Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Examiner - March 27, 2006
Michael Neibauer, mneibauer@dcexaminer.com
Although rarely seen in the United States, four Washington-area residents have been diagnosed with what are believed to be the first documented District cases of the bacterial infection lymphogranuloma venereum.
Commonly known as LGV, the disease can cause infected lymph glands, groin ulcers and permanent genital scarring if left untreated. It can also make the infected more susceptible to HIV.
Although serious if unaddressed, the infection is treatable with a three-week course of the antibiotic doxycycline.
Researchers at Whitman-Walker, who found the disease in patients first diagnosed with classic chlamydia, are worried because LGV does not show up in routine lab tests.
Of 10 samples collected by the clinic in 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found four were, in fact, the rare strain.
The clinic has since sent six more samples to the CDC and is awaiting the results, said Dr. Philippe Chiliade, the clinic's medical director.
As they gather more information on how the disease is transmitted, Chiliade said, researchers are trying to learn who in Washington was the original "source patient."
"My sense is that we found it because we started looking for it," Chiliade said. "My sense is that this infection was already here, probably for a while."
The strain is most common in Asia, Africa, South America and the Caribbean, though in recent years more than 140 cases have been diagnosed in European men.
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