A sharp increase in gonorrhea cases in some rural Southern Oregon counties are raising concerns among public health officials.
Oregon Health Authority data already have shown about an 18 percent jump in gonorrhea cases statewide between 2012 and 2013.
However, in Josephine, Douglas and Jackson counties, the number of cases skyrocketed by 270 percent, 1,050 percent and 387 percent, respectively, in the same period, the Grants Pass Daily Courier reported (in its July 25 edition).
Josephine County increased from 10 cases in 2012 to 37 in 2013 to hit its 270 percent; Douglas County went from two cases to 23; and Jackson County jumped from 31 cases to 151.
Health officials are puzzled as to what's causing the surge of infections in the three counties. Often several factors converge to cause case numbers to spike, they said.
However, one factor that health officials speculate could be spurring the gonorrhea increase is the area's rising methamphetamine use, which increases sex drive while lowering inhibitions.
Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease that affects men and women and can lead to serious complications, such as pelvic inflammatory disease that can cause infertility in women. Infections are treated with antibiotics, but new drug-resistant forms of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacterium that causes gonorrhea, have emerged, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For more about gonorrhea, its symptoms, spread and treatment, check out this CDC video.
In other, less infectious science news (for the week ending July 26, 2014):
— The mathematicians are coming. Lock up your protractors and graphing calculators! Members of the Mathematical Association of America will descend on Portland for a conference from Aug. 6 to 9. Skimming through the papers and presentations for the conference, aka MathFest 2014, it appears attendees will be giving much focus to math education, which is important for building math skills* needed for everyday life (checkbook balancing, anyone?) or pursuing careers in the sciences and other math-based fields. In addition to math education, math research to be presented at that conference will run from topics including "Qualitative Inverse Problems using Bifurcation Analysis in the Recurrent Neural Network Model" to "Modeling Interactions between Tumor Cells, Interstitial Fluid and Drug Particles." Perhaps later this week I'll post more titles of papers from the math conference and invite you to play a game of "explain that math paper topic" based on its title. (*Side note: Math skills also come in handy for journalists, too. Such as when you need to calculate percentage increase to double-check that state health statistics on gonorrhea are what they say they are.) (MAA)
— Acetaminophen: It's the active ingredient in Tylenol, and it can be a handy pain reliever to have around. Handy, that is, so long as you're not looking for something to kill lower back pain, which apparently two-thirds of adults suffer with. A new study has found that acetaminophen is no better at relieving lower back aches than placebo. Research, however, does show that it still has efficacy for headaches, toothaches and post-surgery pain. Back pain, though, arises through a different mechanism, which is not clearly understood. The study, which was published in The Lancet, involved about 1,500 participants from Sydney, Australia, which means a limited geographic population. However, a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled methodology was used, and that's considered a "gold standard" in research design. (The New York Times, The Lancet)
— More than 100 genes appear to be linked to the risk of developing schizophrenia, a mental health condition characterized by hallucinations (often hearing voices), delusions, and thought and movement disorders. An international team of researchers collaborated on a genomic map for schizophrenia by looking at the genetic codes of more than 150,000 people. Previous efforts had uncovered only about a dozen related genes, and scientists say more may yet be found. The hope that comes with identifying the schizophrenia-related genes it that their discovery may lead to new and better treatments for the illness. The work was published in the journal Nature, and other findings in the research seem to bolster a hypothesis linking immune system function with the disease. (CBS News, National Institute of Mental Health, Nature)
— And, finally, Tyrannosaurus rex is a dinosaur who's very name should strike terror: Tyrannosaurus comes from Greek roots meaning "tyrant lizard," and rex is Latin for "king." Then there's this tyrant lizard king's massive size and legendary meat-munching abilities. (And, for comic relief, there are also those tiny, seemingly useless arms.) Now, add this terror-ific twist: Fossilized tracks from British Columbia, Canada, suggest they hunted in ... PACKS! Research on those tracks appeared in the journal PLOS One and suggests they were made by a group of T. rex walking together. So you know what that could mean: possible social behavior, maybe even cooperation and ... HUNTING IN PACKS!!! I exaggerate, but still, I'm so glad our species didn't evolve until millions of years after they were gone. (University of California Museum of Paleontology, Imgur, io9, PLOS One)
— Susannah L. Bodman, email@example.com, www.facebook.com/Sciwhat.Science, Twitter: @Sciwhat