Eva Peron

Eva Peron’s life has all the touchstones of high drama. Born in a poor village she left for Buenos Aires to pursue an acting career when she met and married future Argentine President, Juan Peron. No shrinking political violet, she ran the ministries of labour and health. Her life’s story has proven irresistible – spawning endless books, films, television series and the musical Evita.

After fainting at a public event in 1950, it was discovered she had advanced cervical cancer. She died soon after in 1952, aged 33. The basis of cervical cancer is the Human papilloma virus (HPV), which today can be picked by an HPV pathology test. Replacing the pap smear test in 2017, the HPV test can be taken every 5 years.

Vivien Leigh

Vivien Leigh made her name in two of Hollywood’s great mid-century blockbusters, Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire. Shortly after starring in Gone with the Wind and marrying Laurence Olivier, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis, a condition she had recurrent bouts of and which killed her at age 53.

Today, a quarter of the world’s population carry the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria that leads to tuberculosis, but only 5-10% will get sick. Those with weakened immune systems or with already damaged lungs are most susceptible. There are several tests available for tuberculosis which is treatable with a course of medication.

Freddie Mercury

The best-known Zoroastrian in the world – also known as the lead singer and songwriter of rock outfit, Queen – Freddie Mercury died as a result of AIDS in 1991 at 45 after being diagnosed with the condition in 1986. His life was unfortunately just out of sync with the development of HIV medicines, the first experimental AIDS vaccine tested in the US declared safe in 1991.

While Freddie might not have benefitted from early detection of HIV given the medical treatment for HIV was not yet developed commercially, today, anyone else can have an HIV test, and if found positive can seek treatment before it develops into AIDS.

Al Capone

Ultimately nabbed by the United States government for tax evasion and given an 11-year spell in the Atlanta Penitentiary and Alcatraz, Al Capone made his fortune during the Prohibition as a Chicago mobster. It was up like a rocket and down like a stick for Capone. By the ripe age of 33 he was in prison, being released 8 years later.

But his freedom wasn’t what it might have been. At some stage Capone contracted syphilis and upon his release in 1947 was suffering syphilitic dementia. A simple syphilis test for the pathogen Treponema pallidum would have revealed the condition and a course of penicillin would have cured him.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

A workhorse to the end, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was still composing his last masterpiece ‘Requiem’ on his deathbed when he struck a final, sour note, dying at the age of 35, having produced an unbelievable body of work. The cause? As happens in old cases, theories abound, but it’s argued that new evidence points to the cause of death as being kidney damage caused by strep throat.

There was an epidemic of strep throat in 1791. The culprit, the Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria. A simple Rapid antigen or throat culture test can detect strep throat and then a course of antibiotics is all you need to clear it up. Unless it was death by pork chop, as suggested here. Either way his premature death was a tragic conclusion for Wolfy and the human race. 

That the world was deprived of the unique talents of so many people is sad but also points to how far we’ve come in the detection of medical conditions.

‘Today, we’re extremely fortunate that we can pick up on conditions early so that appropriate medical treatment can begin,’ says microbiologist, Dr Petra Derrington.

‘With the developments in testing and medical treatments over the last century or so, conditions that once proved fatal, need not be the tragedies they once were.’

The post Celebs who might have been saved by a pathology test first appeared on Know Pathology Know Healthcare.

First recorded in 15^th century Naples, syphilis – also known as ‘The Great Pox’ – devastated Europe in the 16^th and 17^th centuries and was almost eradicated in the early 2000s but has suddenly flared up again in remote Australia at an alarming rate.

Far from being innocuous the Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) spreads lesions and sores across the body and is particularly problematic for pregnant women. If contracted, the baby of a pregnant mother has a 50 per cent chance of survival, and if they do survive, they risk blindness, deafness and cognitive issues.

Since two cases of syphilis were diagnosed in Queensland a decade ago, it is has now come to affect thousands of patients, notably in Indigenous communities.

Mr Wyatt approved the immediate dispatch of 10,000 test kits – 3,000 to Townsville, 3,000 to Cairns, and 4,000 to Darwin – with a further 52,000 ordered and sent on.

What’s the immediate plan?

Because syphilis can be in the system for six months before symptoms arise, the infection can be spread unwittingly through sexual activity.

This puts a premium on rolling out syphilis tests. A syphilis TP rapid test takes around 15 minutes to deliver a result. Early detection means treatment is not only more manageable for those who have contracted it, but also helps prevent its further spread.

Director of Sexual Health at Cairns Sexual Health Service, Dr. Darren Russell, says if someone is found to have syphilis, treatment can begin straight away.

‘Early syphilis is treated with a single injection of penicillin, which is highly effective at curing the infection. Within days, the symptoms resolve and the person is no longer infectious.’

In the short to medium term, communication and education materials will be rolled out to explain the potential impacts of syphilis and how to avoid contracting it.

So, what’s behind the rise?

‘Changes in sexual behaviour since the advent of better treatments for HIV, combined with a high degree of mobility, mean that syphilis has been able to take off in this population, notably in the gay community. Heterosexuals are also affected in many countries, particularly those in disadvantaged and marginalised groups.’

But syphilis is not the only STI on the increase in Australia.

The Kirby Institute’s 2017 Annual Surveillance Report into HIV, viral hepatitis, and STIs found that while HIV rates remained stable from 2012-2016 after an 8 per cent spike in the year preceding, gonorrhoea rates increased by 63%, while syphilis increased by 107% in the same period.

There have been several ideas advanced to explain the reasons for the influx of STIs; from the uptake of online dating sites which expand sexual encounters, the low usage of condoms among young men, the greater degree of travel and sexual experimentation tied in with that, and the perhaps more lax approaches to safe sex tied up with advances in HIV treatment medications.

The post What’s behind Australia’s syphilis outbreak and the rise of STIs? first appeared on Know Pathology Know Healthcare.