Latest news with #Ohlsen
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Health
- The Irish Sun
Woman died after ‘rampant STI' invaded her body and attacked her vital organs – 4 signs you must know
A WOMAN died after an untreated STI invaded her body and attacked her vital organs. The unnamed woman from Alaska , who was in her 50s, passed away from disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI). 1 Alaskan health officials warned high risk strains of gonorrhoea might be affecting people without symptoms Credit: Alamy This is a rare but serious complication of the sexually transmitted infection It occurs when Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria spreads from the initial site of infection, seeping into the bloodstream and vital organs. DGI is thought to occur in just 0.5 percent of all gonorrhoea cases. The woman arrived at her local emergency department in Anchorage, Alaska, in spring this year, already in a critical condition. Read more on STIs She was in respiratory distress - when the lungs aren't working properly due to serious illness - and was diagnosed with septic shock and heart failure, caused by Further testing revealed her body had been invaded by gonorrhoea bacteria. But the patient wasn't diagnosed with DGI until after she'd passed away. There were no records of her being tested for gonorrhoea prior to her presenting at the emergency department. Most read in Health She'd been treated twice in the prior six months for opioid abuse, according to the Eight cases of DGI were reported in Alaska between January and May 2025, report authors added. How to put a condom on - NHS The cases were spotted after patients were evaluated in emergency departments in Anchorage. Epidemiologic investigations didn't establish connections between any of the DGI cases. While gonorrhoea can be got rid of with antibiotics, some infected people may not get tested or treated as they don't have symptoms of the STI, according to Dr Liz Ohlsen, a staff physician with the Alaska Department of Health who wrote the report. As a result, they run the risk of developing dangerous DGI, she told the Health officials fear that a strain less likely to cause symptoms is circulating in Alaska, Dr Ohlsen went on. 'We think the most likely explanation for the rise in DGI cases is that more people with gonorrhoea are not getting tested and treated in a timely manner," she said. "Asymptomatic infections are thought to pose a greater risk of persistent untreated infection because people are less likely to have sought care." The Alaska Department of Health bulletin warned that people in Anchorage with a new sexual partner, more than one sexual partner, or a partner with multiple partners might be at risk of acquiring a strain of N. gonorrhoeae that's thought to carry a higher risk of causing DGI. Symptoms of gonorrhoea Typical symptoms of gonorrhoea include: A thick green or yellow discharge from the vagina or penis Pain when urinating Pain and discomfort in the rectum Lower abdominal pain and bleeding between periods in women and other people with a uterus or ovaries Gonorrhoea can affect other parts of your body that come into contact with semen or vaginal fluid. This can cause: Pain, itching and discharge from your bottom A sore throat Eye redness, pain and discharge However, many people infected with gonorrhoea will have no symptoms, especially for infections in the throat, vagina or rectum. This lack of symptoms makes it important to test regularly when having sex with new or casual partners. If you do get symptoms, they usually start around two weeks after infection, although they sometimes do not appear until many months later. Untreated gonorrhoea can lead to serious health complications including: Infertility and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) An infection of the female reproductive system, which includes the womb, fallopian tubes and ovaries An infection in the testicles or prostate In rare cases, gonorrhoea bacteria can cause a disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI). It can cause frequently results in purple or pus-filled spots on the skin, joint pain, inflamed tendons or septic joint infections. Rarely, DGI can lead to inflammation of the liver, endocarditis - an infection of the inner heart lining - and meningitis. Having gonorrhoea during pregnancy can increase your risk of premature birth and your baby having a low birth weight. There's also a risk the infection could spread to your baby's eyes during birth, which is called gonococcal conjunctivitis. This can cause blindness if it's not treated with antibiotics. "While no specific sexual network has been identified, this strain may be circulating more broadly among persons with gonorrhea infection in Southcentral Alaska," report authors said. "The absence of documented gonorrhoea risk factors in most DGI cases suggests patients may not be asked about or disclosing key sexual history . "Few had symptoms before presenting with DGI, consistent with its progression from untreated mucosal infections. "Asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients with GC are less likely to seek health care and may be at a higher risk of persistent untreated infection leading to disseminated infection." In the UK, health officials issued warnings earlier this year over cases of While most gonorrhoea infections can be treated effectively, certain resistant strains "present significant treatment challenges", the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. It warned that increased resistance could one day make the STI 'untreatable'. Meanwhile, the NHS announced it would begin vaccinating people against gonorrhoea come August, after cases of the STI hit a record 85,000 in 2023. Local sexual health clinics will offer the jab to gay and bisexual men, who are most at risk. Patients will receive the 4CMenB vaccine for meningitis B, which has been found to nearly halve the chances of catching Health chiefs reckon they can prevent around 10,000 cases per year. How to avoid STIs In general, sexually transmitted infections are highly preventable. The only method guaranteed to prevent STIs is to avoid any kind of sexual contact, but this method probably won't appeal to everyone! There are things you can do to limit the risk of exposure to infections while still enjoying an active sex life. The best way to avoid most STIs is to use a condom when you have vaginal or anal sex, as well as condoms and dental dams during oral sex. Below are some other things you can do to reduce the chances: Talking honestly with potential partners about your sexual history Getting tested, along with your new partner, before having sex Getting tested once a year Avoiding sex when under the influence of alcohol or drugs Completing a full course of treatment if you or your partner are diagnosed with an STI Not sharing sex toys, or washing them a covering them with a new condom if you do Where appropriate, getting vaccinated against HPV and hepatitis B
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Health
- Scottish Sun
Woman died after ‘rampant STI' invaded her body and attacked her vital organs – 4 signs you must know
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A WOMAN died after an untreated STI invaded her body and attacked her vital organs. The unnamed woman from Alaska, who was in her 50s, passed away from disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI). Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Alaskan health officials warned high risk strains of gonorrhoea might be affecting people without symptoms Credit: Alamy This is a rare but serious complication of the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhoea. It occurs when Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria spreads from the initial site of infection, seeping into the bloodstream and vital organs. DGI is thought to occur in just 0.5 percent of all gonorrhoea cases. The woman arrived at her local emergency department in Anchorage, Alaska, in spring this year, already in a critical condition. She was in respiratory distress - when the lungs aren't working properly due to serious illness - and was diagnosed with septic shock and heart failure, caused by endocarditis, a potentially fatal infection of the heart's inner lining. Further testing revealed her body had been invaded by gonorrhoea bacteria. But the patient wasn't diagnosed with DGI until after she'd passed away. There were no records of her being tested for gonorrhoea prior to her presenting at the emergency department. She'd been treated twice in the prior six months for opioid abuse, according to the Alaska Department of Health. Eight cases of DGI were reported in Alaska between January and May 2025, report authors added. How to put a condom on - NHS The cases were spotted after patients were evaluated in emergency departments in Anchorage. Epidemiologic investigations didn't establish connections between any of the DGI cases. While gonorrhoea can be got rid of with antibiotics, some infected people may not get tested or treated as they don't have symptoms of the STI, according to Dr Liz Ohlsen, a staff physician with the Alaska Department of Health who wrote the report. As a result, they run the risk of developing dangerous DGI, she told the Alaska Beacon. Health officials fear that a strain less likely to cause symptoms is circulating in Alaska, Dr Ohlsen went on. 'We think the most likely explanation for the rise in DGI cases is that more people with gonorrhoea are not getting tested and treated in a timely manner," she said. "Asymptomatic infections are thought to pose a greater risk of persistent untreated infection because people are less likely to have sought care." The Alaska Department of Health bulletin warned that people in Anchorage with a new sexual partner, more than one sexual partner, or a partner with multiple partners might be at risk of acquiring a strain of N. gonorrhoeae that's thought to carry a higher risk of causing DGI. Symptoms of gonorrhoea Typical symptoms of gonorrhoea include: A thick green or yellow discharge from the vagina or penis Pain when urinating Pain and discomfort in the rectum Lower abdominal pain and bleeding between periods in women and other people with a uterus or ovaries Gonorrhoea can affect other parts of your body that come into contact with semen or vaginal fluid. This can cause: Pain, itching and discharge from your bottom A sore throat Eye redness, pain and discharge However, many people infected with gonorrhoea will have no symptoms, especially for infections in the throat, vagina or rectum. This lack of symptoms makes it important to test regularly when having sex with new or casual partners. If you do get symptoms, they usually start around two weeks after infection, although they sometimes do not appear until many months later. Untreated gonorrhoea can lead to serious health complications including: Infertility and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) An infection of the female reproductive system, which includes the womb, fallopian tubes and ovaries An infection in the testicles or prostate In rare cases, gonorrhoea bacteria can cause a disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI). It can cause frequently results in purple or pus-filled spots on the skin, joint pain, inflamed tendons or septic joint infections. Rarely, DGI can lead to inflammation of the liver, endocarditis - an infection of the inner heart lining - and meningitis. Having gonorrhoea during pregnancy can increase your risk of premature birth and your baby having a low birth weight. There's also a risk the infection could spread to your baby's eyes during birth, which is called gonococcal conjunctivitis. This can cause blindness if it's not treated with antibiotics. "While no specific sexual network has been identified, this strain may be circulating more broadly among persons with gonorrhea infection in Southcentral Alaska," report authors said. "The absence of documented gonorrhoea risk factors in most DGI cases suggests patients may not be asked about or disclosing key sexual history. "Few had symptoms before presenting with DGI, consistent with its progression from untreated mucosal infections. "Asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients with GC are less likely to seek health care and may be at a higher risk of persistent untreated infection leading to disseminated infection." In the UK, health officials issued warnings earlier this year over cases of "extensively drug resistant" gonorrhoea that aren't responding to antibiotic treatment. While most gonorrhoea infections can be treated effectively, certain resistant strains "present significant treatment challenges", the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. It warned that increased resistance could one day make the STI 'untreatable'. Meanwhile, the NHS announced it would begin vaccinating people against gonorrhoea come August, after cases of the STI hit a record 85,000 in 2023. Local sexual health clinics will offer the jab to gay and bisexual men, who are most at risk. Patients will receive the 4CMenB vaccine for meningitis B, which has been found to nearly halve the chances of catching gonorrhoea in adults. Health chiefs reckon they can prevent around 10,000 cases per year.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Vaccination proved an effective safeguard for kids during Alaska's pertussis spike, report says
A doctor gives a 5-month-old boy an injection. The recommended childhood suite of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccinations proved successful at protecting Alaska children during the state's recent pertussis outbreak, state officials report. (Getty Images) Vaccinations successfully guarded Alaska children from pertussis, a respiratory disease also known as whooping cough, during the state's recent spike in cases of the disease, a new state report says. The full course of vaccination was about 93% effective in preventing the disease among young children during last years' dramatic increase in cases, according to a bulletin released by the Alaska Division of Public Health's epidemiology section. Children who were partially vaccinated had about an 85% protection rate, according to the bulletin. In contrast, unvaccinated children were more than 13 times as likely as vaccinated children to get the disease during Alaska's outbreak, said the bulletin, which reviewed laboratory-confirmed pertussis cases among children between May and November of last year. For young children, the pertussis vaccine is delivered in a package with vaccines for diphtheria and tetanus. State and federal health officials recommend four doses of that triple vaccine, known as DTaP, by the time children are 18 months old, with a fifth dose as a booster at ages 4 to 6 Beyond those years, it is recommended that older children and adults get periodic vaccinations against the three diseases, though in a different formulation known as Tdap. Pertussis is a bacterial disease that can result in pneumonia. The highest risks are among the youngest patients. For them, 'that bacterial infection can move quickly,' said Dr. Liz Ohlsen, a staff physician with the state Division of Public Health who co-authored the bulletin. Most at risk are infants whose immune systems are undeveloped and who might be too young to have been vaccinated. Deaths from pertussis are rare, but they usually occur among infants. The impacts to babies can seem sudden, Ohlsen said. 'Not all infants will have symptoms that are obvious before they start to develop severe symptoms like difficulty breathing,' she said. That is why state health officials urge expectant mothers to get the pertussis vaccine, she said. 'Making sure that everyone gets the vaccine booster during pregnancy is really key for making sure that babies have that protection in the first two months of life,' she said. Beyond then, the first dose for infants is recommended at two months. Some vaccinated children did get pertussis during Alaska's recent outbreak, the epidemiology section bulletin showed. The analysis considered only whether children tested positive or negative for the disease, not how severe the cases were, Ohlsen said. Aside from preventing the disease, vaccination 'also limits and helps protect against severe illness even if someone does get that breakthrough infection,' she said. There were more confirmed cases of pertussis in Alaska last year than in all the years from 2016 to 2023 combined, according to state officials. However, the recent Alaska outbreak peaked in September, and case numbers have declined substantially since then, according to state data. Alaska has one of the lowest childhood vaccination rates in the country. According to the State Health Access Data Assistance Center, a program at the University of Minnesota, Alaska in 2021 ranked second-to-last in overall childhood vaccination rates, after West Virginia. For DTaP vaccinations specifically, 65% of Alaska children 3 and younger had received their recommended suite of four DTaP vaccinations doses as of mid-2024, according to the Alaska Division of Public Health. That compares to a national average of about 87% as of 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ohlsen said that vaccination against pertussis is also important for older children and adults. 'While pertussis is not as dangerous for older children and adults as it is for infants. It can be very unpleasant, I've certainly seen patients this season that were coughing for weeks. And it was very disruptive for them,' she said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
