Cases of hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver, in children who were otherwise healthy have recently been reported in over 25 countries. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning to health care professionals to look for signs for this mysterious hepatitis with an unknown cause that mostly affects children under the age of 5. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control released a report the week of May 11 that stated there have been approximately 450 cases of the rare liver condition worldwide. The European health agency said of those cases, 109 were reported in the United States and five deaths in the U.S. were reportedly due to the liver condition.
We’re currently recruiting for FOUR positions at Harm Reduction Coalition!
Are you passionate about harm reduction? Committed to racial justice? Want to end the overdose crisis? Eliminate hepatitis C? Expand syringe access across the U.S.?
In the Amazon, bitter melon is used in cooking and also as a medicine. The fruit and the leaves are added to beans or soups for producing a bitter or sour flavor.
As far as the medicinal uses are concerned, bitter melon has been used by the American natives for a long time as a treatment of diabetes; to prevent measles, hepatitis; to get rid of worms and parasites and the topical applications are used for healing wounds.
It is in fact used in many parts of South America for a wide range of ailments such as malaria, measles, skin problems just to name a few.
It is also used as an aphrodisiac and it is known for its anti-inflammatory effects.
While I was at Planned Parenthood getting my IUD replaced, I decided to get a full panel of STI testing.
This is important, you must always ask what exactly they will be testing for. A lot of the time they will just test you for certain things and not everything. For bacterial infections like chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis you can do a urine test or a swab. Since I was already getting a pelvic exam they went ahead and took swabs of the vagina, vulva, and anus. If you have oral and anal sex the full genital and anal swabs are important because you can get the infection there as well. They can also take a throat swab because yes you can get STIs there as well.
For HIV and Hepatitis you’ll need a blood test. Before blood and urine tests it’s a good idea to get properly hydrated, it’ll make both tests easier. If you’re dehydrated not only is it more difficult to pee, it can be more difficult to draw blood. Let the person know if you have difficult veins.
You’ll notice that both Herpes and HPV aren’t on this list. That’s because there is no standard test for them really. You can get a blood test for herpes although it doesn’t always show. The most accurate test is to get a swab of a sore, but if you don’t have a sore present you can’t really do that. With HPV the only routine test is a pap smear and of course that only works for cervical or vaginal cancer. For everything else you pretty much have to wait till you show symptoms.
When it comes to parasites like pubic lice or scabies, a simple exam is all you need. If you are sexually active you may want to ask to be tested for Trichomoniasis, a lesser known STI that can also be tested with a swab.
Usually the doctor will get the results in a week or so. If they don’t get in touch after that you can always call and check.
I need some really difficult questions for the Sexually Transmitted Infection jeopardy game I’m working on. The purpose of this activity is to provide a fun and quick way for them to get all the information they need so it also needs to be important questions.
Let’s make this post even longer because I have even more images saved. Next up, we got:
Tsutsumagushi Disease
Chikungunya Fever!
MERS
Pertussis (whooping cough) with a horrifying (almost body horror) headpiece and flute
Dengue Fever, the image of which literally made me stop breathing for a moment when I first saw it
Japanese Encephalitis (as… idols, maybe?)
And Zika Virus (so pretty! and for what???)
And some higher res images of the ones from the video (Legionnaires’ Disease, Viral Gastroenteritis, and Rubella). Unfortunately, I could not fit Rabies because of the image limit.
The lime disease mech is definitely supposed to be a tick
