Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!


Contact
Ace:
aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
Buck:
buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
CBD:
cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
joe mannix:
mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum:
petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton:
sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com


Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups






















« College Students: If You Say You're a 6 Foot Five, Seven Year Old Chinese Girl, Then I Guess I Believe That's What You Are, If That's What's In Your Heart | Main | ISIS' Income Plunged 30% After Their Territory Was Reduced by Warfare, Analysts Say »
April 18, 2016

Super-Gonorrhea Status: Real

Super-gonorrhea just got real.

An outbreak of highly drug-resistant "super-gonorrhoea" is sweeping across Britain and could become untreatable, medics fear.

A national alert was triggered by Public Health England last September after the rare strain of the sexually transmitted superbug was detected in 15 people.

The number of confirmed cases has now risen to 34 and, according to reports, there is "huge concern" among doctors that it is spreading across the UK. And experts said it is at risk of becoming untreatable if the only fully effective antibiotic remaining fails.

The problem is that antibiotics -- wonder drugs we just don't even acknowledge anymore, but which changed the world for the better -- are not keeping up with the rate of mutations of viruses. We've learned to kill a great number of infections -- but viruses are sloppy in their reproduction, and keep making themselves into new forms.

And some of those are resistant to any drugs we know.

...

The alert comes after Chancellor George Osborne warned resistance to antibiotics will become "an even greater threat to mankind than cancer" without global action.

PHE said an increase in cases of super-gonorrhoea was a "further sign of the very real threat of antibiotic resistance to our ability to treat infections".

It's not just gonorrhea. Any number of infectious diseases we currently laugh at could suddenly roar back to 19th century levels of lethality. Or even sixteenth century.

On the same subject, scientists recently speculated that monogamy evolved as social technology defense against sexually transmitted diseases.

Romantics be warned: The towering edifice of marriage, with its emphasis on having, holding and forsaking all others, may be nothing more than a defence against germs. By forcing monogamy on each other, our agrarian ancestors were collectively less likely to succumb to the ravages of sexually transmitted diseases.

The idea is the latest in a long line of theories that seek to address why many human cultures seem to reinforce and demand monogamous behaviour even though, biologically speaking, humans seem to be at least mildly polygamous.

...

After running the numbers [modeling rates of monogamy vs. STD frequencies] for the equivalent of thousands of years of simulated time, an interesting pattern emerged. Small groups of about 30 individuals -- analogous to prehistoric hunter gatherers --- did equally well whether they were monogamous or not. The reason could be that in a small population sexually transmitted epidemics cannot propagate far and they quickly peter out after an initial burst, regardless of social mores.

In contrast, enforced monogamy seemed to confer a big advantage on larger groups, numbering around 300 individuals.

Of course, I think may of us have observed, anecdotally, that sexual mores tighten up as STDs proliferate.

Sexual mores are a cultural technology that fall in and out of use as the rate of infection increases or wanes.


digg this
posted by Ace at 03:08 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Skip : "Thats hauling AOP ..."

JQ: "Ugh. Exhausted but wide awake... last load of wash ..."

JQ: "One of the best local burger chains in the country ..."

Altaria Pilgram: "Never eaten at a Burgerville. Not likely I ever wi ..."

Alberta Oil Peon: "Well, my beer is all gone, and sleepiness has set ..."

Altaria Pilgram: "At least the VW Beetle was pretty sure-footed in s ..."

JQ: "Never eaten at a Burgerville. Not likely I ever wi ..."

Alberta Oil Peon: "I am drinking a can of "Pig's Ass Porter" from Har ..."

Alberta Oil Peon: "Montana was mostly a white out blizzard the whole ..."

Altaria Pilgram: "Was so very happy when they completed the I205 byp ..."

JQ: "Was so very happy when they completed the I205 byp ..."

Altaria Pilgram: "Taking a major road trip through Western Canada / ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64