceptible individuals 16. This can be illustrated by a simple SIRS compartmental model with 'susceptible', 'infected' and 'recovered' (immune) states followed by the loss of immunity and a return to the susceptible state. The stochastic version of this model shows sustained oscillations in incidence, with a period that is a function of the natural history of the infection and the rate at which susceptible individuals enter the population, but independent of population size (see Methods). These oscillations persist even if a significant fraction of infected individuals do not develop protective immunity (see Supplementary Fig. 1).

For parameters consistent with the natural history of syphilis, the SIRS model predicts both the period and amplitude of oscillations in incidence seen for US cities (Fig. 2b). The basic reproductive number (R0) of an infection can be defined as the average number of secondary infections caused by a single infectious individual in a completely susceptible population, and is a key parameter determining disease invasion, spread and persistence. A range of values for R0, typically less than about 3, are consistent with the observed 8-11-yr oscillations when realistic rates of treatment and entry to the susceptible population are specified (Fig. 2c). A small R0 for syphilis in the United States is also indicated by the slow increase in the number of cases observed during syphilis outbreaks and estimates based on transmission probabilities and rates of sexual partner change 10.

The close consistency of both period and amplitude of oscillations in syphilis incidence in the model and data suggests that it is the endogenous nonlinear dynamics of syphilis after the introduction of treatment that are largely responsible for the oscillations in incidence rather than exogenous forcing by repeated social and behavioural change. This conclusion is supported by comparison with gonorrhoea, which does not lead to any protective immunity, as revealed by repeat infections with the same serovars seen for both STD clinic patients 5 and inoculated human male volunteers 6. Gonorrhoea dynamics can therefore be described by an SIS model of incidence, where the recovered state is absent, and which does not predict oscillations in incidence. Oscillations are only possible when a period of immunity (or death) removes individuals from the population of susceptibles. The gradual rise and fall in gonorrhoea incidence since 1960 is therefore perhaps more likely to reflect the underlying dynamics of unsafe sexual behaviour in the United States (although case numbers may also be affected by the effort put into case detection and reporting).

malaria to treat

I'm blanking on the STD, but I know there was a study (unethical by today's standards) which induced malaria for cyclic fever to treat ____. Will fill in the blank when I remember the STD. Interesting, though. -Tom Kelly (Talk) 02:08, 11 May 2007 (CDT)

Syphilis. http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic684.htm --Tom Kelly (Talk) 02:13, 11 May 2007 (CDT)

Should NGU & chlamydia be here?

Are these more appropriately covered in STD?Nancy Sculerati 12:55, 14 May 2007 (CDT)

more pathology terms

I have an idea to incorporate more pathology vocabulary in a format that most users can understand. While linking scientific vocabulary assists in this process, I think adjective clauses (etc) are essential as well. I would like to include some vocabulary like 'abscess,' 'granulation tissue...' links to articles on healing by primary intention and secondary intention... What are your thoughts? Tom Kelly 19:37, 9 June 2007 (CDT)

Show me here on the talk page,please. We need those articles by the way- granulation tisue, asbcess. Love to see them, too.(and love seeing you here, welcome)Nancy Sculerati 19:44, 9 June 2007 (CDT)

I just finished exams and am going to relax tonight and see a movie, but I will re-crack Big Robbins and have at it in the near future. Tom Kelly 19:50, 9 June 2007 (CDT)