Article Text

Download PDFPDF
We need to improve screening for sexually transmitted infections in men who have sex with men in Europe
  1. Anthony Nardone1,
  2. Caroline Semaille2
  1. 1HIV/STI Department, Public Health England, London, UK
  2. 2Département des maladies infectieuses, Institut de Veille Sanitaire, Saint-Maurice, France
  1. Correspondence to Dr Anthony Nardone, HIV/STI Department, Public Health England, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ, UK; anthony.nardone{at}phe.gov.uk

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

In Europe, men who have sex with men (MSM) are one of the key populations most affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. In many European countries, sex between men accounts for the bulk of new diagnoses of STIs and HIV. For example, 50% of new syphilis cases reported in 2012 in Europe were among MSM (and up to 80% in some countries) and 45% of new cases of HIV. Furthermore, in the last decade, there have been a number of outbreaks of STIs, such as Lymphogranuloma venereum, which have occurred simultaneously in a number of European cities, highlighting dense international sexual networks that exist among MSM.1

STIs are a major health concern because they can facilitate the transmission of HIV and in their own right, as many STIs have major sequelae. Gonorrhoeal infections are becoming increasingly difficult to treat and resistance is most apparent among MSM.2 The incidence of STIs among MSM is due, in part, to the high levels of sexual risk behaviour reported by MSM, which can be exacerbated by sero-adaptive sexual practices.3 Furthermore, concerns that new HIV prevention and treatment options, such the increasing emphasis on treatment as prevention for the HIV-positive individual and pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent acquisition of infection in the negative individuals, may contribute to increasing levels of STIs in the future. Thus there is a need to ensure that …

View Full Text

Footnotes

  • Contributors Written and approved by both authors.

  • Competing interests None.

  • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

Linked Articles