Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Gonorrhoea is becoming more drug-resistant

Sex infection gonorrhoea risks becoming "superbug" - Healthzone.ca
The sexually transmitted disease gonorrhoea risks becoming a
drug-resistant “superbug” if doctors do not devise new ways of treating
it, a leading sexual health expert said.

...

Anti-vaccinationist family breaks out with measles in Vancouver

Measles outbreak in Metro Vancouver - The Globe and Mail
Excerpts:

The centre said Tuesday that there have been 10 confirmed and four
suspected cases of measles in the past two weeks.

Eight of those
cases stem from a single household, while two others are believed to
have come from out-of-country visitors in February or early March.

Dr.
Monika Naus, the centre's immunization director, said the risk remains
low for the general public because most B.C. children receive the
measles vaccine between their first and second birthdays.

None of
the people who caught the disease had had the two doses of vaccine
required for full protection and many weren't immunized because of
philosophical objections.

“Most years, we see no cases of measles
in B.C. because our vaccination rates are high,” Naus said in a written
statement.

...

“Whether it's measles, mumps, rubella, or a host of other
vaccine-preventable diseases for which we have vaccines, the best thing
anyone can do is to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date,”
she said.

“Two doses of measles vaccine are 99 per cent effective
against the disease. Those are pretty good odds.”

In the summer of
2008, about 200 cases of mumps were recorded in B.C.’s Fraser Valley.
Health officials said at the time the illness began with a religious
group that shunned immunization.