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From: rob@ptsfa.UUCP (Rob Bernardo)
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Re: Reiter's Syndrome (and chlamydia)
Message-ID: <503@ptsfa.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 8-Mar-85 22:45:55 EST
Article-I.D.: ptsfa.503
Posted: Fri Mar  8 22:45:55 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 11-Mar-85 07:17:38 EST
References: <1640@pur-phy.UUCP> <497@ptsfa.UUCP> <1243@amdahl.UUCP>
Reply-To: rob@ptsfa.UUCP (Rob Bernardo)
Distribution: net
Organization: Pacific Bell, San Francisco
Lines: 50
Summary: 

In article <1243@amdahl.UUCP> ems@amdahl.UUCP (ems) writes:
>> >
>> >As I understand it, Reiter's Syndrome is a disease of the connective
>> >tissue of muscles.  ...
>                        ... request for more info ...
>
>
>> According to the Merck manual ...
>> 
>> 			"REITER'S SYNDROME
>> "Arthritis associated with nonbacterial urethritis and
>> conjunctivitis, usually seen in adult males following recent
>> sexual exposure; 
>>           ... 
>> 
>>  ... Tetracycline may control the urethritis.
>
>I thought chlamydia was a bacteria.  Yet here we have Merck
>saying that Reiters is associated with 'nonbacterial
>urethritis'; and proposing that tetracycline may control it...
>Am I reading this wrong or what?  Is chlamydia a bacteria or a virus?
>Can tetracycline do anything against viruses?
>
>And what is this chlamydia stuff anyway.  I'd never heard of it
>before, and now its in magazine articles and on the net.  Is this
>the newest fad bug?
>

I double checked the Merck manual and that's indeed what it says.
Chlamydia IS a bacteria. It often is the cause of urethritis.
Over the past few years I have gotten non-gonococchal urethritis many times.
My doctor, when finding a negative result from the gonorhea culture has
just presumed it is chlamydia without further confirmation since culturing
it is difficult; the bacteria stay in the cells and culturing for it would
involve getting infected cells into the culture medium or something like that.
[I am not a medical person, just an informed hypochondriac.]
-- 


Rob Bernardo, Pacific Bell, San Francisco, California
{ihnp4,ucbvax,cbosgd,decwrl,amd70,fortune,zehntel}!dual!ptsfa!rob

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