So The Zika Virus Can Be An STD...
 

Howdy guys,

I've been so busy with so many things lately that I haven't posted on the Message Board much lately. I do check it and look at posts here, but I seldom have time to write. Knowing myself too well, when I write I often write at length.

Anyhow, I'd seen that no one had posted anything about the Zika virus. I thought I should bring it up since it's Mardi Gras and Carnival season and of course, Zika is epidemic just now in Brazil. But there's more.

Earlier this week my local news here in Houston led off with the story that a Zika virus case was found in Texas, actually in Dallas, which had been acquired through sexual transmission. Later that evening, a national news report talked about a possible link between Zika and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). The possible Zika-GBS connection had been previously reported in January, but most media attention was on the greater danger to pregnant women whose babies were born with microcephaly. Different sources report it is being investigated by the CDC and by agencies in Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador.

Zika is said to have been first seen in Uganda in 1947. The CDC has vast information about Zika online. Regarding symptoms, they say that illness happens in only 1 in 5 people affected, and that the common symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain, conjunctivitis, sometimes muscle pain and headache. They say it's usually mild and lasts several days to a week. Also, "Zika virus usually remains in the blood of an infected person for about a week but it can be found longer in some people."

There is a CDC Travelers' Health site for those who may be going to tropical or subtropical areas, and you can also see a map with the countries with active Zika outbreaks. As you already know, those who travel may bring Zika home with them or take it to other parts of the world.

The most common route of transmission has been through the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads yellow fever and other tropical diseases, both in tropical and subtropical areas. Aside from bringing these diseases around the globe, the University of Florida tells us that Aedes aegypti has been seen in twenty-three states, but by the mid-1900s aggressive mosquito control had largely eradicated it. They go into some detail about it's subsequent spread and control efforts. This mosquito has spreading in the 21st Century.

Anecdotally, I've seen local or regional reports of chikungunya and dengue cases in the last few years, although I don't recall if these were connected with travelers or from mosquitoes that were here. Today's report is 7 Zika cases in our area, all from travelers. Although we still have cold nights and no mosquitoes, Florida has declared a state of emergency, since expanded to five counties, to allow the state to begin spraying.

Now we know that Zika is also may be transmitted through blood – confirmed in Brazil – and through semen, as in the Dallas case.

What does this have to do with Zika and men having sex? In the Texas case, Dallas County Health and Human Services said that a patient was infected with Zika after having sex with someone who traveled to Venezeula and was infected there. Both have since fully recovered. Quoting the CDC, "A person who recently traveled to an area with Zika virus transmission returned to the United States and developed Zika-like symptoms. The person later tested positive for Zika, along with their sexual partner, who had not traveled to the area.”

So if you've read this far, here's why I made this post: If you're a man, you are not going to have to worry about being pregnant nor giving birth to a child with microcephaly. However, you have a good chance of having a bad short-lived illness if infected by Zika. Or you may even possibly get GBS.

Personally, I don't give advice. I do believe information is important, although whatever risk Zika provides to men-seeking-men seems to pale compared to those who may have microcephalic babies.

From the NIH, GBS is a rare but serious nervous system disorder which can occur after a viral infection. To summarize what the NIH says, GBS often first causes weakness and tingling sensations. Symptoms of weakness and neuropathy may spread, and in the most severe cases may lead to paralysis. They say, “Most individuals, however, have good recovery from even the most severe cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, although some continue to have a certain degree of weakness.”

Per the CDC, "We do not know if Zika virus infection causes GBS." They are working with Brazil to determine this. It's been reported that Brazil has been slow to cooperate. Colombia's Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria believes the connection exists, and says, "We are currently talking about a rate of 2.3 cases of Guillain-Barré for every 1,000 patients with Zika. That is quite a lot." The article goes on to say that the country expects "about 657,000 cases of Zika" and "over 1,500 cases" of GBS.

Meanwhile, there is research into a Zika vaccine in the US and an Indian company says it has the first two Zika vaccine candidates.

Down in Rio, the Carnival goes on.

Since I posted earlier, I learned that the CDC has issued Interim Guidelines for Prevention of Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus. They cite 3 cases of sexual transmission of Zika, with the Dallas case actually the second.

The CDC has specific recommendations for men who have sexual partners who are pregnant and who live in or traveled to areas of active Zika transmission. Essentially, they say to abstain from sex or else use condoms for the duration of the pregnancy. The focus thus seems to be on the risk of microcephaly.

For similar men with non-pregnant sexual partners, the CDC says those "who are concerned about sexual transmission of Zika virus might consider abstaining from sexual activity or using condoms consistently and correctly during sex. Couples considering this personal decision should take several factors into account. Most infections are asymptomatic, and when illness does occur, it is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week; severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon."

Considering that barebacking is very common among men who have sex with men {regardless of what name or label you use for your identity, if you do) and also that I'll be posting several bareback video clips on the CFS Home Page this weekend, Zika - and whatever it means for us - is worth mentioning.

I'm sorry don't have time right now to discuss the other very well known risks associated with barebacking, not just HIV but other diseases.

At some point, we can return to that in today's context, but this particular discussion should be for Zika specifically.

Thanks all ~ Bob S. Manager/Editor

One of the big issues with the modern interconnected world is nothing stays isolated. Diseases that in the past what would have stayed in one country now quickly spread everywhere.

I have even seen reports that there is concern about Zika carrying mosquitoes being inside luggage so that even if the person does not come back with the virus when they open their suitcase it can fly out and still infect someone.

Oh joy - yet another thing to be worried about!

Yup. The Zika is pretty much all over the news in most of the major European languages.

I have always been a pro-safer sex person for a host of obvious reasons for quite a few years now, hence this particular outbreak really changes nothing in my books.

I have serious doubts that your typical gay male BBs would take this particular virus seriously. The symptoms are simply too mild to really scare anyone into beefing up their protection, and the fact that the focus, so far, has been on pregnant women, does little to create any level of particular awareness among the barebacking gay men.

Just my 2 cents based on my experience and gut feeling:).

KD

Very true - if the risk of HIV will not get them to use a condom I doubt this will...

I have a new software package that is meant to replace the current CFS Home Page and all the sub-pages on that section of the site. This will mean that instead of the cumbersome hard-coded HTML Keith had used I'll be able to update or add pages much more quickly and easily.

Once I have that installed -- and it's my top priority for the new software and software updates -- I intend to add a page for health issues for men who have sex with men. I'll be able to keep it updated as there are new developments, such as that meningitis outbreak among gay men in 2012 and again later, the approval of Truvada, and issues such as Zika.

To the extent that a lot of the guys who use CFS are married or have girlfriends, the microcephaly issue may be significant to them. From what I've read, the GBS issue seems to have happened in very few cases despite way that one article quoted the Colombian Health Minister.

All for now, too much to do as ever. ~ Bob S.

It would be very cool to get this new page, and a bit of revamped site, too.

I guess, some of us who have been hanging around for a long time may be missing the 'old' layout but we all know that the things do change, don't they?

I am probably just too nosey, but cannot stop short of wondering about the 'lot of guys who use CFS being married or having girlfriends'?

Has there ever been a poll or is it an observation?

Thanks!

KD

And there are reports of Zika virus being present in saliva and transmissible orally.

BWT, since you asked, I'm married.

It's an observation. I can't think of any way to do an accurate poll. I base it on what I see in the Sex Listings reviews. I also see it in reviews on the Escort site.

Bob S. ~ Manager/Editor

Thanks for your reply.

Thanks to Pike, for sharing, too!

KD

Just one thing more: I'm still managing (or coping?) with several ongoing emergencies and unexpected crises since mid-December. It would be unrealistic right now to set the timeframe for the changes, but they definitely have to happen and are underway.

The last real changes in the site's templates were designed by Keith in possibly 2010 or 2011 and didn't truly accommodate mobile browsers. Just glancing at our stats, recently we've had 35% of our users coming from a mobile o/s, whether it's a phone or a table, Apple, Android, or whatever.

A recent article claimed that 52.7% of Internet users last year worldwide used mobile devices. That number came from a source which said it was 75.1% in the US.

I assume that includes folks who primarily use Apps, but I've also read that many people rely on a mobile device as their primary web browser. They may not even have a laptop or desktop, or they may use it less for entertainment and social/hookup purposes.

So many of these mobile users are being lost by CFS to other sites.

Thus, we need to change to keep an audience and simply to stay in business.

Stay tuned. ~ Bob S.

"Observationally" I would agree.

I see lots of posts from guys who fooled around when younger - got married - had kids - and now want to know those feelings again.

A quick note: Our local TV news reported briefly on the CDC's statement today about Zika. More details from CNN: CDC investigates 14 more possible cases of sexually transmitted Zika virus.

Several - an unspecified number - were pregnant women. Two cases are women who had sexual contact with a man who returned from a place where the Zika outbreak. Lab results are pending for four, another eight are under investigation. There are also additional reports of Zika connected with Guillain-Barré syndrome Zika has been linked to birth defects. Now it may be causing paralysis. including not just paralysis. In Colombia, at least three deaths were reported. These seem to be happening in both males and females.

It seems to me only a matter of time before a case of transmission from man to man is reported. Although the risks to Zika-infected pregnant women and their babies are much more significant than to the seemingly rare Guillain-Barré connection causing complications, it's something to think about. As mentioned earlier, Zika has not just been found in blood and semen but also saliva.

I'm considering posting a link to this discussion on the sidebar of the CRUISING for ESCORTS site, possibly also a link to the current discussion of married men having sex with men.

The point of all this is to provide information that people cane factor into their decisions, As I've said before, I generally don't advise people on what to do with their sex partners and how to handle risk. I do want people to have the information needed to make their own decision if desired.

Separately, our local news reported on the First hospital-based rapid tests for Zika virus unveiled in Houston. This rapid test is currently available at the two hospitals that worked together to develop it. They say the two facilities plan to accept referrals from other facilities. Hopefully they will release the test itself to other facilities sooner rather than later.

Finally, although mosquito season has not quite arrived in Greater Houston, the authorities are taking aggressive steps to clean up things like old tires and such that can harbor standing water that often is a mosquito hiding and breeding grounds.

~ Bob S.

I remember as teens when a buddy and I were starting to play around and he made the comment that since guys can't get pregnant "it is safer with a guy - no rubbers or anything needed".

I miss the good old (although naive) days.....

Yup. With the doubtless benefit of the hindsight, we were all pretty naive:eek:

But for the men who were fooling around with both men or women there was a period of time when you believed that BB sex with men was safe. The guy was not going to get pregnant (a huge plus), and if you caught any bug, a few shots of penicillin would do the trick...

No doubt, we all learned, haven't we?

KD

Thinking back I am not even sure sex ed in school talked much about the risks of STD's in MM sex - it was always MF context - and as you say we were taught they were an issue - but none of them were life altering as pretty much everything had a cure - and growing up in a college town there were free "no ask" clinics where no one would ever find out.

The fear of getting someone pregnant messing up both your lives - even if she got an abortion there would be emotional issues - was stressed so much as the ultimate issue.

I had a buddy were we had fooled around but he was much more into girls so our fun had faded. He got a girl pregnant and but after she ended the pregnancy he started calling wanting to hang out more again for awhile....

Another relatively common thing among the college guys was the seriously increased need to hang out (sexually) with their buddies towards the end of every month. The cash flow was running seriously low, and the entertainment fund was down to zero, but you were still horny, nonetheless.

---
The key thing here was changing the mindset towards the STDs. The old days, when none it was really life-altering/threatening because, there indeed, WAS a cure available are now behind us.

Hopefully, the folks out there will take ZIKA seriously!

KD

Back to the Zika virus itself, yesterday a new study in the British medical journal The Lancet Guillain-Barré Syndrome outbreak associated with Zika virus infection in French Polynesia: a case-control study linked Zika and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and also provided a possible estimate of the odds that someone with Zika might develop GBS.

A report from CNN Study finds strong link between Zika virus and Guillain-Barre is easier to read.

The study looked at a Zika outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013- 2014 with a suspected 32,000 Zika cases and an increase in GBS.

The microcephaly cases affecting babies of Zika-infected pregnant women have been well-reported. Regarding GBS, which can affect adults, here's part of CNN's report:

The quote in CNN's piece is from Dr. Peter Jay Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine here in Houston.

In Zika can cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, study shows USAToday talked to Arnaud Fontanet, one of the authors of The Lancet's study and head of the emerging diseases epidemiology unit at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and noted his reluctance to generalize about the odds of Zika leading to GBS: "Fontanet said it's not possible to say what percentage of people in Latin America and the Caribbean will be infected with Zika or affected by Guillain-Barre. He notes that Zika may spread differently on a large continent than it did on these islands."

Separately, the World Health Organization released a new Situation Report about Zika, microcephaly, and GBS on February 26.

Clearly it's a developing story and researchers are learning more.

Meanwhile, we're not quite into mosquito season along the Gulf Coast. Our highs yesterday and today were into the 80s. Local authorities are still emphasizing advance clean-up of places where mosquitoes might breed as well as cautions to those who travel to Zika-affected areas and their sex partners.

Well this is not good news...


Zika virus: Sexual transmission 'more common than thought' - BBC News

Thanks for posting that for all of us. I'd seen the news yesterday evening but this week I've been even more pressed for time than ever. :(

I'm not excerpting anything right now; you can read (or watch) the links:

This is what I saw last night: CDC: Puerto Rico Will Be Ground Zero for Zika Outbreak in U.S. - NBC News

WHO statement: WHO | WHO Director-General addresses media after Zika Emergency Committee

CDC current travel advisory includes Latin American countries, Puerto Rico, and the Cape Verde Islands near Africa: Zika Travel Information | Travelers' Health | CDC

IBT discusses Zika possibilities in Taiwan, Hainan, and mentions southern mainland provinces of China: Zika Virus Update: Taiwan, China’s Hainan Province May See Zika Spread With Mosquito Season Starting, Scientist Says

LA Times discusses climate change and Zika and possibilities of mosquito-borne transmission in the US: Could climate change be the culprit in spread of Zika virus? - LA Times

I actually do expect at least a few mosquito-borne cases here in Texas and other Gulf Coast areas since Dengue Fever had been identified in mosquitoes here in Greater Houston in 2013. Chikungunya was also seen here in 2014 and even as far inland from the Gulf as the Austin and Dallas areas last year. And of course, that would impact Zika's sexual transmission or blood transfusion or...

Finally taking a few moments with my local news at the end of an extremely long day, there was this:

City health lab offers 1-day Zika tests - Houston Chronicle

Looks like Houston is getting ready for mosquito season.

Well with the amount of rain Texas has had this winter it is going to be prime breading conditions for mosquitoes. :(

I agree. After last year's Memorial Day flooding and the June rains they were abundant. I'm in Brazoria County just south of the city; at times we were constantly buzzed by mosquito-spraying planes.

There's an artificial wetlands / flood control channel right behind my house. I see all sorts of things, ducks, ibises, egrets, migratory waterfowl, large turtles, snakes, possums, and of course mosquitoes and other pests.

Living here one has to fight nature on one hand, make peace with it on the other, and always be aware and keep your eyes open. That includes wonders, pests, diseases, hurricanes, tornadoes, or really anything.

~ Bob

And don't forget Texas politicians! ;)

I've been meaning to post an update since I saw this on my local Houston TV news last week. The reporter included a quick flash of the CDC's recently revised map showing the estimated range of the Aedes aegypti mosquito now may cover most of the southern Continental US, from the San Francisco Bay Area, down the coast and across the Desert Southwest, as far north as somewhere near Kansas City, along the Ohio River region, then through West Virginia and Maryland to the East Coast past New York City on even into a bit of Connecticut. (See first attached image or click to view a better size; unfortunately the archaic code used on the Message Board does not allow resizing inline images.)

They include a second map for the Aedes albopictus mosquito, seldom mentioned before in publicity about Zika. Although it has a broader range than A. aegypti, the page explains it is less likely than the more well-known one to spread tropical diseases to humans.

The maps are not meant to show risk for disease, the likelihood that these mosquitoes will spread viruses, nor the numbers of locations of mosquitoes.

Quartz has more analysis of the maps, linking to a study on PLOS which attempts to model the spread of A. aegypti through the year including peak Summer months. There are many maps, including this eye-catching one based on their model comparing mosquito abundance in January and July. The size of the city-based circles is based on average monthly arrivals from countries with Zika travel advisories at the time. (See second attached image or click to see a better size.)

Because we in Greater Houston have seen cases of mosquito-borne dengue and chikungunya, local officials are preparing the public. From the local story:

Seeing the photo on NPR's Houston Prepares Now For Zika's Potential Arrival This Summer and reading their coverage of Houston's challenge, you see what we face.

I'll let you click on the NPR link to see one of the images of poverty here, similar to sections of pre-Katrina New Orleans or worse. It is stressed that besides Houston being a "gateway city" in many ways and having many mosquitoes, Zika "is a disease of poverty." We're not talking about River Oaks and the Galleria here, although even some more relatively affluent parts of the city may have open ditches instead of storm drains, not to mention a landscape full of bayous.

Similar statements and news coverage has been taking place in and about shiny sexy Miami, which also has pockets of poverty.

I was prompted to go ahead and put this on the site this evening because it was the lead story on NBC Nightly News: Zika Virus Is Scary and We Need Money to Fight It, Officials Say In this, Dr. Anthony Fauci - many of us remember him from the early HIV studies - of the NIH and Dr. Anne Schuchat of the CDC appeared at the daily White House briefing to bolster the Administration's request to Congress for additional funding to study and fight Zika.

And by the way, Fiji was added to the CDC's Zika Travel Information, where several other places in the Pacific Ocean appear, and Vietnam now has had at least two cases, possibly mosquito-borne. The story also mentions cases in Bangladesh, South Korea, Thailand and China.

The CDC says (from today's wording on their site), "The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito. People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. For this reason, many people might not realize they have been infected. Once a person has been infected, he or she is likely to be protected from future infections."

It is, however, not the most frequent cases, the ones with few or no symptoms, but the others that prompt public health officials, doctors, and researchers to a call to action. This includes not only, as we discussed above, the many cases of microcephaly, the far fewer cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) in adults, but also evolving knowledge about how Zika affects the body.

Another story today was There's More Evidence Zika Goes Straight to the Brain, with meningitis and encephalitis previously mentioned. This one describes one study of developing brain cells affected by Zika having their growth slowed 40% and another study of patients with Zika who developed acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord described as being similar to multiple sclerosis, "but it's usually temporary - although the recovery can take months." Additional cases of GNS were also documented.

And now let's talk about sex. Today's CDC wording has this about sexual transmission of Zika:

• Zika virus can be spread by a man to his sex partners.
• In known cases of sexual transmission, the men developed Zika virus symptoms. From these cases, we know the virus can be spread when the man has symptoms, before symptoms start and after symptoms resolve.
• In one case, the virus was spread a few days before symptoms developed.
• The virus is present in semen longer than in blood.

There also was Updated Guidance for Prevention of Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus issued March 25 which states (among many things), "This guidance defines potential sexual exposure to Zika virus as any person who has had sex (i.e., vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse, or fellatio) without a condom with a man who has traveled to or resides in an area with active Zika virus transmission."

Further down we see, "All reported cases of sexual transmission involved vaginal or anal sex with men during, shortly before onset of, or shortly after resolution of symptomatic illness consistent with Zika virus disease. It is not known whether infected men who never develop symptoms can transmit Zika virus to their sex partners. Sexual transmission of Zika virus from infected women to their sex partners has not been reported. Sexual transmission of many infections, including those caused by other viruses, is reduced by consistent and correct use of latex condoms."

And yet even further down are the CDC's "Recommendations for men and their nonpregnant sex partners.

Men and their nonpregnant sex partners (couples) who want to reduce the risk for sexual transmission of Zika virus should use condoms consistently and correctly during sex or abstain from sex. Based on expert opinion and limited but evolving information about the sexual transmission of Zika virus, the recommended duration of consistent condom use or abstinence from sex depends on whether men had confirmed infection or clinical illness consistent with Zika virus disease and whether men are residing in an area with active transmission..."

I had seen that NBC report - I believe they said that the original estimate was infections in 12 states and they are now guessing it will be more like 30....

The biggest issue seems still to be with pregnant women but you wonder as time goes on what the long term effects will be on those exposed to it.

Several of my HIV+ friends have had meningitis or encephalitis. Not a good thing to deal with at all...

And yet more, the CDC catches up to Brazil about the birth defects: It's Official: Zika Virus Causes Birth Defects.

Toward the bottom of it, I see:
I searched and in a moment found Evidence of Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus from the NEJM actually published on April 13. Funny how our 24-hour news cycle seems to miss things and catch up later or at a more newsworthy moment (such as the disagreement over Zika funding).

What NBC didn't go into in detail about:
If I read this correctly:

• The man was asymptomatic - no more signs of Zika - when they had sex, although he recently had been sick.
• He may have had pre-cum in her vagina but came only in her mouth.
• There's that unconfirmed "possibility" about saliva.

I'm wondering how long after Zika symptoms go away someone might still be capable of infecting someone else. I'm also wondering if Zika might remain latent in the body and have other consequences later (as jonn3 said, "long-term effects.") And I imagine researchers will look at this if they have the funds.

It always amazes me how the health and well being of citizens always depends on having extra money laying around - but there is plenty of money to give the Andy and Barney and the Mayberry Sheriffs Department SWAT weapons...

When I can update or replace the Message Board software, I hope it will have something equivalent to Facebook's "Like" function, although their new "Reactions" emoticons are a little bit much more me. Anyhow, I like what you said, Jonn.

An interesting sidebar
 

There is a mutation, CCR5 delta 32, which provides the bearer with immunity against most HIV strains. The downside of the mutation is that it lessens the bearer's resistance to a class of viruses called flaviviruses. These viruses include Zika, dengue, yellow fever and west Nile.

All in all, I'd rather be resistant to the whole host of encephalitis viruses than HIV. Safe sex is easier to do than avoiding mosquitoes.

See wikipedia for more information.

Thanks for mentioning that. I found Wikipedia page for those who are interested but don't want to search.

Speaking of mutations, late last night I saw NBC's Zika Virus Mutation May Explain Spread: Study. This explains in lay terms how Zika has evolved to make people who get it feel sicker than patients years ago and also the big increase in birth defects as well as neurological issues such as Guillain-Barré Syndrome, encephalitis, meningitis, etc.

The icing on the cake was in the CDC's Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of April 15 which finally revealed that the very first case of sexually-transmitted Zika, which we learned about in early February was actually, as the CDC puts it, "Male-to-Male Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus — Texas, January 2016."

I understand that with the high number of birth defects in Brazil and neighboring countries the publicity would concentrate on warnings with respect to pregnant women and women in childbearing years.

However, it does seem at least a bit negligent that no one outright even mentioned male-to-male sex in connection with Zika until now. Even the CDC's "Guidance" page about sexual transmission of Zika seems somewhat circumspect.

One more thing, then I must move on to work on our Home Page update I was unable to complete last night. Just now I looked at the CDC Fact Sheet: What Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men Need to Know About Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

As of today, it has not yet been updated to include Zika. The page was last updated in November, 2015. I wrote to the CDC just now using their email form to suggest that they update this page and similar ones on their web site.

There are so many things to be aware of now...

I remember as a teen a buddy who used to say it was safer with a guy because he could not get pregnant...

As if that was the only issue in the world....

There is also this from the Guardian a few days ago: Doctors fear spread of 'super-gonorrhoea' across Britain.

I'm planning to post separately about the subject but simply haven't had the time.

Actually, at one point in time, this really was the ONLY issue. Few shots of penicillin were going to take are of everything else anyway.

Now, pregnancy used to be a far more serious issue. Single mom, a kid born out of the wedlock, years of paying alimony, risking possibly illegal and costly abortions... All of those weighed in heavily on the minds of both young men and women in their time and day.

Condoms came in handily. The pill, too. Yet, a few of my buddies were truly scared that their GFs were trying to lasso them into either marriage or serious alimony payments... Hence, messing around with another dude, 'forbidden fruit' as it used to be, was practically a safer, easier, more efficient option for many a needy dude out there.

KD

And my growing up in a college town in the 70's there were lots of places that would provide condoms and STD testing and treatment "no questions asked" even if you were under 18 so your parents would not know.

One buddy who I had fooled around with in the past got a girl pregnant in high school - they ended the pregnancy and no one ever knew - but for awhile after that it scared him away from the girls team and back to the guys!

Incidentally, with the Tax Day Floods last week, more rain over the weekend, rain coming tomorrow and supposedly this coming weekend, and with temperatures starting to move toward our six-month-long hot and sticky summer, Zika is coming back in our local Houston news. One of the TV stations

The flooding actually remains in some areas days after the rains are gone, although at least this isn't a Katrina. Then there's the places which might have been cleared of standing water which now are filled again. We do have the first local case of a pregnant woman testing positive for Zika. She had lived in El Salvador and came here earlier this year, but more local infections are simply a matter of time.

It's a curious coincidence that she's being treated at Legacy, which is the large merged successor to the Montrose Clinic originally founded as Houston's gay men's STD clinic in 1978.

The same station's big promo for their late news was coverage of Zika in light of the flooding. I won't have time to watch it but I'll have to remember to look for it later. I rather prefer reading to watching anyhow.

I could write on - my back yard waterfall/pond malfunctioned and turned into big algae-filled puddle - but I have work to do tonight. The pond will be there tomorrow. And the rain.

The South has been inundated with rain and other severe weather the last few years -

I can't even imagine what it will be like as the effects of climate change continue to grow...

We have been repeatedly warned to expect a Katrina-like storm sooner or later. Ours would not cause a bowl of standing water, but instead floods along bayous and - more importantly - an environmental disaster larger than the Gulf Oil Spill with the refineries and petrochemical plants along Galveston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel.

I could rattle on, but better get to work...