Latest news with #chlamydia
ABC News
27-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Koalas could be extinct in south-east Queensland in 'not-too-distant future', RSPCA says
South-east Queensland has fewer than 16,000 koalas left in the wild, and of those experts say 10 per cent will end up in veterinary hospitals each year. Only half who receive hospital care will survive. Australia's iconic marsupial is up against a chlamydia epidemic, vehicle strikes and dog and feral animal attacks. It's also under threat from the creep of urban development into its habitat. RSPCA Queensland wildlife veterinary director Dr Tim Portas said koala numbers continue to decline. "Unless something significant changes and we look at protecting koala habitat and disease control programs for chlamydia, there's a real risk we won't have koalas in south-east Queensland in the not-too-distant future," he said. Koalas Maximus and William faced an uncertain fate when they came to a wildlife hospital, west of Brisbane, at the end of last year. Both were infected with chlamydia, could barely see, and were malnourished and dehydrated. Maximus needed treatment for six months before he could be released back into the Woogaroo Forest, west of Brisbane, while William returned home to the same area after nearly two months in care. Their release is bittersweet for wildlife rescuers who fear it's only a matter of time before they see them again. "We would like to think you treat these koalas and they don't come back but the unfortunate reality is that even with the chlamydia vaccine they can be reinfected … so it's a bit of an uphill battle," Dr Portas said. "There are a couple of vaccines available, but they are not readily available at the moment, so ideally we would vaccinate every koala that goes out, but we are not in a position to do that." Woogaroo Forest, near Ipswich, spans more than 450 hectares, with the majority listed as prime koala habitat by the Queensland Government. It's also home to sugar gliders, platypus, kangaroos, wallabies, and echidnas. But a third of that native bushland has been marked for urban development, including almost two thousand homes, a commercial centre, childcare centre, and sports park. There are fears this could corner koalas in islands of bushland surrounded by development, increase the risk of run-ins with cars and dogs and expose them to added stress and disease. "Once something is listed as endangered, you know that every single one of those animals needs to be protected. "But at the other end of the system you've got big developers making hundreds of millions of dollars and building houses that are spread out, that aren't communities," Rebecca Larkin, from the Ipswich Koala Protection Society, said. While these sites may not pose a major threat on their own, if all are approved, experts say it will dramatically reduce available habitat. "It's death by a thousand cuts … if you look at the broader picture then how can you not determine that these developments in combination will have a significant impact," University of Queensland researcher Dr Sean FitzGibbon said. "But that doesn't seem to be how they are assessed, it's one at a time." In a statement, Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the land was privately owned and "unfortunately" not preserved forest. The site was earmarked for housing development nearly 30 years ago by the state government, she said. It's under the Springfield Structure Plan, which Ms Harding said, "was put in place by the Queensland Government in the 1990s to support significant residential development". Ipswich City Council has already approved the developments but it's the federal government that will do the environmental assessment and ultimately decide whether they go ahead. A spokesperson for the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said each of the four proposals will need to be fully assessed under national environmental law. "The department is yet to receive preliminary documentation responses for any of the referrals which sufficiently address the department's information requirements," they said. Dr Portas said koala habitat like the Woogaroo Forest needs to be "quarantined" from development. "Obviously we have a growing population and there's a need for more houses, but we probably need to look at more comprehensive strategies that don't target prime habitat," he said. Using a handheld receiver with a directional antenna, researchers can track and monitor collared koalas in bushland in Brisbane's south-west. Among them is Matilda — a young, displaced koala who's been used to successfully re-establish a locally extinct population in the Pooh Corner Bushland Reserve at Wacol. The program is being rolled out across the city. "We've been able to re-populate this area with rescued koalas, young animals that needed a new home," Dr FitzGibbon said. The Koala Research Program, a collaboration between Brisbane City Council and research institutes, carefully selects koalas they believe will have the best chance of adapting to a new habitat and starting up a new population. "The thing that strikes me is that koalas are actually very adaptable and quite a tough animal," Dr FitzGibbon said. "They need the right food trees and connectivity, that's crucial." With the 2032 Olympic Games just seven years away, experts say the need to strike the right balance between development and the environment has never been more important. "I don't want to be somebody who stands there with Olympic visitors and says 'Look I could have shown you koalas in the wild, but I'm sorry I can't because they are now extinct'," Ms Larkin said. "People need the forest as much as the animals."
ABC News
20-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
The Myths and Misconceptions About STIs.
MICHELLE WAKIM, REPORTER: STIs aren't brought up very often, but when they are, they're usually used as a punchline. MEAN GIRLS, MOVIE (2004): You will get chlamydia, and die. THE OFFICE, TV SHOW (2010): I know tonnes and tonnes of people who have herpes. I have it myself. SEX EDUCATION, DRAMA SERIES (2020): Why is it like the walking dead in here? What is going on? Chlamydia. Everyone's got it! Sexually transmitted infections are really common, but apart from a few pop culture references, we don't really talk about them. And it's left us exposed to growing infection rates, stigma, and a whole lot of misinformation. SEX EDUCATION, DRAMA SERIES: One for a fiver, three for ten. You cannot catch chlamydia from the air. You have to have sexual contact with the carrier. Shh, they don't know that do they. So if you're having sex or think you might one day, this is important stuff. NIKKI BRANDON, SEXUAL HEALTH NURSE, SHINE SA: My name's Nikki Brandon, I am a sexual health nurse. In sexual health, we do things like STI screening, so screening for sexually transmitted infections, and we also do lots of work around contraceptions. Oh I love my job. Nikki has been doing this for more than 30 years. So, we sat down with her to try and work through some of the big myths and misconceptions about STIs. NIKKI BRANDON: Oh well probably the, the most obvious one is, 'oh it won't happen to me' but of course STIs don't discriminate. If you're sexually active, then it can certainly happen to you. A sexually transmitted infection, or a STI, is an infection that can be passed from one person to another through sexual contact. NIKKI BRANDON: Obviously they're spread through sexual intercourse, so through vaginal sex, oral sex, and anal sex, but they can also be spread through some close contact, so sometimes skin-to-skin contact is enough. But what exactly are we spreading here? Well, first we have chlamydia, the most common STI in Australia. NIKKI BRANDON: The main thing with chlamydia is it doesn't always have symptoms, or if it does have symptoms the symptoms just aren't enough to be recognised. And here's a good spot to address misconception number two. NIKKI BRANDON: People think if they don't have any symptoms, then they must be okay. A lot of the sexually transmitted infections don't actually have symptoms, so you can't rely on symptoms alone. If there are symptoms, it will be things like a genital discharge, pain passing urine, and sometimes it can cause pain in the belly. Gonorrhoea is another big player and is quite similar to chlamydia in its symptoms. So again, you might get pain passing urine, discharge, irregular bleeding between periods or bleeding after sex. Next, we have syphilis. NIKKI BRANDON: Syphilis has got a few stages of symptoms. So initially, there might be an initial sore, which usually doesn't hurt. And then what can happen with syphilis is you can have a rash that will go all over the body, but it can affect their hands and the soles of the feet as well. And that's quite unusual for a rash. And one that you might have heard of is herpes. NIKKI BRANDON: Herpes is certainly one of those infections that causes a lot of concern with people. It's a cold sore. So cold sores are very common. Genital herpes is basically just a cold sore down there. So, while it's annoying and it can be a bit painful, it's not there all the time. The virus will stay in your nervous system, but it doesn't mean you're always going to have the symptoms and it doesn't mean that you're always going to be infectious. But when the symptoms are on the skin surface, so when the blisters are out, that's when you're the most infectious and that's where you shouldn't have any activity. But when the symptoms have gone and the sores are all healed up, you're good to go. But whether or not you have symptoms, STIs shouldn't go untreated. Chlamydia and gonorrhoea can actually progress to cause other conditions, which can lead to infertility or chronic pelvic pain. And with syphilis, it can end up damaging someone's vision, heart, lungs and bones, and can have devastating impacts on a pregnancy or the health of a baby. NIKKI BRANDON: There certainly can be consequences of untreated STIs. That's why regular screening is so important because if you wait to rely on symptoms, the infection can actually be causing more damage than it should. It's important to note that while we've mentioned some of the most common STIs, there are still others out there. In Australia, STI awareness really came into the spotlight in the 1980s during the HIV AIDS epidemic. At the time, some pretty full-on campaigns were shown on TV. OLD HIV AIDS TV CAMPAIGN: One person dies from AIDS in Australia every second day and many more are becoming infected. AIDS is spread by sexual intercourse. NIKKI BRANDON: Obviously HIV had put a lot of fear into people, so there was a lot fear, there was a lot terror actually. You probably remember the campaign with the Grim Reaper, it was, it was scary times, and, and you know everyone was so scared. OLD HIV AIDS TV CAMPAIGN: AIDS can be stopped and you can help stop it. If you have sex, have just one safe partner or always use condoms, always. That fear was effective when it came to getting the message across about safe sex, but these ads also created a lot of stigma around the queer community, particularly around gay men, because a HIV diagnosis was and still is most common among men who have sex with men, but some of that stigma still remains today. NIKKI BRANDON: We're very much past that now. We've got excellent treatments for HIV. It's no longer the death sentence it was once perceived as being. We got treatments for people with HIV and we've got treatments to stop people developing HIV. We've absolutely come through that one. But in the decades since the 1980s, the number of STIs recorded each year has been climbing. Over the last 20 years, chlamydia has roughly tripled in the number new cases diagnosed per year, bringing us to more than 100,000 cases last year. Gonorrhoea has increased massively over those same two decades, from 7,000 in 2004 to 44,000 in 2024, and syphilis, which we nearly got rid of in the early 2000s, has increased by almost ninefold to around 6,000 cases per year. It's fair to say STIs have become pretty common, to the point where one in six of us will get one at some stage. SEX AND THE CITY, TV SHOW (2000): I always practice safe sex. GLEE, TV SHOW (2014): Yeah, the doctor called me and said I tested positive. How is that possible? I don't know how. Well, do you wear condoms? No. Well, that would be how. Well, a lot of us aren't actually being as safe as we could be, and that's what's leading to more infections. NIKKI BRANDON: So we actually like to use the phrase safe first sex. Safe first sex will incorporate things like consent, using protection condoms is so important and I think that's getting a bit lost at the moment, but condoms are the one thing that does protect against sexually transmitted infections. Now people aren't so fearful of HIV. People aren't using condoms as much as they used to be and obviously along with those regular STI screenings. While STI rates have gone up, testing has gone down. And a lot of that is because many of us don't actually know how testing works. NIKKI BRANDON: You know, some people think, 'oh well, I had a test, you know, I've already had a test, so I should be fine.' It's not one and done, you need to have regular testing. Like going to the dentist, you know, it should be just a, a routine thing that people are talking about and caring about. For young people under the age of 30, it should be at least once a year. Ideally, to have a test before a new partner, that would be ideal, but yeah, certainly with changing sexual partners, or at least once a year. And another misconception is around screening. I think people think that you have to get undressed or you have show people bits and pieces. You don't. STI testing is often as simple as a blood test, a urine test, or a swab. And in some cases, this can even be done at home. But sexual health clinics, your GP, Aboriginal health clinics or family planning centres are all good places to start. And each state has a sexual health service that you can call or email if you need more information. There's one more thing we have to do if we test positive for an STI. THE OFFICE, TV SHOW: You need to contact every woman you've been with and notify them of your herpes infestation. It's the right thing to do. SEX AND THE CITY, TV SHOW: She told me that I should contact all the people that I might've given it to, so they can all be treated. HEARTBREAK HIGH, TV SHOW (2022): Just wanted to let you know that I have chlamydia, so you probably do as well. NIKKI BRANDON: If people do test positive for an infection, you do have to tell your partners. So, telling people that you're having sex with is the most important way of actually eliminating all STIs. Experts like Nikki say while we might find those conversations a bit embarrassing, we shouldn't feel any shame about having an STI. And proper treatment can put any misconceptions about how it impacts us long-term to bed. NIKKI BRANDON: Oh no, no, you can absolutely have sex again. But this is why safe first sex is important. You know, use your protection, make sure all your activities are consensual, and like I say, regular testing. The important thing with all STIs is that if you're given treatment for an STI, you need to take the entire treatment, and that's it, it will go. You'll be, you'll be good to go again.
The Sun
20-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Man, 26, with ‘never ending cough' diagnosed with ‘parrot chlamydia' after ‘accidentally' breathing in chicken poo
A YOUNG man was diagnosed with psittacosis - also known as 'parrot chlamydia' - after accidentally inhaling chicken poop. The 26-year-old arrived at a hospital in China in January 2023, suffering from a cough that had lasted six days and a persistent high fever. 2 2 Doctors handling his case initially suspected the man from Zhejiang Province had a run-of-the-mill respiratory infection, but a chest scan revealed something more serious. His lungs were filled with 'ground-glass opacities', a hazy pattern that usually shows up in people with viral pneumonia or Covid. Despite treatment with standard antibiotics, his condition only got worse. Tests on a lung sample found he had psittacosis - also called parrot fever - caused by chlamydia psittaci bacteria. The chlamydia that causes psittacosis is not the same as the sexually transmitted chlamydia. They're just part of the same bacterial group. It is a flu-like illness caused by contact with infected birds that can leave people suffering with severe pneumonia or brain and heart inflammation. In this case, the man had been exposed to chicken poo prior to symptom onset. "The patient kept more than 10 pigeons and had mistakenly inhaled chicken manure before symptom onset," the medics treating him wrote in the BMC Infectious Diseases. Once diagnosed, his treatment was adjusted to include appropriate antibiotics, specifically: omadacycline and azithromycin. Within two weeks his cough had "completely resolved" and a CT scan suggested his lungs were improving, the medics wrote. Health alert after parrot fever that can trigger severe pneumonia and meningitis infects dozens of humans, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and The Netherlands have all seen a sudden increase in parrot fever infections last year the World Health Organisation (WHO) previously warned. "Psittacosis pneumonia should be considered in patients with the RHS and histories of contact with poultry or other birds," the authors concluded. "The early diagnosis of the disease and proper adjustment of medication to reduce its severity are critical." Symptoms of parrot fever tend to be mild and can resemble the flu, with sufferers experiencing fever and chills, headache, muscle aches and dry cough. But left untreated, the illness can progress to severe pneumonia, inflammation of the heart called endocarditis, hepatitis and even brain swelling, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prompt antibiotic treatment is needed to avoid complications from psittacosis, the World Health Organisation says. What are the symptoms of psittacosis? PSITTACOSIS is a respiratory infection caused by the bacteria Chlamydophila psittaci found in birds. Most people begin developing signs and symptoms within five to 14 days after exposure to the bacteria, according to the Wold Health Organisation. Prompt antibiotic treatment is effective and can help avoiding complications such as pneumonia. With appropriate antibiotic treatment, psittacosis rarely results in death, with less than one in 100 cases being fatal. Symptoms of parrot fever include: Fever and chills Headache Muscle aches Dry cough Though most people treated for parrot fever make a full recovery, some have serious complications and need hospital care. These include: Pneumonia (lung infection) Endocarditis (inflammation of the heart valves) Hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) Inflammation of the nerves or the brain, leading to neurologic problems Symptoms of psittacosis are similar to many other respiratory illnesses and tests to detect the bacteria directly may not be readily available. For these reasons, doctors may not suspect it, making psittacosis difficult to diagnose. You should tell your GP if you get sick after buying or handling a pet bird or poultry.
The Sun
19-05-2025
- General
- The Sun
My best mate and I ruined our relationships after catching STIs from romp with two sisters – and they're both pregnant
DEAR DEIDRE: MISSING the last train home has cost me and my mate our relationships . . . and he was due to get married this year, too. We work as highway contractors, mainly on the motorways. It's well paid but it's a case of work hard, play hard. Having said that, my friend and I were both in settled relationships. I've been with my girlfriend for eight months and my mate's wedding was booked for September. He's 32 and I'm 30. We had some Friday night beers two months ago and things went a bit far. We were off our heads when we stumbled out of the pub to go into town to a club. We stayed drinking in the club until my mate knocked a tray of drinks out of a waitress's hand and we were thrown out. When we eventually made it to the station, it was all closed up and we'd missed the last train home. That's when two women walked by and we started chatting. They said we could call a cab at theirs which was just around the corner. They said they were sisters and were 24 and 26. They offered us drinks and then started to get very flirty. We were both so drunk. I can't remember much but I know we paired off with the sisters. It was a disaster, and we both caught chlamydia! I had to tell my girlfriend and my mate had to tell his fiancée. We've blown up both relationships and they dumped us. Now I've had a text from the girl I was with saying she's pregnant and so is her sister. She's saying we're responsible but they won't have DNA tests. My mate has a lot of explaining to do to his family because the wedding is off and now he might also be a dad. If these women are refusing a DNA test, they might be having a laugh, at your expense. Insist on having one done to prove paternity. If you are both full of remorse, all you can do is beg and plead with your girlfriends that this was one, very bad, drunken mistake, not to be repeated. My support pack called Cheating – Can You Get Over It? may help you both too. My fella wants to sleep around DEAR DEIDRE: MY bisexual boyfriend has told me he wants an open relationship but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with it. He's 27 and I'm a guy of 29. He has had a promiscuous lifestyle. We actually met in a gay bar, but going with different men isn't my style. We had a lot in common when we got talking. We like the same music and we both work in technology. We've been dating for six months. We went out for a drink last night and he was talking to a girl at the bar while he was getting us some drinks. I watched him put his number in her phone. He came back to the table and after a while, he asked me how I felt about open relationships. I don't want to lose him so I said I'd consider it. If we go for it, I worry he'll get his head turned. DEIDRE SAYS: If he's used to having different partners, he may be trying to find out where he fits in. You know what you want though, so pretending that you're happy to go along with him cheating on you is a bad idea. It will just leave you feeling miserable. It's only an open relationship if you both agree to it. Tell him you care for him but you'd prefer to be exclusive. Ask him what another partner would give him that you can't. He may realise that he feels the same but if he doesn't, then you're better off looking for love somewhere else. Lover has lied about divorce DEAR DEIDRE: I FEEL like getting in touch with my lover's wife and spilling the beans on what a snake he is, if she doesn't already know. We met on a dating site for divorced people. I'd been hurt when my husband cheated on me so I figured finding another divorced person might be safe. I'm a woman of 35 and I met a man of 38. He said he was divorced. He worked on the oil rigs. I live in Scotland so he seemed like a good match to me. We dated and it quickly turned into a sexual relationship. I thought he could be the one. He explained his wife had cheated and she now ran a bed & breakfast in the Lake District. I did a bit of snooping and found her. She looked lovely. I talked to him about joining me for my birthday but he said he'd be going to his place in Spain. He didn't invite me. When he left, I called his ex-wife's B&B and asked to talk to her but I was told she was on holiday. I pretended I knew her and said, 'Has she gone to her place in Spain' and the reply was, 'Yes'. I've been texting him but no response. I know he's still married. I don't deserve this. Should I tell his wife? DEIDRE SAYS: No. It will be your word against his. If you're certain he's lied to you, you'll have to put this down to experience and move on. His wife may already know what he's like but turns a blind eye, and it's not your place to tell her she's married to a love-rat if she doesn't know that already. He's hurt you so just try and learn from it. The next person you start a relationship with, find out as much as you possibly can about them before you start thinking of a future together. My support pack called Finding The Right Partner For You explains more. Struggling after first love took his own life DEAR DEIDRE: I'M a married woman with two kids but I won't ever forget my first love who took his own life three years ago. I'm 28 and my husband is 31. He's great. My first love was with me for two years. We met in year 12 in school and we were inseparable for a couple of years. He lived with depression though and that was tough for him, and sometimes for me too. When he was really low once, his mum came to the door and said he didn't want to see me any more and he was in a bad place. He recovered but he didn't make contact with me again. He'd be 29 now but three years ago, I got a call from a friend who knew his sister, to say that he'd taken his own life. I was devastated. I went to his funeral. My husband understands but it's my ex's birthday soon and I keep thinking about him. DEIDRE SAYS: I'm so sorry. First loves are often very special and your relationship was no exception. It's tragic for a young man to take his own life like that but please believe that it wasn't your fault. The reasons he died will go back to long before he met you. Find some bereavement counselling so this doesn't affect your family life. Samaritans run a support group programme that supports people bereaved by suicide. Book a place on it at
