NYC Health Officials Worried Meningitis Outbreak Could Claim Many Lives; Some Gay Men Urged to Vaccinate

A unique strain of bacterial meningitis has New York City health officials worried and they are urging “men, regardless of H.I.V. status, who regularly have intimate contact with other men through a Web site, digital application or at a bar or party," to get vaccinated, the NYT reports:

New York City health officials are growing increasingly worried that this strain of meningitis, which is an inflammation of the lining around the brain and the spinal cord, is so insidious that it could suddenly mushroom into a major outbreak, claiming many lives before anything can be done to stop it...

...There have been 22 cases, all among men, of the unique strain since 2010, 13 of them last year and 4 this year, Dr. Varma said. Seven of them have died. Twelve were H.I.V.-positive, a possible risk factor. Ten of the cases were in Brooklyn — in neighborhoods as varied as Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Bushwick, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Dumbo, East New York, Prospect Heights and Williamsburg.

Find a clinic near you that dispenses vaccine, here.

Many of men who are at risk may not identify themselves as either gay or bisexual, even though they are having sex with other men, health officials said. So it is hard to reach out to them through gay organizations, and it is hard to get them to come forward to be vaccinated.

More at the NYT...

News: Gay Pride Suppression, Hillary Clinton, Russia, JJ Abrams

A gay man in Boynton Beach, Florida, is being accused of trying to start abstract "trouble" after his neighborhood association nixed his pride flag. The man, Dave Armstrong, says his neighbors are just homophobic. "I said, 'Listen, everybody else has an American flag on the front of their property, so why can't I have my pride flag right out here?'"

An Atlanta man is suing Georgia after state rejects his three gay-themed vanity license plates, "4GayLib," "GayPwr" and "GayGuy:" "All three were denied because they were already on a list of more than 10,000 banned tags, the state's 'bad tag list'. 'There are some limits that are proper but none of this makes any sense,' [Attorney Cynthia] Counts said. 'It's completely contrary to any first amendment principals.'"

The Connecticut Senate approved the state's first openly gay Supreme Court justice.

MSNBC panels says Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was "at her very best" during yesterday's Benghazi hearings.

New rules from the Kremlin demand military officers inspect recruits' bodies, including their genitals, for tattoos that may indicate gang or gay affiliation. "The reason for getting tattoos could indicate a low cultural or educational level," the directive reads. "If an influence by external factors is determined, for example, persuasion or direct coercion, this indicates the malleability of the young man, his disposition to submit to another's will."

Scotland Yard says it has arrested three people suspected of being involved in a "Muslim street patrol" that recently assaulted a gay man in London.

More about corporations turning on the Boy Scouts for the Scouts' tenacious homophobia, including a chart on who's giving how much to the organization. (Click on image to expand.)

David Hall, the former Air Force sergeant booted under Don't Ask, Don't Tell, discusses his experience as a "citizen co-chair" during President Obama's second inauguration. "I think he tried to put us all at ease and talk to us as normal people," he said of the commander-in-chief's demeanor.

Rather than joining the momentum that will most likely usher in marriage equality in Rhode Island, and simultaneously going against his party peer, Gov. Lincoln Chafee, Democratic State Sen. Frank A. Ciccone III plans on introducing a bill that will put same-sex unions to a popular vote, rather than allowing lawmakers to decide.

Despite outcry from LGBT students, Chick-fil-A will stay put at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The school, however, agreed to give them $1,500 to see if they can start an anti-bullying and general awareness campaign on such a small budget.

Stephen Dorff found some relief in the Roosevelt Hotel's bushes.

Here are the president's remarks on the Pentagon lifting the ban on women in combat: "Today, by moving to open more military positions—including ground combat units—to women, our armed forces have taken another historic step toward harnessing the talents and skills of all our citizens..."

Polish lawmakers begin debating civil unions.

Why didn't Sheryl Crow tell the world that former lover Lance Armstrong was doping?

David Beckham in a "fashionable dressing gown."

Is JJ Abrams going to direct the next Star Wars flick?

"Does lightning cause migraines?"

A Plan for Suffering AIDS Veterans?

John Voelcker writes in the Huffington Post about Spencer Cox, the AIDS activist who died last month at 44, and Cox's onetime proposal for an organization called Medius Institute for Gay Men's Health which would improve the "health, well-being and longevity of gay men in mid-life," specifically those who lived through the AIDS epidemic.

Writes Voelcker:

We hear a lot about "wounded warriors" with regard to American military battles overseas, and and justifiably so. It's devastating for young men and women to watch as trusted comrades are grievously hurt or killed at their side. It's equally devastating to return to a society that honors veterans for a day, then expects them to act "normal" and resume life as the same people they were before the war. While the life-long disabilities they suffer may be politely overlooked, it's clear that they're expected to shield the memories, losses and fears brought back from the battlefield.

But for military veterans, there's a $140-billion Veteran's Administration to thank them, care for them and minister to their needs. The veterans of our own war here at home aren't so lucky.

There are the hundreds of thousands of men and women who survived the worst of the AIDS epidemic during the 1980s and 1990s. They are the wounded warriors of our fight. And they have no such support -- especially those who've lived with HIV for 15 years or more. Whether HIV-positive or negative, many of them suffer what would likely be defined as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Their rates of dysthymia and depression are higher, they may engage in unsafe sex, and a few of those with HIV inexplicably stop taking the lifesaving anti-retroviral medications that saved their lives 15 years ago. Men who know the rules of safe sex may test positive after staying negative for three decades.

Is it time to resurrect the idea of such an organization?

Voelcker's full piece here.

Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea Arrives in North America

Gonorrhea resistant to antibiotics has been reported for some time. What you should be concerned about is that it has now arrived in North America:

In a study released Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a group of scientists led by Vanessa Allen of Public Health Ontario, found that 6.7 percent of patients with gonorrhea at a Toronto clinic still had the disease after a round of cephalosporins, the last effective oral antibiotic used to treat the disease. Of 133 patients who returned for a "test of cure" visit, nine remained gonorrhea-positive. This is the first time cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea has been found in humans in North America.

"These are the clinical cases we've been waiting for," Allen says. "This is the translation of the lab information into what the clinical consequence is."

The report:

In an accompanying editorial, Robert D. Kirkcaldy, M.D., M.P.H., of the Division of STD Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues write that the findings of this study, of documented cephalosporin treatment failures in North America, although expected, “its arrival is deeply troubling; clinicians now face the emergence of cephalosporin-resistant N gonorrhoeae without any well-studied, effective backup treatment options.”

“New antibiotics for treating gonococcal infections are needed. A clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases examining novel combinations of existing drugs just completed enrollment, and a small study of a new oral agent is ongoing. But the antibiotic pipeline is running dry: continued investment in antibiotic development is critical. Meanwhile, the gonococcus has continued to develop the capability to defeat each new antibiotic used. The threat of drug-resistant gonorrhea is increasing and has reached North America. Clinicians, drug developers, and public health professionals must act now.”

UPDATE: A better article from NPR notes that the gonorrhea can be eventually cured at this stage:

...even in the Canadian study, all patients eventually recovered when they were given larger doses of cefixime or a related antibiotic. Nevertheless, there have been worrying signs of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea in the U.S.

Hillary Clinton Hospitalized After Doctors Discover Blood Clot

Numerous news organizations are reporting that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been checked into New York Presbyterian hospital after doctors found a blood clot related during a check-up following her concussion earlier this month.

From CNN:

[Secretary Clinton] is expected to remain at New York Presbyterian Hospital for the next 48 hours so doctors can monitor her condition and treat her with anti-coagulants, said Philippe Reines, deputy assistant secretary of state.

"Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion," Reines said. "They will determine if any further action is required."

Reines did not specify where the clot was discovered.

Homophobia, Income Inequality Hinder HIV Services

The Global Forum on MSM & HIV's latest report shows once again that economic inequality and homophobia inhibits access to condoms, lubricants and other HIV-related preventions and treatments. And, not surprisingly, so too does homophobia, particularly in African nations.

From the report, "Access to HIV Prevention and Treatment for Men Who Have Sex with Men:"

Cultural norms that favor heterosexual relationships foment homophobic attitudes in social and political settings. These cultural norms permeate health care systems as well.

Participants provided multiple examples
of health care providers who proselytized against homosexuality rather than provide education regarding
HIV prevention or focus on diagnosing and treating participants for the symptoms they presented.

Examples included health care providers citing biblical excerpts, chastising men for their sexuality, and bringing in other staff to “look at the MSM.” As a result, some described avoiding treatment for infections because “the way I am treated makes me feel worse when I leave than when I came in.”

Click on the image above to expand a breakdown of factors that both prevent and encourage safer sex and HIV treatment and click HERE to download a PDF of the report, via ThinkProgress.