Antibiotics for Gonorrhea

Antibiotic resistance, in general, comes up from time to time in the news - mostly stories of antibiotic misuse/abuse and insufficient dosage to kill all the bacteria.

In the pet world, when we first brought our dog home from the shelter, we were given weeks of oral antibiotics for her skin problems, and we tried to be vigilant about her medication everyday.  Our vet said that she sees some dogs who are resistant to their first-line antibiotics and even some of their more powerful ones...not good.

Back to humans, this article (found from Public Health News Wire) discusses how some gonorrhea-positive patients have become resistant to oral antibiotics - although the injectable antibiotic still works to treat the STI for now.  Although a small percentage (6.7%), this number appears to be growing.

I'm not sure all the reasons why resistance is increasing - perhaps in part to the misuse/abuse and insufficient dosage - but we could certainly strive to increase and ensure proper (and longer?) medication adherence...and ensure use of condoms!

I think a dual method of contraception (male/female condom barrier + hormonal birth control [implant, ring, pills]) is not a bad idea, particularly if you are not abstinent nor in a monogamous, long-term relationship.
Yeaa, safe sexual behaviors for the new year!

Women's Health and Contraception

On August 1, 2012, many women with insurance that were non-grandfathered plans were able to utilize preventive health services that included contraceptives without cost-sharing/copays.  I was one of those women who scheduled a women's health appointment on that day, and I stared in awe at that line that said "You pay $0.00" (though I did have to pay for the actual appointment with the provider).

Although not a perfect system/legislation, this is a great step forward for women's health under the Affordable Care Act.

Per U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this lists coverage guidelines:
Required Health Plan Coverage Guidelines

I also wanted to share this video, created by the Guttmacher Institute that I came across on my blog feed:
Benefits of Contraceptive Use in the United States

I'm a big proponent of reproductive rights and sexual/reproductive health (and hope for more men joining in the conversations!), and I'm interested in hearing others' experiences with this -
Did you encounter issues, did things go smoothly, or did you experience no change at all?