Lymphogranuloma Venereum

San Francisco public health officials on Monday sounded the alarm in the US about a rare and “potentially debilitating” sexually transmitted disease known as lymphogranuloma venereum, or LGV “which was reported recently in the Netherlands” turned up among a small number of MSM patients in the city.

The disease is a form of the common sexually transmitted infection chlamydia – but this particular strain can cause scarring of the genitals and colon, and can produce a swelling and bursting of lymph glands near the groin. Also unlike routine cases of chlamydia, LGV can cause severe urinary and/or gastrointestinal distress, including inflammation and bleeding of the rectum and colon. Men who suffer from rectal symptoms are most likely to have acquired the infection through unprotected anal intercourse. However if caught in time, the illness is treatable with antibiotics.

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