Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - December 22, 2004
The disease is called lymphogranuloma venereum, or LGV. It's a form of chlamydia, a common sexually transmitted infection, but LGV can cause scarring of the genitals and colon and cause lymph glands near the groin to swell or burst.
While the illness is rarely seen outside of poor, tropical nations, it has recently turned up in the Netherlands. Doctors in Rotterdam reported 92 cases among gay men there during a 17-month period ending in September. A few cases have also been reported in Belgium, France, Sweden and Atlanta.
Four patients, all gay men, have been treated for LGV in San Francisco so far, and none had traveled to the Netherlands. For that reason, health officials believe there may be other cases in The City that have not yet been detected.
Some of the men diagnosed with the illness have also tested positive for HIV. Sam Mitchell, an epidemiologist at the Department of Public Health, said there is no indication that HIV-positive patients were at higher risk for complications of LGV, but there is concern that a patient with LGV might be more prone to contract HIV because of the ulceration caused by the bacteria.
Officials said the illness is easily treatable if caught in time.
Patients with LGV typically undergo a three-week course of antibiotics, instead of the single dose used to treat common strains of chlamydia. Mitchell said the city is recommending that doctors treat all cases of rectal chlamydia with the three-week regimen.
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