Tackling STI epidemics through the HIV clinic: is sex high enough on the agenda?

Int J STD AIDS. 2008 Oct;19(10):711-2. doi: 10.1258/ijsa.2008.008048.

Abstract

Sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates among men having sex with men continue to increase. HIV services may operate independently to genitourinary medicine clinics and the sexual health of HIV-positive patients may be of low priority in the context of medical problems related to HIV. A prospective study of HIV-positive gay men was conducted in a London outpatient clinic over a three-month period. Data were available for 90 men. Forty-five percent had STI screens in the preceding six months. These revealed a high rate of infections; 26 infections diagnosed in 14 men in the study period. Fifty-seven percent of the 90 men in the study had more than one partner in the past three months and approximately one-third had unprotected sexual activity. A significant proportion of men were unaware of recent outbreaks of hepatitis C and lymphogranuloma venereum and of HIV postexposure prophylaxis. We therefore recommend that sexual history-taking, STI screens and health promotion should become a routine feature of HIV outpatient consultations in this group.

MeSH terms

  • Ambulatory Care Facilities*
  • Disease Outbreaks / prevention & control*
  • HIV Infections / epidemiology
  • HIV Infections / prevention & control*
  • HIV Infections / transmission
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
  • Hepatitis C / diagnosis
  • Hepatitis C / epidemiology
  • Hepatitis C / prevention & control
  • Homosexuality, Male
  • Humans
  • London / epidemiology
  • Lymphogranuloma Venereum / diagnosis
  • Lymphogranuloma Venereum / epidemiology
  • Lymphogranuloma Venereum / prevention & control
  • Male
  • Sexual Behavior* / statistics & numerical data
  • Sexual Partners
  • Sexually Transmitted Diseases* / diagnosis
  • Sexually Transmitted Diseases* / epidemiology
  • Sexually Transmitted Diseases* / etiology
  • Sexually Transmitted Diseases* / prevention & control
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Unsafe Sex / statistics & numerical data