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What’s worse than being told that you have gonorrhea? How about being told that you are the first case in the U.S. of gonorrhea that has either no response or reduced response to five different classes of antibiotics? Yep, that’s what recently happened to not one but two people in Massachusetts, according to a January 19 announcement from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). They were infected with a strain of Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria that’s even harder to treat, which is kind of like getting kicked in the groin and then falling forwards groin-first on to a bowling ball....

America is investigating its first two cases of a 'concerning' strain of super-gonorrhea that shows signs of resistance to a range of antibiotics. Officials say that both patients — who have not been named — are from Massachusetts and likely caught the disease in the state. There is no connection between the pair, which suggests the sexually transmitted infection (STI) is spreading.

The strain was found to resist five classes of antibiotics, a first in the U.S., according to the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health (DPH). The two cases were ultimately cured with ceftriaxone, the lone remaining treatment recommended for gonorrhea. As of Thursday, officials said there was no known connection between the cases and that contact tracing was underway to see if there were any other infections. ... The novel strain has been seen in Asia-Pacific countries as well as the United Kingdom, but not in the U.S., according to the DPH. One case in Nevada had an infection that shared...

I am not vaccinated. In a sane society, a personal decision like this would not warrant a column, or even an explanation. But we do not live in a sane society. As a healthy 36-year-old woman, COVID-19 does not pose a statistically meaningful threat to my life. I have a 99.97 percent chance of survival... when there is an element of risk from the vaccines ... Biden White House recently broke its previous promise and issued federal mandates ... what exactly is the point of mandating vaccines that have .. failed to stop the spread? ... the vaccinated are also...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Monday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, even though he was fully vaccinated.“I was just informed by the House physician I have tested positive for COVID-19 even after being vaccinated,” he said.“I started having flu-like symptoms Saturday night and went to the doctor this morning. I feel like I have a sinus infection and at present time I have mild symptoms. I will be quarantining for ten days,” he added.Graham is the first senator known to test positive for the coronavirus in months. Nearly every senator has been vaccinated.Graham was spotted at...

Breakthrough infections were responsible for three-quarters of COVID-19 cases in an outbreak during large public gatherings on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and nearly all sequenced cases were the Delta variant, researchers found. Of 469 cases linked to multiple summer events and large summer gatherings in a small town, 346 (74%) occurred in fully vaccinated people, and almost 80% of those cases were symptomatic, reported Catherine Brown, DVM, of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and colleagues. There were five hospitalizations, four among fully vaccinated people, and no deaths. Of 133 cases with sequence information available, 89% were from the Delta variant...

The CDC now urges public indoor masking after a worrisome study on the Delta variant — undermining the vaccine effort. We finally know what drove the CDC to revise its guidance days ago without explanation to recommend that fully vaccinated individuals wear masks in public indoor settings in areas of the country with high or substantial COVID-19 transmission. The Washington Post released a July 29 CDC slide presentation, and the CDC confirmed that one of the unpublished studies cited was pivotal in its decision. The slides largely just confirm what was already known: The Delta variant is more contagious than...

A famed conservative columnist who lives at the epicenter of the United States' latest Delta COVID cluster said of the virus 'Let it rip' after seeing how mild his vaccinated friends' symptoms were. Writer Andrew Sullivan says the COVID-19 outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts, that infected around 900 people and triggered CDC's mask U-turn was sparked by wild July 4 indoor parties following Pride Week. -snip- Sullivan said many had just come from Pride parties in New York City and packed into bars and dance clubs. One of the bars is like a 'dang dungeon where sweat drips from the ceiling...

July 30 (Reuters) - A new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that three-quarters of individuals who became infected with COVID-19 at public events in a Massachusetts county had been fully vaccinated. The study, published on Friday, showed that three-quarters of those infected were fully vaccinated, suggesting the Delta variant of the virus is highly contagious. A separate CDC internal document, first reported by the Washington Post on Friday, described the Delta variant as being as transmissible as chickenpox and cautioned it could cause severe disease. read more The new study's authors recommended that local...

A COVID-19 outbreak in a Massachusetts county in July primarily occurred among vaccinated people, sparking fears that a variant of the CCP virus can impact that population more than other strains.Of the 469 cases detected in Barnstable County, 74 percent occurred among the fully vaccinated, according to a new study published on Friday.Genomic sequencing of 133 patients showed most of them were infected with the Delta variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.The bulk of the infected people did not require hospital care, but among the five that did, four were fully vaccinated.The study, published by the Centers for...

About three-fourths of people infected in a Massachusetts Covid-19 outbreak were fully vaccinated, according to new data published Friday by the CDC. The new data, published in the U.S. agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, also found that fully vaccinated people who get infected carry as much of the virus in their nose as unvaccinated people. About three-fourths of people infected in a Massachusetts Covid-19 outbreak were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus with four of them ending up in the hospital, according to new data published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new data, published in...

After posting a comment in another thread about the 'CDC Study' on Delta behind their nonsensical 'guidelines' from yesterday, another FReeper replied to me, “Vaccinated Gay male outbreak in a single town in single state. That’s the real story. Gay party superspreader events.”I asked for a source out of due diligence, as such subject matter was lacking in reports I’d read. This morning I recalled the exchange, observed the absence of reply and performed a few web searches: Content revealed exactly as I’d seen yesterday: The only mention of any detail regarding the source of the CDC ‘study’ referenced Provincetown,...

Joe Biden on Friday night warned Americans that new restrictions were coming, as the Delta variant causes COVID-19 caseloads across the country to soar. The president, leaving the White House for a weekend at Camp David, was asked whether new rules were likely to be introduced. 'In all probability,' he said, without expanding.

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. — By the Fourth of July, Provincetown’s tourist season had built to a prepandemic thrum. Restaurants were booked solid, and snaking lines formed outside the dance clubs. There were conga lines, drag brunches and a pervasive, joyous sense of relief. “We really thought we had beat Covid,” said Alex Morse, who arrived this spring as town manager. “We had internalized those messages, that life will be back to normal. We beat this. We are the most vaccinated community in the state.” Mr. Morse didn’t think much of it, five days after the holiday, when the town’s Board of...

Study of area cases says variant leads to ‘increased risk of transmission’ A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study regarding the Provincetown COVID-19 outbreak published Friday provides new evidence that vaccinated people are vulnerable to the disease’s highly contagious delta variant. A key finding in the report is that almost three-quarters of people infected in the Provincetown outbreak were fully vaccinated. That and other data from the Provincetown outbreak provided evidence that pushed agency scientists to advise that vaccinated people across the country again wear masks in indoor public settings in certain circumstances. “High viral loads suggest an increased...

As cases continue to rise from the Provincetown Fourth of July weekend COVID cluster, Cape Cod Democratic Sen. Julian Cyr said the reason COVID-afflicted residents continue to maintain mild symptoms is due to the town’s 114% vaccination rate.How is the vaccination rate over 100%? This is comparing the number of residents who used their Provincetown address for their vaccination to the latest Census figures, which showed a lower number. The latest figures, from the 2010 Census, list the year-round population of the community at 2,642. Cyr estimate the popular summer destination currently has a population of around 60,000 and that...

Provincetown officials on Sunday approved a temporary indoor mask mandate after a COVID-19 cluster stemming from an influx of visitors around Independence Day has now impacted more than 500 people across multiple states. In an emergency virtual meeting Sunday evening, the popular Cape Cod community’s Select Board voted to authorize Town Manager Alex Morse to order an indoor mask requirement until the COVID-19 testing positivity rate dips below 3%. When that happens, indoor masking will fall under an advisory, which Morse can lift once the positivity rate falls below 2%, officials said. The town’s Board of Health made the initial...

There’s a warning in Cape Cod after a surge in COVID cases were tied to the Fourth of July. Provincetown is telling everyone to take precautions, including wearing masks again. The positivity rate in Provincetown is five times higher than it was just two weeks ago. The Massachusetts state average was also back up on Tuesday to over 1 percent. The crowds keep coming to Commercial Street in Provincetown. Even as the popular tourist spot experiences a midseason COVID spike, Barnstable County health officials said 132 COVID-19 cases were linked to Provincetown between July 1 and July 16. Most of...

A coronavirus outbreak linked to a Cape Cod summer vacation hotspot prompted local health officials on Monday to institute a new mask advisory, a report said. Residents in Provincetown, Massachusetts, are being advised to wear the face coverings indoors following the cluster of 132 cases that is believed to have stemmed from Fourth of July celebrations, NBC Boston reported. Many of those infected are fully vaccinated and 89 of them are Massachusetts residents, the report said. As part of the advisory, passed Monday by the Provincetown Board of Health, high-density venues are urged to enforce vaccination status upon entry, the...