Std rates gay vs straight
- In 2021 there were 86,916 diagnoses of chlamydia, 26,577 of gonorrhoea and 5,570 of infectious syphilis in Australia
- There were reductions in total chlamydia and gonorrhoea diagnoses nationally – but also a drop in the numbers of Australians having a check for sexually transmissible infections (STI) (14% down from pre-pandemic levels for chlamydia and gonorrhoea tests) – impacted largely by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- In contrast infectious syphilis diagnoses increased in 2021, after having fallen between 2019 and 2020. There have been steady rises in infectious syphilis among gay and attracted to both genders men and among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
- There were increases in the number of infectious syphilis diagnoses among women of reproductive age. In the same moment period, there has been a huge increase in the number of congenital syphilis diagnoses, with a disproportionate number occurring among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies.
- According to modelling, most chlamydia gonorrhoea cases continue undiagnosed and untreated.
- Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, rates of gonorrhoea and infectious syphilis were more than five times as high, and rates
Danish study finds that STI rates in gay men multiply before they originate PrEP, not after
A Danish investigation which was fit to chart the annual incidence of the three bacterial STIs, chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis, in people attending sexual health clinics both before and after they started PrEP has found that they had more than twice as many (115% more) STI diagnoses while on PrEP than they had some time before starting it.
However it also found that much of this amplify in diagnoses was due to increased testing. While the average STI testing rate in people some time before starting PrEP was in the region of 50 tests per 100 person years (i.e. a test every two years), it was three to four tests per year in people on PrEP, with tests peaking each three months due to PrEP checkups.
When this was taken into account, the diagnosis rate of any of the bacterial STIs in people on PrEP was only 35% higher than it was before PrEP, and in the case of syphilis there was no significant increase.
Glossary
chlamydia
Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted infection, caused by bacteria called Chlamydia trachomatis. Women can get chlamydia in the cervix, rectum, or throat. Men
Sexually transmitted infection peril in England is greatest in gay men and young adults
There were 446,253 sexually transmitted infections (STIs) diagnosed in England in 2013, according to new Public Health England (PHE) data out today: close to the number diagnosed in 2012 (448,775 cases).
Chlamydia was the most common STI, making up 47% of all diagnoses (208,755), while gonorrhoea diagnoses saw a large grow, up 15% from 2012 to 2013 (29,291).
Among heterosexuals diagnosed in genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics in 2013, young people (15 to 24 years) experienced the highest STI rates: 63% of chlamydia cases (56,034), 54% of genital warts (36,312), 42% of genital herpes (12,450) and 56% of gonorrhoea (8,122).
Gay men were also disproportionately affected, accounting for 81% of syphilis (2,393) and 63% of gonorrhoea (13,570) cases in male GUM clinic attendees. Gonorrhoea diagnoses rose 26% in this collective, nearly double the national rate, which is of particular concern as harder to treat gonorrhoea strains emerge.
Dr Catherine Lowndes, consultant scientist in PHE’s STI surveillance team, said:
Sustained attempts to encourage people to regularly get checked for STIs means
Out of the Closet, Into the Clinic: LGBT STD Statistics
Statistics show that men who have sex with men— whether they identify as gay, bisexual, or other— have a higher risk of contracting an STD than any demographic, but many factors other than the specifics of how sex goes down in the bedroom contribute to this increased risk. Economic and societal factors such as income, the effects of heartfelt support on risk-taking, and the power and privilege structures of society have all been establish to play a role in the likelihood of succumbing to an STD, especially HIV.
Approximately 4.1 percent of Americans identify as gay, bisexual person, or other, according to a Gallup News Study. Despite making up a small fraction of the population, men who have sex with men (MSM) account for more than half of all new cases of HIV each year, due in part to an inflated chance of having sexual relations with an HIV-positive partner. Among women, studies have shown that viral STD rates among bisexual-identifying women aged 15 to 44 years were almost three times higher than women who have sex with women exclusively. The same research also d