Safety is sexy, chlamydia is not

Back in the day it was called VD for venereal disease. And then we had STD for sexually transmitted disease. At present, the medically appropriate term is STI, for sexually transmitted infection.

The terminology changes, as does the awareness about them and the number of people afflicted. With an increase in education and awareness about condoms and STI testing, one might think that the numbers are going down. But the horizon ain't totally rosy. Let's check in on some stats of those with bacterial ants in the pants.

There is some good news, particularly on the increasingly less grim front of HIV/AIDS. New diagnoses of those with the virus have been relatively stable in Oregon since 1997, and they've been taking a slight decline in the last couple of years, hovering around 300 new cases a year in the state, but dipping to 270 in 2006.

Syphilis, too, has been a virtually nonexistent issue with a rate of 1.3 per 100,000 new Oregonians diagnosed with it in 2006. (As my doctor of a mother said, "Jesse, you really don't need to worry about that unless you're doing it with sailors or something.") And Oregon's rate of those newly diagnosed with any infection-for which data is available-is lower than the national average.

In some cases, however, our genital health is a little less jolly. Chlamydia rates, for example, have been on an aggregate rise in our state since a historic low in 1997. The rate then was 184.9 per 100,000 people. In 2006 it was 259.5. The scariest part about this is the fact that while chlamydia is often easily cured with antibiotics, the infection usually occurs with no symptoms, and as a result, often goes undiagnosed. The health consequences can be harsh, especially on women. In a report on recent STI trends, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tells us "Up to 40 percent of females with untreated chlamydia infections develop PID, and 20 percent of those may become infertile." The report goes on to say that while chlamydia complications among men are "relatively uncommon," it can, in rare cases, cause sterility.

Gonorrhea rates, while having remained relatively stable in Oregon for the last few years (and even showing signs of going down), have a separate and frightening can of worms to deal with. Long dealt with as an infection cured by antibiotics, a fast-growing number of cases are turning out to be resistant to the leading class of antibiotics used to treat it. Of the cases tested through a CDC surveillance project in 2006, 13.8 percent were found to be resistant. Alternative antibiotics are now being used to treat it, but other drug-resistant strains exist, and alternative antibiotics can often come with higher prices and more side effects.

Not to mention diseases like HPV, which the CDC estimates half of sexually active people will get at some point in their lifetime and which men cannot be tested for. Or genital herpes, which, it's estimated, one out of five adolescents and adults in the United States has. Scary stuff.

Finally, the fact that some rates of new diagnoses are stable is, quite bluntly, not good enough. A total 270 new diagnoses of HIV/AIDS a year in this state is 270 too many.

So what's the deal in our age of supposed enlightenment? Most people are smart enough to not fuck total strangers without protection. Most of us are smart enough to know how to put on a condom, and most of us know that using the withdrawal method is about as safe as taking the MAX out to Gresham.

But having unprotected sex with anybody, no matter how well you know them, is still unprotected and unsafe. Urban myths, like the idea that putting on two condoms means double the protection (uh, not true, by the way) or that you can't contract infections through oral sex, still persist. And condoms are effective, but like everything, they are not 100 percent.

So it bears repeating: If you are sexually active, use protection effectively and get screened for infections regularly. There are enough resources out there to get it done confidentially, cheap and without judgment. If your antsy untested partner is loath to the idea of protection, don't forget that it's not a matter of "Don't you trust me?" It's a matter of protecting yourself as well as your partner, every time, all the time.

SOURCE: Jesse Thiessen, dailyvanguard.com

Break it down: Drop guns, wear condoms

Ohio family physician Anthony Atkins, MD, has turned to hip-hop music to reach adolescents with important messages about safer sex, self respect, and prevention of violence.

Anthony Atkins, MD, a family physician working in the poverty-stricken neighborhoods of Lima, Ohio, wanted a way to reach the young African-American males who came to his office with bullet wounds and the 13-year-old girls arriving for prenatal care. He also wanted to find a way to reduce the number of adolescents he saw who had not just one sexually transmitted disease, but multiple types simultaneously.

And then he settled on music.

"These kids listen to hip-hop. They vibe to that. I needed to find a rapper and write out what I saw in a way that the kids would listen," said the staff physician at the Lima Community Health Center.

So, even though he prefers jazz, the 49-year-old doctor started writing lyrics for hip-hop songs and turned them over to local rappers as well as those from Detroit, Chicago and New York. They refined the songs to make them even more relevant for the audience Dr. Atkins wanted to reach.

"They said, 'You're old school, but we know what you're trying to say.' They made it flow better. They made it rhyme," he said.

The result is "LifeStoryz: State of Emergency," a 16-track compact disc that is probably one of the few, if not only, hip-hop releases with a physician credited on the cover. He hands it out to patients or refers them to his MySpace page where four of the songs are posted. He and his rappers also performed at the local high school in September 2006 with the support of the county health department.

"Adolescents think they're bulletproof and invincible. Dr. Atkins makes them stop and think, and he's found a way to do it through music," said Becky Dershem, a nurse practitioner and director of nursing for the Allen County Health Dept. in Lima. "The patients love him, and teenagers respect him a great deal. He's been a real asset to our community."

The music is refreshing. The songs have explicit messages without profanity. The public health themes are clear, but in a language that speaks directly to the intended audience. "Put the gun away," is a song performed by 20-year-old Chicago rapper J-Verse that outlines the consequences -- jail and death -- of being armed. "Strap it up," sung by the 21-year-old Toledo, Ohio-based Miss Behavin, urges women to have enough pride in themselves to demand that men practice safe sex and for men to respect their partners enough to do so.
An eye on making a difference

According to public health officials, it's unclear yet what kind of impact this music has had on the area's health status. Lima, with a 2006 population of 38,219, is nestled in the fairly rural, central-northwest portion of the state. The jurisdiction in general, and particularly the south-side area where the clinic is based, is one of Ohio's poorer locales. Nationally, more than 12% of people live below the poverty line, but it's more than 22% in Lima. The city and the surrounding county's percentage of adults experiencing violence in the past year, 9.3%, is more than double the state's rate of 4.3%, and the region has some of the state's higher rates of HIV and STDs.

But anecdotal evidence suggests that the project may have found real traction.

"Some of the parents say, 'What did you show my kids? Whatever you did, my daughter now says she's not going to have sex,' " Dr. Atkins explained.

Those who have worked with him suspect he is having success because, although he is decades older than those to whom he wants to communicate these messages, he's not so far removed from their world. He grew up in inner-city Detroit and, when faced with a decision about what to do with his life, chose the U.S. Air Force over joining a gang and selling drugs. Both options, he realized, involved the possibility of getting shot, but one would provide his mother with a flag and other compensation if that happened.

After an honorable discharge in 1988, he ended up in a Health Resources and Service Administration program at Ohio State University College of Medicine that aimed to draw students from disadvantaged backgrounds into the health professions. This path led him to medical school. He graduated in 1999. He then completed his family medicine residency in 2002 at Flower Hospital in Sylvania, Ohio, where he received an award for his communication skills and was known for frank talk.

"He could always ask the difficult questions, use real words and get away with it," said Jeanine Huttner, MD, director of the residency program. "He relates incredibly well to people."

The local health status may or may not be improving because of Dr. Atkins musical endeavors, but it is clear that his medical work is making a difference.

In 2003, when he was looking for an underserved area to work in, Allen County Health Partners, which at that time was developing the Lima Community Health Center, was looking for a primary care physician. He's been working there ever since. The facility now has 10 physicians.

Since the clinic opened, the overall death rate in the county has dropped by slightly more than 12%. The African-American death rate was cut by 20%.

"LifeStoryz" has cost Dr. Atkins $7,500 thus far, paid by his extra weekend shifts in the emergency department at Lima Memorial Heath System. He is hunting for ways to distribute his music more widely and working on a second album. He hasn't yet planned for what he'll do if his CDs ever top the charts or even make any money, although local schools would be a likely beneficiary.

SOURCE: Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews Staff, amednews.com

Wholesaler sued for fake condoms

Wholesaler sued for fake condoms

New Berlin grocery company also target of FBI inquiry into stolen baby formula</span>
By CARY SPIVAK

Already caught up in an FBI investigation of a scheme to sell stolen infant formula, a New Berlin grocery wholesaler is also in the middle of a complex lawsuit involving the sale and distribution of millions of counterfeit condoms.

Kaloti Enterprises has steadfastly denied dealing in stolen infant formula. But it admits buying and selling a shipment of counterfeit Trojan condoms as well as a load of fake Duracell batteries.

The company's defense: It didn't know the products were counterfeit.

"Kaloti Wholesale Inc. bought a load of condoms from a company in New York that it has dealt with for many different products over the last few years and had never had any problem," Ahmed Quereshi, attorney for Kaloti, said in an interview last week.

Only after Kaloti sold the condoms and batteries did it discover they were not authentic, Quereshi said.

"Condoms and batteries are not top 100 items," Quereshi said, explaining that the company focuses its business on the top 100 products sold in grocery stores - goods such as cereal and detergent. But, he explained, Isaac Kaloti, a part owner, "got a good price" for the condoms and batteries, "and the rest is history."

Geoffrey Potter, lawyer for Church & Dwight Co., Trojan's parent company, was unimpressed with Quereshi's defense.

"I do a lot of these cases, and it's very rare for somebody to say, ' . . . You caught me,' " Potter said.

String of incidents

Invoices filed with the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., show that in January 2007, Kaloti's supplier, Alex Trading Inc., paid a Canadian company $56,000 for 6,400 cases of Trojan condoms and $18,400 for 400 cases of Duracell batteries. The products were immediately sold to Kaloti for an undisclosed amount, and Kaloti then sold them to a third wholesaler, which did not pay for the goods because it discovered they were fraudulent.

Quereshi said that none of the nearly 250,000 condoms made it to market and that this was the only time the firm has been involved in the condom business. Kaloti has agreed to a court injunction not to deal condoms, he said.

The condom lawsuit - an action filed last year in New York against some 40 companies and individuals - was one in a string of embarrassing incidents to hit the wholesaler. The other defendants - none, with the exception of Alex Trading, related to Kaloti - are alleged to have bought and sold more than a million other counterfeit Trojans. Church & Dwight is seeking $10 million from every defendant.

Kaloti was launched 20 years ago with the purchase of one truck by brothers Rassem, Marvin and Isaac Kaloti.

Today, Kaloti Enterprises posts more than $100 million in sales.

Last February, the FBI raided Kaloti's warehouse and seized more than 80,000 cans of infant formula that were believed to have been stolen. Alex Trading, the New York company that sold the counterfeit condoms and batteries to Kaloti, was also the source of some of the infant formula that was seized, according to court records and Kaloti's attorneys.

Alex Trading also denies knowing the condoms and batteries were bogus.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Campbell said in a hearing in Milwaukee last week that criminal charges were expected to be filed in the formula case, though he did not say who would be charged.

Kaloti's president, Rassem Kaloti, declined to be interviewed for this story, calling the situation "a goofy thing" and referring all questions to his lawyers.

The condom lawsuit was filed under seal, an action that allowed Church & Dwight to secretly obtain a court order to seize Kaloti's records on the condom transactions. Local police accompanied Church & Dwight's investigators last Feb. 14 when they made a surprise visit to Kaloti's office to confiscate the records.

Having police on the scene proved fortuitous for federal authorities in the formula case, because while at the Kaloti offices, a New Berlin police sergeant spotted evidence that bolstered the FBI's application for a search warrant in that case.

Potter, the Church & Dwight lawyer, said about four million counterfeit Trojans have been confiscated by law enforcement officials and by his client, a firm best known as the maker of Arm & Hammer baking soda. He said four people have been indicted in connection with the fake Trojans.

Quereshi stressed that with the exception of Alex Trading, Kaloti has not been involved with any of the other players named in the condom litigation.

Potter said he was confident that all the illicit condoms, which he said were likely made in China, have been seized.

While many brand-name products are counterfeited, Potter said, "I must tell you that counterfeiting condoms is pretty distasteful."

Church & Dwight said consumers who have questions or think they may have bought counterfeit condoms can contact its consumer affairs department at (800) 575-2925.



\\\\\ A Note From CondomDepot.com On This Serious Issue //////

Please be aware that there are MANY Counterfeit Condoms are on the Market. We have seen counterfeit condoms specifically as Trojan Magnum and Trojan Elexa Condoms.

Many of the companies that sell these counterfeit condoms are convenience stores, Ebay Stores and Various Online Retailers.

CondomDepot.com is an authorized MASTER Distributor of Condoms and other Safe Sex Products. If you are concerned that a product you purchased elsewhere may be counterfeit, you may contact John Fidi Vice President of CondomDepot.com whose experience in this area can be of assistance.