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Rabat – Fifteen minors who sexually assaulted a donkey in the small rural town of Sidi Kamel in the communal providence of Sidi Kacem have been treated for rabies infections received from the animal. The sexually frustrated children and teenagers stayed at the Mechraa Belksiri Hospital for one week to receive rabies vaccinations after the animal transmitted the disease to them, explained Moroccan daily Al Akhbar in its August 10 edition. The incident has put the families of these fifteen young people into distress and horror, reports the daily.

For the first time, a study shows that a drug used to treat HIV infection also can help prevent it when taken before and after risky sex by gay men. The results offer hope of a more appealing way to help prevent the disease beyond taking daily pills and using condoms, although those methods are still considered best. The study, done in France and Canada, is the first to test “on demand” use of Truvada, a pill combining two AIDS drugs, by people planning to have risky sex. The uninfected men who took it were 86 percent less likely to...

Health officials in New York City say new statistics show an increase in syphilis infections among men and women. However, this is a small-scale example of a problem that is happening nationwide, they say. Unsafe-sex practices are being blamed for bringing the disease's old health dangers back to life after a drop in the 1990s. The New York Times reports that 260 cases of syphilis were recorded by the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in the first quarter of this year, including ten cases of female infection. That is more than twice the number for the same period...

Four men in King County have been diagnosed with a strain of HIV that is extremely hard to treat, and health officials are concerned it could spread further. At least two types of HIV drugs don't work against the strain, and another type has limited effectiveness, officials from Public Health — Seattle & King County said Thursday. "It's conceivable there can be more infections, and the gay community is at highest risk," said Dr. Bob Wood, the HIV/AIDS program director for Public Health. All the men were diagnosed with the strain as soon as they tested positive for the virus...