werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (03/12/85)
> 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? > E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems The question is: Is chlamydia a bacteria or a virus? The answer is Yes and/or No. Chlamydia is like a bacteria (only smaller) in that it does much of its own synthesis, but like a virus in that it is an obligate intracellular parasite. Normal antibiotics act on the bacterial cell wall so will not kill chlamydia, hence the reason it is classed with 'nonbacterial urethritis.' However, tetracycline interferes with bacterial protein synthesis, so will affect chlamydia in some cases. Why all the fuss about it? One: it used to be there was a lot of gonorhea and syphilis and that hid all the other venereal diseases. That's less so now. Two: it used to be impossible to detect. Now it's easy, so the reason there is "an epidemic" is not because its more widespread, but because most likely of better diagnosis. Three: some of things it causes are pretty nasty. -- Craig Werner !philabs!aecom!werner What do you expect? Watermelons are out of season!