Sexual Health

The International Society for STD Research (ISSTDR) STI/HIV 2023 World Congress convened a participatory designathon to engage attendees in a problem-solving crowdsourcing event with the mission to design innovative solutions for improving sexually transmitted infection (STI) control. Designathons are three-phase crowdsourcing events consisting of a pre-planning phase, an active and intensive collaborative phase, and denouement phase for implementation and dissemination. Given escalating STI concerns, the Congress organisers recognised the opportunity to harness the collective expertise of the attendees by actively engaging them to generate innovative solutions for STI control by hosting a designathon during the scientific meeting...

Syphilis is an important global health threat and little has changed in its treatment since the mid-20th century. For late-latent or syphilis infection of unknown duration, the standard treatment of multiple intramuscular injections of benzathine penicillin G (BPG) are associated with significant pain and distress to clients and caregivers, negatively impacting on treatment completion. Based on pharmacokinetic modelling from a Phase I study of subcutaneous infusion of high dose BPG (SCIP), we present its feasibility, safety and tolerability for treatment of syphilis in a single infusion...

BACKGROUND: Conversations around disease conducted through social media provide a means for capturing public perspectives that may be useful in considering public health approaches. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that is re-emerging. We sought to characterise online discourse on syphilis using data collected from the social media platform, Twitter. METHODS: We extracted English-language tweets containing the word 'syphilis' posted on Twitter in 2019...

BACKGROUND: Despite availability of vaccines or medical prophylaxis for some sexually transmissible infections (STIs), promoting condom use remains an important public health strategy for the prevention of STIs. Recent research shows that regular condom use among young people in Australia has declined over the past decade, while the rate of common STIs has increased. METHOD: In this paper, we report findings from a large survey of school-aged young people in Australia (14-18years old) in which we looked at the association between condom use and positive feelings about sex, beliefs about social acceptability of condoms and confidence talking with partners about sex and condoms...

BACKGROUND: Māori and Pacific young people are disproportionately impacted by sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Access to STI screening is important to reduce transmission and reproductive health complications. METHODS: Between November 2022 and May 2023, we held four wānanga (workshops) with Māori and Pacific participants (15-24years old) to find out what barriers they encounter to STI testing, and hear their ideas about how to overcome these...

BACKGROUND: Chemsex, a type of sexualised drug use, is expanding among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), with physical and mental health risks. Health-seeking behaviours of GBMSM practising chemsex is not clear. METHODS: Harm reduction (HR) consultations for GBMSM engaging in chemsex and seeking comprehensive services including HR were offered in a Parisian infectious disease unit. From December 2021 to January 2022, HR consultation patients completed an online survey on their consumption, health, used services, and perspective on consultations...

BACKGROUND: The Black Caribbean population have a disproportionately high burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) compared with other ethnic groups. The aim of this study was to explore barriers to engagement with STI testing within a UK-based young adult Black Caribbean community. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 14 young adults from the Black Caribbean community and six sexual healthcare professionals. Data were analysed thematically...

BACKGROUND: When demand for counselling in community-based clinics exceeds capacity, waiting lists are typically formed. Determining allocation priority solely on wait time can overlook client risk factors that can elevate priority. We undertook to rigorously adapt the only existing validated counselling triage tool, to better fit the sexual health setting. METHODS: Sexual health counsellors were surveyed about aspects of client presentations that flagged increased priority...

BACKGROUND: Partner notification (PN) is key to controlling sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Digital PN options (e.g. social media, short message service (SMS), emails) are promising in increasing PN behaviour. However, their implementation is often challenging and studies report varied levels of acceptability and uptake of PN, highlighting the need to optimise digital PN interventions. METHODS: A systematic review of barriers and facilitators to digital PN interventions for STIs, including HIV, across eight research databases (from 2010 to 2023) identified eight relevant studies, two of which addressed HIV...

BACKGROUND: Risky sexual behaviour (RSB) is a serious public health problem for adolescents. We examined whether a contingency management intervention implemented by juvenile probation officers (JPOs) targeting substance use also impacted RSB. METHODS: A total of 218 adolescents on probation were randomly assigned to contingency management or to probation as usual. RESULTS: The substance use intervention delivered by JPOs reduced rates of RSB over time (β=-0...

New HIV diagnoses continue to disproportionately affect overseas-born men who have sex with men (MSM). A retrospective study of all pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)-eligible MSM attending Sydney Sexual Health Centre for the first time in 2021 analysed self-reported PrEP-use, PrEP prescribed at the initial consult, and PrEP taken during 2021 using binomial logistic regression models. A total of 1367 clients were included in the analysis, 716 (52.4%) were born overseas and 414 (57.8%) were Medicare-ineligible...

BACKGROUND: Chlamydia remains the most notified bacterial sexually transmissible infection in Australia with guidelines recommending testing for re-infection at 3months post treatment. This paper aimed to determine chlamydia retesting and repeat positivity rates within 2-4months among young women in Australia, and to evaluate what factors increase or decrease the likelihood of retesting. METHODS: Chlamydia retesting rates among 16-29-year-old women were analysed from Australian Collaboration for Coordinated Enhanced Sentinel Surveillance of sexually transmissible infection and bloodborne virus (ACCESS) sentinel surveillance data (n=62 sites)...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) aftermath left an alarming surge in syphilis cases, contradicting the previously stable trajectory of the infection. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported a 38% increase in primary and secondary syphilis in 2021 compared to 2019 in the United States, prompting a retrospective analysis at our tertiary care centre in New Delhi, India. There was a persistent linear rise, surpassing pre-COVID levels. Male clinic attendees, exhibit a pronounced increase, likely due to the influence of MSM...

BACKGROUND: Misinformation, defined as a claim that is false or misleading, considers information that is both shared with the intention of causing harm, and information that is false with no ill intent. Early attempts to downplay the risk of monkeypox (mpox) by singling out men who have sex with men (MSM) may have had the ill effect of stigmatising this group in discussions online. The aim of this study was to evaluate themes present on Instagram related to the 2022 mpox outbreak under #monkeypox...

BACKGROUND: Gay, bisexual, and other men (GBM) who have sex with men living with HIV in serodifferent couples (one partner living with HIV, the other HIV-negative) may encounter unique sexual health challenges. This study aimed to explore their definition of sexual health that could improve service provision. METHODS: We interviewed 10 gay-identified men living with HIV from 2017 to 2019 as part of CTNPT013, a study on the sexual health of HIV serodifferent GBM couples conducted at two HIV-specialised clinics in Montreal, Canada...

BACKGROUND: Emtricitabine (FTC) and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) fixed-dose combination (FTC/TDF) is generally well-tolerated, although treatment-related adverse events have been reported. METHODS: We report two cases of persons using FTC/TDF PrEP who had acute neuralgia in a Chinese PrEP demonstration trial. RESULTS: Neurological symptoms subsided upon treatment discontinuation. Symptoms were reported as similar to one case's previous experiences with dolutegravir (DTG)+FTC+tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) (for PEP), leading to permanent discontinuation of PrEP...

Background Telemedicine, which involves utilising technologies for remote health care delivery, proved useful to continue offering certain health services during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown. However, the extent of its effectiveness in delivering pre-exposure prophylaxis services for HIV prevention remains underexplored from the viewpoint of health care providers. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the experiences of health care professionals in Mexico who utilised telemedicine for delivering pre-exposure prophylaxis services during the COVID-19 contingency...

Background Sexting is the sending and receiving of nude or partially nude images or videos. Despite it being a part of contemporary relationships, it can have adverse effects. This is particularly the case when receiving non-consensual sexts. To date, there remains a gap in the literature on whether receiving non-consensual sexts is associated with poor sleep. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the association between receiving non-consensual sexts and average sleep duration. Methods Data from Wave 2 (2022) of the Canadian Study of Adolescent Health Behaviours (N =906) were analysed...

Background Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common cause of vaginal discharge in reproductive age women; however, little is known about it after menopause. We aimed to learn more about BV in Australian postmenopausal women. Methods We conducted an online survey (July-September 2021). Participants were recruited via social media and professional networks and asked about demographic characteristics, sexual history and BV experiences. Outcomes of interest were the proportion who had heard of BV, had BV ever, or had BV after menopause...

Background The incidence of sexual assault continues to rise in Australia. This study aimed to describe the nature of assault, HIV/STI positivity, and its management at a sexual health clinic. Methods We performed a chart review of 516 sexual assault cases presenting to Melbourne Sexual Health Centre between 2012 and 2021, collecting data on victim demographics, details of assault, HIV/STI testing and positivity, police involvement, and offer of counselling. Results We included 516 cases: 124 males (24.0%); 384 females (74...