http://www.nbc4.tv/health/4014978/detail.htmlRare STD Prompts Warning
POSTED: 1:37 pm PST December 21, 2004
UPDATED: 1:50 pm PST December 21, 2004
LOS ANGELES -- A rare but serious sexually transmitted disease has turned up in a few patients in San Francisco, prompting health officials to issue a public warning.
The disease is a form of chlamydia, a common sexually transmitted infection. But this particular disease 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 the disease in San Francisco so far.