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STI (formally STD - Sexually Transmitted Disease)
Sexually Transmitted Infections
A sexually transmitted infection (STI; formerly called
sexually transmitted disease or STD) is caused by a
virus, parasite, fungus, or bacterium that can be passed
from one person to another through intimate or sexual
contact.
There are nearly 30 STIs in the world. Some can be cured,
and some can only be treated by not cured.
For information about the most common STIs, including
testing issues and how to manage a relationship in which
an incurable STI is present, see your HHMP Doctor.
New STI testing guidelines have been introduced
as infection rates soar.
Myles Wearring reports
The alarming rate of sexually transmitted infections
(STIs) among Sydney’s gay male population has
prompted physicians to change the guidelines of STI
testing.
Dr Chris Bourne, chair of the STIs in Gay Men Action
Group (STIGMA), said gay men with multiple sexual partners
need to be tested more frequently.
And men shouldn’t wait until they’re showing
symptoms, as up to 40 percent of some STIs are being
detected in gay men who aren’t showing any signs
of infection. “There are alarming rates of STIs
in gay men in inner Sydney”, Bourne said. “Gonorrhoea
and Chlamydia rates are high, and infectious syphilis
rates have risen more than seven-fold in four years”.
Out of the 1,400 HIV-negative gay men who took part
in the 2005 Health In Men study, almost one in 10 had
gonorrhoea while six percent tested positive to Chlamydia.
As a result of the high STI rates STIGMA has released
new testing guidelines for men who have sex with men.
With or without symptoms, all men who have had sex with
another man in the previous 12 months should have at
least one STI test a year, according to the guidelines.
Men who have multiple sexual partners should get tested
every three to six months, especially if they have been
attending sex-on-premises venues, use recreational drugs
or seek partners on the internet.
STI tests should include an anal swab (for chlamydia
and gonorrhoea), a urine test (chlamydia), a throat
swab (gonorrhoea,) and a blood test (HIV, syphilis,
hepatitis A and hepatitis B).
Chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis are most commonly
transmitted via anal sex but can be passed on through
oral sex and skin-to-skin contact.
Bourne said there are several reasons for the rise in
STIs.
“STIs have re-established themselves
in gay men with particular characteristics. Those include
men with multiple sexual partners, he said. “There’s
changing sexual networks, with people moving from saunas,
clubs and beats to internet. So it’s easier to
get more partners.”
“Thrown in
with that is changing drug use patterns and senses of
pleasure”.
There’s also a generation of gay men who aren’t
familiar with regular testing for STIs and aren’t
familiar with STIs in general, Bourne said.
“This is because there’s been a low prevalence
for so long of the major bacterial infections –
chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis – because they
went down very quickly in the days after HIV was discovered
in the 80s.”
During that time more people used condoms, some stopped
having anal sex and some had fewer partners, Bourne
said.
In the last few years some gay men have begun partaking
in more risky behaviour, he said.
Source: Sydney Star Observer 24/11/05
STI
tests can be obtained from your HHMP Doctor
People who test positive to Chlamydia or
gonorrhea should be retested in three months.
The new guidelines have been endorsed by
the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and are
being distributed to GPs across NSW
See Also:
Sexual Health
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