New disease hits gay men

2005-03-30 21:26

Paris - A previously rare venereal disease, a bacterial infection of the anus and genitalia, has been detected among European homosexuals, according to a specialist journal.

The disease, Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV), is caused by an invasive strain of chlamydia.

Previously known as a rare disease in poor countries, LGV started to spread to Europe in 2003 when an outbreak was detected among 100 gay men in Rotterdam, according to the April issue of Sexually Transmitted Infections.

It is now "a signficant problem" among homosexuals in Europe, the journal says.

Outbreaks have occurred in Antwerp, Belgium; Hamburg, Germany; Paris; Sweden; and in January this year, the first 24 cases were reported in Britain, mostly from sexual health clinics in London, a tally that rose to 34 in mid-February.

Other cases have been recorded in the United States, in New York, San Francisco and Atlanta.

The British cases were all gay men, 17 of whom also had the Aids virus. Four were also infected with hepatitis C.

"It is likely that LGV has been present for some time in MSM (men who have sex with men) in the United Kingdom, with many cases going undiagnosed," the journal says.

LGV is believed to be spread by unprotected anal sex, anal fisting and the shared use of sex toys.

Its symptoms are an anal ulcer, rectal inflammation, pain and bleeding, constipation and abdominal pain, and sometimes accompanied by a fever.

A three-week course of antibiotics is usually sufficient to treat the infection.

But if the primary ulcer goes untreated, chronic infection can follow, which can cause skin pouches, abscesses and a narrowing of the anus - an anal stricture - that may need surgery, the London-based journal says.

- AFP