The Renaissance brought us massive advances in learning. In Art, the Humanities, in Science and Trade, to name but a few. It also brought us a massive upswing in Sexually Transmitted Diseases. In Europe, Syphilis seems to have started among the troops of Charles VIII of France, who were besieging Naples in 1494. And spread like a forest fire in a drought thereafter. Gonorrhoea seems to have got its big break in the region of Les Clapiers in Paris around the middle of the sixteenth century. [1] Anyway, this wonderful link to Wikipedia will tell you all you want to know.
And STDs certainly haven’t gone away. In both the US and the UK, rates of syphilis have been rising drastically, as this article from the astute Jonathan Neal of the Daily Mail makes clear.[2] But instead of wringing his hands, Jonathan looks possible responses, and , as all good LSS readers will be cheered to discove , from an antibiotics perspective. As some of you will already know, our chief frontline weapon at the moment is doxycycline. Instead of a long course of post- infection antibiotics, why not hit ’em hard, the morning straight after, with a massive pill of the stuff? So say some experts. But there’s always a catch, as Jonathan points out. As you will have guessed, it’s our old friend antibiotic resistance. Which, according to Jonathan’s experts, is already climbing fast among gonorrhoea patients. So what is to be done?
For us at LSS, the conclusion is clear. All public health problems require a mosaic response. Public education, scientific resources, trained staff and above all someone to co-ordinate everyone else are vital. And in a deeper way , that’s true of a lot of other things. Syphilis, like climate change or migration, knows no nations and no borders. Anyone for a World Government?
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexually_transmitted_infection
#antibiotics #antibiotic resistance #syphilis #gonorrhoea #STD #public health #jonathan Neal
Learning, Science and Society 