ReportWire

Tag: stds

  • ‘Morning After’ Antibiotics Could Slash Odds for Common STDs

    ‘Morning After’ Antibiotics Could Slash Odds for Common STDs

    [ad_1]

    By Amy Norton 

    HealthDay Reporter

    THURSDAY, April 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) — A “morning after” dose of a common antibiotic can greatly lower the chances of sexually transmitted bacterial infections in high-risk people, a new clinical trial has found.

    Researchers discovered that taking the antibiotic doxycycline within 72 hours of unprotected sex slashed the risk of gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis by two-thirds among gay and bisexual men and transgender women who either had HIV or were taking medication to help prevent HIV.

    The benefits at the one-year mark were considered so convincing that the trial was stopped early.

    Experts said the findings, published April 6 in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that the approach to prevention is “highly effective.”

    And that’s needed at a time when sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are rising at a “scary” rate, said Dr. Colleen Kelley, an infectious disease specialist at Emory University in Atlanta, who was not involved in the trial.

    For the past decade, the United States has seen a worrying comeback in bacterial STIs that had previously been on the decline. The trend continued in 2020, a year marked by pandemic restrictions: 2.4 million Americans contracted chlamydia, gonorrhea or syphilis, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    And while that pattern cuts across demographics, men who have sex with other men have been disproportionately affected.

    The new trial focused on certain groups who are at particularly high risk of bacterial STIs: Gay and bisexual men, as well as transgender women, who either had HIV or were taking HIV PrEP (prescription medication that helps prevent HIV) and had been diagnosed with a bacterial STI in the past year.

    The researchers randomly assigned 500 participants to one of two groups: About two-thirds were given doxycycline and told to take a 200 milligram dose within 72 hours of unprotected sex; the rest stayed with their usual health care. All had STI testing done every three months.

    Over one year, participants using doxycycline were two-thirds less likely to be diagnosed with a bacterial STI. In that group, the incidence of STIs every three months was around 11% — versus over 30% in the comparison group.

    Preventive doxycycline was most effective against chlamydia and syphilis — cutting the risks of those infections by close to 90% in HIV-negative people, and by well over 70% in those with HIV. The efficacy against gonorrhea was less, but those infections were still cut by 55%.

    “It’s exciting to have another tool in the toolkit to prevent these infections,” said lead researcher Dr. Annie Luetkemeyer, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

    “We’ve tried relying on condom use,” she said. “But business as usual is not working.”

    That said, Luetkemeyer stressed that any STI preventive measure should be seen not as a magic bullet, but as “part of a package” — which may include condom use, frequent STI screening and vaccination against hepatitis B, for instance.

    Luetkemeyer underscored another point: The trial involved specific groups at high risk of bacterial STIs, and no one is saying that everyone should take doxycycline after having unprotected sex.

    One concern is that wider use of the antibiotic could increase bacterial resistance to doxycycline and other antibiotics in its class.

    But there has never been any documented resistance of syphilis or chlamydia to doxycycline, said Kelley, who is also vice chair of the HIV Medicine Association’s board.

    Some gonorrhea strains, however, are resistant to the antibiotic. And Kelley said it’s possible that with time, morning-after doxycycline will become less effective in preventing gonorrhea.

    On the positive side, both doctors said, doxycycline is not used to treat gonorrhea, so any increased resistance to the antibiotic should not hinder treatment of the STI.

    Another question is how will regular antibiotic use affect a person’s own microbiome (the collection of bacteria that naturally dwell in the body). That will require more research, Luetkemeyer said.

    But again, both doctors said, it’s a matter of “balance.” For people at such high risk of bacterial STIs — who would often be using antibiotics to treat them anyway — the benefits of preventive doxycycline could well outweigh the theoretical risk of altering the microbiome in a way that’s harmful, Kelley noted.

    At the moment, doxycycline is not routinely prescribed for STI prevention in high-risk individuals, Kelley said — though some city health departments (like San Francisco) and providers have embraced it.

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she noted, is expected to soon release some guidance on the subject.

    Luetkemeyer cautioned people against using doxycycline on their own by buying it online or using a friend’s prescription.

    “It’s always advisable to talk to a doctor and make sure this is right for you,” she said.

    And for now, at least, Luetkemeyer said she would not recommend that cisgender women use doxycycline for STI prevention, even if they are at high risk.

    This trial did not study cisgender (biological) women, but a recent trial in Kenya did and found that for young women using HIV PrEP, morning-after doxycycline did not cut the risk of bacterial STIs.

    The reasons, Luetkemeyer said, are unknown at this point.

    More information

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on STD prevention.

     

    SOURCES: Annie Luetkemeyer, MD, professor, medicine, University of California, San Francisco; Colleen Kelley, MD, MPH, associate professor, medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, vice-chair, board of directors, HIV Medicine Association, Arlington, Va.; New England Journal of Medicine, April 6, 2023

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 7 Safer Sex Mistakes Guys Make That Lead to Them Getting STIs

    7 Safer Sex Mistakes Guys Make That Lead to Them Getting STIs

    [ad_1]

    7 Safer Sex Mistakes Guys Make That Lead to Them Getting STIs

    When it comes to the basics of sex education, often the only things people learn about are the importance of wearing condoms and STI transmission — in short, they’re taught how to prevent worst-case scenarios, rather than educated in a positive, pleasure-affirming way about the great ways that sex can be a wonderful part of their lives.

    Unfortunately, even that STI-centric sex ed focus tends not to register for many people, because STI transmission still occurs all too frequently.

    RELATED: 4 Key Tips That’ll Help to Keep You STI-Free

    But maybe you were taught about these things many years ago — or even not at all.

    So in order to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections, AskMen spoke with three sex experts about common mistakes people make that lead to negative sexual health consequences. Here’s what they had to say:

    Not Wearing Condoms

    Condoms are one of the most useful tools there are when it comes to having consequence-free sex. When used properly, they’re highly effective when it comes to preventing pregnancy and also the transmission of sexual infections.

    “Condoms are hugely important in curbing the spread of STIs,” says SKYN Condoms’ sex and intimacy expert and author Gigi Engle. “Everyone should be using them to protect themselves.”

    Wearing Condoms Incorrectly

    Unfortunately, wearing a condom alone does not guarantee protection from infections. Incorrect condom use is “another common mistake that can lead to unintended pregnancy or STIs,” says Dr. Kate Balestrieri, a licensed psychologist, certified sex therapist and founder of Modern Intimacy.

    So, let’s go through some ways people screw up condom usage:

    • Using an expired or punctured condom. (“Before you wrap it up, be sure to check that the packaging is intact, and it is not expired,” says Balestrieri.)

    • Opening a condom with your teeth. (“It might look sexy to open a condom wrapper with your teeth, but it increases the odds of the condom being torn or punctured,” she adds.)

    • Re-using a condom, whether with different partners or even with the same one. (“Definitely do not reuse a condom,” Balestrieri cautions. “It is a one-time-use product and can more readily tear or break when used more than once.”)

    • Putting it on incorrectly (“Leave room at the tip of the condom, but be sure to press the air out of it after it is rolled on, to avoid ruptures during use,” she explains.)

    • Wearing the wrong size of condom. (Too large or too small and there’s a greater chance it’ll come off mid-coitus.)

    RELATED: What to Do If You Hate Wearing Condoms

    Not Getting Tested Frequently Enough

    Apart from condom usage, regular testing is also an important way we can cut down on the spread of STIs. One of the main reasons for that is that people often don’t know when they’ve contracted an infection.

    “One of the most common symptoms of an STI is no symptom at all,” says sexologist Jess O’Reilly, Ph.D., host of the Sex With Dr. Jess podcast.

    As such, if you’re not getting tested, you have no reliable way of knowing what your STI status is.

    “If you’re sexually active, talk to your healthcare provider about getting tested,” O’Reilly says. “Their recommendation in terms of frequency of testing will vary according to your risk for STI transmission. If you don’t have a healthcare provider, there are many options for ordering STI testing kits online and local clinics offer free testing from coast to coast.”

    “It can be daunting, scary, annoying, and time-consuming to schedule regular STI tests, but making assumptions about your sexual health can lead to unintended transmission and more severe symptoms or complications,” Balestrieri says.

    “The CDC recommends that folks with multiple partners ought to get tested for STIs every three to six months, and that includes any kind of sex (oral, vaginal, anal),” she adds.

    Not Taking PrEP

    While most STI transmission is reasonably manageable, some are more serious than others — the most serious being the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which can lead to AIDS if left untreated.

    Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a leap forward in our ability to prevent HIV transmission, and is revolutionary in the way it’s altered the conversation around HIV transmission in the gay community.

    “If you’re having sex with multiple partners, it’s a really good idea to be on PrEP to avoid getting HIV,” says Engle. “It’s a daily medication that is 99% effective.”

    Not Educating Themselves on STIs

    “Many people conflate their self-perception with their risk of getting an STI,” says Balestrieri. “They may underestimate the prevalence of STIs and/or believe only people they have othered in some way could be positive. Get educated, and don’t rely on self-righteousness as a form of risk reduction. People from all walks of life can and do test positive for STIs.”

    RELATED: How to Diagnose and Treat Chlamydia

    One form of miseducation Balestrieri points out? Believing that oral contraception stops STIs.

    “The birth control pill is designed to prohibit pregnancy and has no recorded efficacy in thwarting the transmission of STIs,” she says. “Do not rely on oral contraception as a form of risk reduction for STIs.”

    RELATED: Sexually Transmitted Infections That Show on Your Face

    Leaving the Onus of Responsibility on Your Partner

    For straight guys, sex can sometimes be a game of letting the woman decide. If they see it as being “up to her” whether the sex happens or not, they may also take a more passive role when it comes to whether condoms are used.

    After all, if you can’t get pregnant, a partner willing to forgo condoms may be seen as a bonus rather than as a red flag. But that’s an unproductive way of thinking about a conversation that should be a two-way street, O’Reilly points out.

    “Your gender and genitals do not determine the role you ought to play in safer sex,” she says. “Everyone can play a role, so step up and talk about safer sex practices from the onset.”

    Not Talking About Safer Sex

    “Communication makes sex safer and more pleasurable,” O’Reilly says. “And when you talk about safer sex, it can put you at ease to enjoy sex with fewer worries and distractions.”

    O’Reilly suggests these conversation starters to help you handle the talk smoothly:

    • “I was last tested X months ago. How about you?”

    • “Before we get to the good stuff, let’s make sure we’re both feeling comfortable about safety precautions…”

    • “I brought condoms. Is there anything else you want to use to reduce risk?”

    You Might Also Dig:

    [ad_2]

    Alex Manley

    Source link

  • 7 Safer Sex Mistakes Guys Make That Lead to Them Getting STIs

    7 Safer Sex Mistakes Guys Make That Lead to Them Getting STIs

    [ad_1]

    7 Safer Sex Mistakes Guys Make That Lead to Them Getting STIs

    When it comes to the basics of sex education, often the only things people learn about are the importance of wearing condoms and STI transmission — in short, they’re taught how to prevent worst-case scenarios, rather than educated in a positive, pleasure-affirming way about the great ways that sex can be a wonderful part of their lives.

    Unfortunately, even that STI-centric sex ed focus tends not to register for many people, because STI transmission still occurs all too frequently.

    RELATED: 4 Key Tips That’ll Help to Keep You STI-Free

    But maybe you were taught about these things many years ago — or even not at all.

    So in order to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections, AskMen spoke with three sex experts about common mistakes people make that lead to negative sexual health consequences. Here’s what they had to say:

    Not Wearing Condoms

    Condoms are one of the most useful tools there are when it comes to having consequence-free sex. When used properly, they’re highly effective when it comes to preventing pregnancy and also the transmission of sexual infections.

    “Condoms are hugely important in curbing the spread of STIs,” says SKYN Condoms’ sex and intimacy expert and author Gigi Engle. “Everyone should be using them to protect themselves.”

    Wearing Condoms Incorrectly

    Unfortunately, wearing a condom alone does not guarantee protection from infections. Incorrect condom use is “another common mistake that can lead to unintended pregnancy or STIs,” says Dr. Kate Balestrieri, a licensed psychologist, certified sex therapist and founder of Modern Intimacy.

    So, let’s go through some ways people screw up condom usage:

    • Using an expired or punctured condom. (“Before you wrap it up, be sure to check that the packaging is intact, and it is not expired,” says Balestrieri.)

    • Opening a condom with your teeth. (“It might look sexy to open a condom wrapper with your teeth, but it increases the odds of the condom being torn or punctured,” she adds.)

    • Re-using a condom, whether with different partners or even with the same one. (“Definitely do not reuse a condom,” Balestrieri cautions. “It is a one-time-use product and can more readily tear or break when used more than once.”)

    • Putting it on incorrectly (“Leave room at the tip of the condom, but be sure to press the air out of it after it is rolled on, to avoid ruptures during use,” she explains.)

    • Wearing the wrong size of condom. (Too large or too small and there’s a greater chance it’ll come off mid-coitus.)

    RELATED: What to Do If You Hate Wearing Condoms

    Not Getting Tested Frequently Enough

    Apart from condom usage, regular testing is also an important way we can cut down on the spread of STIs. One of the main reasons for that is that people often don’t know when they’ve contracted an infection.

    “One of the most common symptoms of an STI is no symptom at all,” says sexologist Jess O’Reilly, Ph.D., host of the Sex With Dr. Jess podcast.

    As such, if you’re not getting tested, you have no reliable way of knowing what your STI status is.

    “If you’re sexually active, talk to your healthcare provider about getting tested,” O’Reilly says. “Their recommendation in terms of frequency of testing will vary according to your risk for STI transmission. If you don’t have a healthcare provider, there are many options for ordering STI testing kits online and local clinics offer free testing from coast to coast.”

    “It can be daunting, scary, annoying, and time-consuming to schedule regular STI tests, but making assumptions about your sexual health can lead to unintended transmission and more severe symptoms or complications,” Balestrieri says.

    “The CDC recommends that folks with multiple partners ought to get tested for STIs every three to six months, and that includes any kind of sex (oral, vaginal, anal),” she adds.

    Not Taking PrEP

    While most STI transmission is reasonably manageable, some are more serious than others — the most serious being the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which can lead to AIDS if left untreated.

    Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a leap forward in our ability to prevent HIV transmission, and is revolutionary in the way it’s altered the conversation around HIV transmission in the gay community.

    “If you’re having sex with multiple partners, it’s a really good idea to be on PrEP to avoid getting HIV,” says Engle. “It’s a daily medication that is 99% effective.”

    Not Educating Themselves on STIs

    “Many people conflate their self-perception with their risk of getting an STI,” says Balestrieri. “They may underestimate the prevalence of STIs and/or believe only people they have othered in some way could be positive. Get educated, and don’t rely on self-righteousness as a form of risk reduction. People from all walks of life can and do test positive for STIs.”

    RELATED: How to Diagnose and Treat Chlamydia

    One form of miseducation Balestrieri points out? Believing that oral contraception stops STIs.

    “The birth control pill is designed to prohibit pregnancy and has no recorded efficacy in thwarting the transmission of STIs,” she says. “Do not rely on oral contraception as a form of risk reduction for STIs.”

    RELATED: Sexually Transmitted Infections That Show on Your Face

    Leaving the Onus of Responsibility on Your Partner

    For straight guys, sex can sometimes be a game of letting the woman decide. If they see it as being “up to her” whether the sex happens or not, they may also take a more passive role when it comes to whether condoms are used.

    After all, if you can’t get pregnant, a partner willing to forgo condoms may be seen as a bonus rather than as a red flag. But that’s an unproductive way of thinking about a conversation that should be a two-way street, O’Reilly points out.

    “Your gender and genitals do not determine the role you ought to play in safer sex,” she says. “Everyone can play a role, so step up and talk about safer sex practices from the onset.”

    Not Talking About Safer Sex

    “Communication makes sex safer and more pleasurable,” O’Reilly says. “And when you talk about safer sex, it can put you at ease to enjoy sex with fewer worries and distractions.”

    O’Reilly suggests these conversation starters to help you handle the talk smoothly:

    • “I was last tested X months ago. How about you?”

    • “Before we get to the good stuff, let’s make sure we’re both feeling comfortable about safety precautions…”

    • “I brought condoms. Is there anything else you want to use to reduce risk?”

    You Might Also Dig:

    [ad_2]

    Alex Manley

    Source link

  • Is Using Antibiotics Before STI Exposure Risky?

    Is Using Antibiotics Before STI Exposure Risky?

    [ad_1]

    Dec. 9, 2022 – The use of antibiotics to prevent – not just treat – sexually transmitted infections was a fringe idea just a decade ago. Now, it has the backing of several studies and a green light from a California public health department.

    Jeffrey Klausner, MD, an infectious disease doctor and professor of public health at the University of Southern California, published the first randomized, controlled trial on whether doxycycline – an antibiotic commonly used to treat infections, including syphilis, chlamydia, and others – could prevent STIs back in 2015. At first, he says the National Institutes of Health didn’t want to fund the work, expressing concerns about the potential for antimicrobial resistance.

    In a worst-case scenario, microbes change over time and no longer respond to medicine, and treatments stop working.

    But a growing STI crisis has health care professionals searching for new options to help. 

    “There were more than 170,000 cases of syphilis [in the U.S.] last year, and yearly cases have doubled over the past five years,” says Klausner. 

    Repeated studies, with slightly different designs, also found lower rates of STIs among people who took doxycycline either daily or after sex. The method, known as pre-exposure doxycycline prophylaxis, now has its own name: doxyPEP.

    And in October, the San Francisco Department of Public Health recommended doxyPEP for cisgender men and transgender women who have had a bacterial STI in the past year as well as condomless oral or anal sex with one or more cis men or trans women in the past year.

    For those who meet the second criteria but haven’t been diagnosed with an STI in the last year, the department is advising a “shared decision-making approach,” where doctors discuss the benefits and risks of doxyPEP and prescribe it for patients who feel they will benefit, explains Stephanie Cohen, MD, the department’s acting director of disease prevention and control in the Population Health Division. 

    The department also recommends doxyPEP for anyone diagnosed with syphilis, regardless of their gender or sexual partners.

    Cohen says the U.S. has among the highest rates of STIs in the world and that “San Francisco, in particular, has some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections in the country.”

    Latest Results

    The most recent study of doxyPEP followed 501 men and trans women in Seattle and San Francisco. About two-thirds were taking HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (HIV PrEP) and the rest were living with HIV. The results of that study, shared at the International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference earlier this year, found STIs were lower in the group told to take a single dose of doxycycline within 72 hours of unprotected sex. The rate of STI reduction was 66% in the HIV PrEP group and 62% in the HIV-positive group. 

    “It can be a bit of a paradigm shift when you talk about using antibiotics before someone has an infection,” says Annie Luetkemeyer, MD, an infectious disease doctor and STI researcher at the University of California San Francisco, who co-led the study.

    She recalls that when HIV PreP came out, there was pushback that it would lead to riskier sex or increased HIV drug resistance. In reality, “we’ve learned that for some segments of the population, having access to HIV PrEP has absolutely been essential to reduce the risk in HIV.”

    Now, the pushback to doxyPEP is that it could lead to more antimicrobial resistance. But Luetkemeyer points out that the highest-risk populations, for whom the intervention is meant, are already exposed to high rates of antibiotic use, largely to treat STIs. 

    In the study’s control group, the rate of STIs was 32% in a 3-month period, compared to 11% in the doxyPEP  group. But the doxyPEP use wasn’t perfect, and people in the study reported they took it after 87% of unprotected sexual encounters, on average.

    “This isn’t a question of taking doxycycline versus taking no antibiotics,” Luetkemeyer says. In fact, the control group had a 50% higher exposure to ceftriaxone, a broad-spectrum antibiotic that has a higher potential, compared to doxycycline, of spurring drug-resistant gonorrhea.

    Still, Luetkemeyer and Klausner say it’s important to monitor both drug-resistant STIs, as well as other infections, like doxycycline-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, to ensure that doxyPEP isn’t increasing them. 

    Making Things Worse?

    Luetkemeyer and her colleagues are now studying to see whether doxyPEP increases drug-resistant bacteria in those who take it. There are no red flags yet, but the research is ongoing.

    While San Francisco’s public health department has given the first official endorsement of doxyPEP, doctors who work with high-risk populations have been prescribing it off-label for years. Klausner says that when he was treating patients living with HIV or at risk of HIV, he would prescribe prophylactic doxycycline either daily or after sex without a condom, depending on the patient’s frequency of sexual activity. For as-needed use, he would typically start with 15 doses at 200 milligrams, with refills.

    He  also notes that there isn’t one, fixed group of people who need doxyPEP, pointing out that people may benefit for a period in between monogamous or relatively monogamous relationships, for example. 

    “People’s risk profile is dynamic. … doxyPEP isn’t a strategy we’re encouraging people to adopt forever,” he says. 

    And while doxyPEP could increase the risk of drug-resistant infections, it could also theoretically reduce it, by lowering the burden of STIs in the population, and the need for antibiotic treatments, Klausner says.

    “It’s been known since the 1970s that sexually transmitted infections – like chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis – are perpetuated by a core group,” he says, typically men who have sex with many male partners over a month. “If you can control that spread of infection in the core group, the rest of the population is more protected.”

    Cohen at the San Francisco Department of Public Health said that while “it’s definitely a priority as we roll it out to do surveillance to see if there’s any concerning signs of antimicrobial resistance,” for now, “the desire from the community to have new tools to protect themselves from STIs outweigh the potential and unknown risks of antimicrobial resistance.”

    What is certain is that decades of experience shows that the only other prevention tool, condoms, aren’t going to be widely adopted by everyone, due to partner or personal preferences. 

    “For some populations, with really soaring rates of sexually transmitted infections, what we currently have to offer isn’t working, so we really need new tools,” says Luetkemeyer.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Reddit Leads the Way for STD Information Seeking

    Reddit Leads the Way for STD Information Seeking

    [ad_1]

    Oct. 7, 2022 – Where do teens and young adults go to talk about sex, sexual health, and sexually transmitted diseases? 

    The obvious – routine medical checkups, hanging out with friends or partners – are possibly becoming less common than social media platforms for information and advice. And it appears that researchers and doctors  alike are starting to pay close attention by meeting users where they are – both to observe and take part in real-time exchanges around sexual health topics that occur in more leveled, stigma-free playing fields. 

    For patients and doctors, it’s a win-win situation, one that provides a chance to address and prevent the spread of STD misinformation and, at the same time, help to reverse skyrocketing rates of some of these infections in younger people. 

    Ina Park, MD, an STD doctor and professor of family and community medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, says that almost all of her and her colleagues’ patients – especially within a certain age range – are on social media. 

    “Many have had negative experiences when they’ve disclosed their sexual practices to their clinicians, when they felt that they were being judged for how many sexual partners they had, or [felt] that getting an STD meant getting punished for bad behavior” she says. 

    This is especially true of sexual minority youth (LGBTQ), whose clinical encounters are all too often marred by doctors who lack an understanding of gender identity issues, or by those who aren’t comfortable discussing sexual health and STDs with their patients.

    Perhaps this explains, at least in part, why platforms like Reddit and its smaller, moderated community forums, known as subreddits, are getting more popular. At last count, there were more than 3.4 million subreddits dedicated to specific topics, including the ‘Ask Me Anything (AMA)’ STD subreddit (r/STD), which does regular online question-and-answer sessions on sexual health and STDs among a community of 23,000 active users.

    Discovering and Leveraging r/STD

    In 2019, a group of researchers from the University of California, San Diego, did a small study to find out if people were getting medical diagnoses on social media platforms. They chose STDs as a case study, in part because these infections were getting more common.

    “Our goal was to introduce the concept of crowd diagnosis, where you go to obtain a diagnosis on social media for a clinical outcome from your peers,” explains John Ayers, PhD, vice chief of innovation in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at UCSD and one of the study’s authors.

    “When we looked at the data, we saw that 100s of people were going on Reddit and a large plurality were posting pictures, and asking for a diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases,” he says.

    The team’s findings were published later that year in JAMA and highlighted that 58% of roughly 17,000 posts were requests for a crowd diagnosis, 31% of which also included an image of physical signs of infection. Only 20% of posts asking for a crowd diagnosis were made to obtain a second option after receiving a diagnosis from a doctor. 

    Ayers says the main takeaway is that many doctors have a “field of dreams” perspective, “you know, if we build it, they will come. But they’re not coming, so why don’t we go and help them where they already are?”

    He also explains that it’s not enough to simply discover that a phenomenon exists (people going online to get a diagnosis), but that by discovering or revealing a problem (possible misinformation), doctors have a chance to intervene.

    That is exactly what the American Sexual Health Association (ASHA) aimed to explore when it when it hopped onto an r/STD AMA forum armed with two experts – Park and a sexologist – and hosted a discussion about STDs. Their goal was to learn what types of information people were seeking, and ultimately drive sexually active people to seek testing through its Yes Means Test public awareness campaign.

    The session generated 254 comments, and Park and her co-host addressed 42 questions, most commonly on STD transmission (24%) and STD testing (22%). Other common questions focused on sexual difficulties (15%) and sexuality (15%), although the AMA also included posts discussing contraception, partner communication, research, prevention, and treatment.

    EXAMPLE:

    “Can oral herpes be spread to your partner as genital herpes during sex. How long should a person wait after an oral herpes breakout before giving oral sex?”

    This question received 50 upvotes, indicating approval or support for the post from other participants.

    Notably, the first response to the question was from a fellow user who recommended that the poster check out a herpes organization site in the U.K. 

    Park then followed with information on how oral herpes is spread between partners during oral sex, the need to wait until the sore is healed before resuming oral sex, and when shedding is most active.

    If scores and click-throughs indicate outcomes, then The ASHA AMA resulted in the best possible results. The session received a 5 out of 5 Reddit AMA score (the benchmark is 4), three community awards, and a click-through rate back to the ASHA site (and its STD testing campaign) of 45% (which surpassed the 10% Reddit benchmark).

    Not All That Glitters Is Gold 

    Reddit AMAs don’t come without risk, and it’s best for those who want STD information to be aware of the pitfalls and red flags.

    “One of the things to think about is that an approach like the subreddit adds to the false narrative that STDs in particular have to be symptomatic to be problematic, which we know is not the case,” explains Dennis Li, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and sexual and gender minority health and well-being, at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. 

    “We also have to be careful not to misdiagnose and potentially cause harm,” he says, emphasizing that many young people – especially those with equity issues – don’t have experience in navigating health systems or reputable websites for information. 

    Ayers concurs.

    “One of the outcomes in our study was people saying that they had a positive HIV test and were asked to come back and get a confirmatory test,” he explains. “But then someone in the community said don’t worry about it; you’re OK.”

    So, “it’s OK to seek out advice but look for confirmation of that advice,” he says. “Make sure to follow [up] with a physician or go to a forum where you can actually engage with a physician.” 

    Although she took part in the ASHA AMA session, Park has strong words of caution for people seeking advice on social platforms, especially when it comes to Reddit, which carries with it the baggage of hosting a lot of trolls.

    “Reddit has the highest risk in terms of accepting advice because oftentimes, the person responding back to you is anonymous. They can say that their credentials are x, y, and z, but you really don’t have any way of proving that” Park says. 

    “You don’t know who’s answering your question.”

    Personally, she says that she uses her real name, on the few Reddit forums she’s taken part in as well as on her Instagram page, where she shares STD information.

    Park also cautions users to avoid someone trying to sell something, as the information is, by nature, likely to be somewhat biased. Like Ayers, she recommends taking the information and verifying it before making health decisions. 

    Reputable sources include ASHA, the CDC, Scarleteen (an LGBTQ-positive, graphic-forward site), Planned Parenthood, and, of course, WebMD.

    Health Experts Call for New Prevention Strategies 

    In September, the CDC held the 2022 STD Prevention Conference, resulting in an Associated Press news report that warned of an out-of-control “STD situation” in the U.S. In addition to dire news about rising infection rates for STDs such as gonorrhea, the CDC also reported that 2021 syphilis cases reached a high not seen since 1948 and that HIV cases were likewise on the rise.

    The key takeaway from this conference was that prevention is key, especially among at-risk populations like young people, men who have sex with men, Black and Hispanic Americans, Indigenous Americans, and women.

    According to Li, testing should be the best outcome.

    “What online resources can really help with is reducing stigma around testing, getting people comfortable asking questions to a medical or health care provider, and helping to bolster trust in the medical system – not just trusting that people are doing the right thing, but trust that you’ll be taken care of in a way that respects you as a person,” he says. 

    Li sees sites like Reddit as bridging the gap between doing things on one’s own and knowing when to go to a qualified health professional.

    But there may be a need for doctors to take the leap onto social media, if only to start following user accounts and learning what people are talking about. 

    By doing so, “we can minimize the harm,” says Ayers. 

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Chexout Named to Inc. 5000 2022 List of Fastest Growing Private Companies

    Chexout Named to Inc. 5000 2022 List of Fastest Growing Private Companies

    [ad_1]

    Virginia-based SaaS Provider Emerging as a “Backbone” of U.S. Public Health Infectious Disease Surveillance Data Management, Control and Modernization Initiatives

    Press Release
    –

    Aug 16, 2022


    VIENNA, Va., August 16, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Chexout, the nation’s leading provider of infectious disease surveillance and clinic data management software designed exclusively for Public Health, announced its inclusion in Inc. Magazine‘s prestigious Inc. 5000 annual list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. Chexout debuts at 221st on the list of 5,000 with a three-year growth rate of 2,402%, placing them as the 15th fastest-growing company in health services, the 7th fastest-growing company headquartered in Virginia, and the 8th fastest-growing company in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

    The Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States was first introduced by Inc. Magazine in 1982. Over the years, the Inc. 5000 list has become a measure of entrepreneurial success in the United States. Companies on the 2022 Inc. 5000 have been ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2018 to 2021. Notable companies previously named to the list include Microsoft, Oracle, Under Armour, Pandora, and Patagonia.

    To be selected as one of the 5000 fastest-growing companies out of over 7 million privately held companies in the U.S. is a tribute to Chexout’s commitment to serving its customers’ mission. The Inc. 5000 recognition puts Chexout in the top 0.00003 of all privately owned companies in America in terms of multi-year growth. This year’s list is particularly special because it showcases organizations that have flourished amidst a uniquely challenging economic landscape.

    “Being cited as an INC. 5000 honoree represents a ‘win-win’ for both Chexout and our Public Health clients. Chexout’s software modernizes the way Public Health agencies manage infectious disease surveillance and prevention protocols through interoperability and a fully integrated software that provides patient-facing services through to reporting to State and Federal Electronic Disease Surveillance Systems (EDSS). Our technology has enabled Public Health agencies to respond effectively during an unprecedented need for Public Health services,” said Chexout CEO Joseph Paulini. 

    Early in the Covid-19 pandemic, Chexout was chosen from a field of nearly 50 companies for the 2020 Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Contact Tracing Pilot. The pilot was canceled by the Administration in May 2020, but Paulini said the selection validated Chexout’s software as the most advanced disease surveillance software available.

    David Harvey, National Director of the National Coalition of State STD Directors and a national advocate for infectious disease prevention and control, said, “Chexout has been a steadfast partner, investing in next-generation Public Health data system modernization and disease surveillance for STDs and other reportable diseases for over a decade prior to the Covid pandemic. Their experts thoroughly understand the needs of state and local health departments and will continue to be an integral partner in being prepared for emerging infectious disease crises in the days, weeks, and months ahead.”

    “COVID taught our nation’s leaders that a chronically underfunded Public Health put us all at risk, and if we have learned anything, it’s that being unprepared for the next pandemic is not an option. Chexout stands ready to work with Public Health no matter the challenges ahead,” Paulini noted.

    About Chexout

    Chexout is a Healthcare IT SaaS, revolutionizing public health communications, case management, contact tracing, disease surveillance and reporting, infectious disease prevention, and patient care and coordination. Chexout offers a comprehensive suite of products that generate substantial cost saving, productivity, and patient management efficiencies for healthcare providers.

    Chexout brings a high-value proposition to health providers by cost-effectively filling gaps in available services with a HIPAA/HITECH-compliant suite of products and by acting as a universal translator of data from EMRs, EHRs and Labs. For more information, visit http://www.chexout.com. 

    MEDIA CONTACT:
    Nancy Rose Senich
    +1-202-262-6996 cell./text
    nsenich@chexout.com 

    Source: Chexout

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 4 Key Tips to Ensure You Stay STI-Free

    4 Key Tips to Ensure You Stay STI-Free

    [ad_1]

    4 Key Tips That’ll Help to Keep You STD-Free

    Sexually transmitted infections are a unique kind of infection — at least, in terms of how we think of them.

    STIs (often referred to as sexually transmitted diseases or STDs), despite not being fundamentally different than catching a cold from shaking someone’s hand, get a very bad rap. People stigmatize both the diseases and the people who catch, carry and spread them, and often associate them with forms of sex that they disapprove of — like promiscuity, sex work, or queer sex — rather than the much more banal reality.

    The truth is, many infections are transmitted in very prosaic circumstances, between people not doing anything particularly out of the ordinary. Disease transmission doesn’t only occur between people at the margins of society, and being young and otherwise healthy won’t protect you from contracting a sexually transmitted infection if you’re not being smart about your safer sex practices.

    RELATED: Choosing the Best Condom for You

    So what’s the best way to stay informed about STDs, STIs, and everything in between? Here are four tips to keep in mind:

    What to Know About STDs (and How to Avoid Catching Them)

    1. Things to Know About Condom Use in Preventing STIs

    Condoms being highly effective against preventing STI transmission is not just an urban legend. Besides abstinence, using a single, properly applied condom for the entire duration of each session of intercourse is the best bet you have when it comes to not catching an infection. But there are lots of things guys still don’t know about condoms.

    For starters, not all condoms are created equal. If you’ve been avoiding them due to a few underwhelming experiences, well, it might be time to re-think that strategy.

    “If your condom doesn’t feel good on you, it’s not that condoms are awful,” says Kayla Lords, sexpert for JackandJillAdult.com. Instead, she says, you might just not have found the right condom for you yet. “Condoms come in such a wide variety that you can look for ultra-thin, condoms that add sensation, condoms with texture, and dozens of other styles to find something that feels good,” she adds. “Not liking the feeling of a condom is no longer a good excuse. There are literally too many options out there.”

    Of course, beyond just size, thinness and other aesthetic factors, there’s also the question of material — which can be an incredibly important one.

    “Not all condom materials are compatible with every partner’s body,” says sex educator Janell Ariela, B.A. “It is very common when folks experience irritations, rashes or some type of reaction due to condoms. Certain condoms may also have lubricant that can cause an allergic reaction. It is best to check in with partners to see which condoms or condom materials best mesh well with their body.”

    2. Things to Know About Preventing STIs in Other Ways

    Of course, STI prevention doesn’t begin and end with putting a condom on during penetrative sex.

    “If you are sexually active, there will always be risks,” says Ariela. “That is why sex educators call it ‘safer sex’ rather than ‘safe sex’ because there is no ‘safe’ sex. We can only try to reduce risks so we can make it safer for you.”

    According to Ariela, one of the most important points when it comes to being safe has nothing to do with what you actually do in bed. In reality, what you do at the doctor’s office matters most.

    “Unless you decide to become abstinent, transparency is key,” she says. “Getting tested and being honest with your status can impact STI transmission.”

    Getting checked regularly and being able to tell your partner that you’re infection-free — or that you are carrying something — can be a huge factor in the safer sex practices the two of you undertake, and as a result, in potential transmission.

    Of course, apart from condoms, there’s also pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP: a medication you can take daily that can help protect you from contracting HIV. It’s important to note that even if you’re prescribed to something like PrEP, you’re not immune from contracting various other STIs.

    RELATED: Here’s What It’s Like to Realize You Have an STI

    “Pre-exposure prophylaxis doesn’t protect you from other STIs,” notes Ariela. “It’s important to inspect the side-effects of PrEP and other drug-based approaches and to be honest with your doctor or nurse to figure out if they will work well with your body.”

    As well, because it’s a relatively new drug, you might not be able to get your hands on it easily. “There are medical institutions that aren’t educated on PrEP and won’t authorize it to you because they lack that education,” she adds, which is why it’s best to keep yourself educated on all preventative options out there.

    3. High-Risk Behaviors You Should Stay Away From

    Far from the image of a seedy brothel as the site of most sexually transmitted infections, often people catch STIs simply because the person they’re with seems like someone who doesn’t have any.

    “Many times we trust a person based on their appearance, how long we have known them and many other reasons,” says Ariela. “This […] thinking usually associates [an image of trustworthiness] with being free of STIs, which leads to not using condoms.”

    Another high-risk behavior when it comes to STIs, according to Ariela, is alcohol or recreational drugs. “Substance abuse can hinder your ability to make sensible decisions, which usually makes you more ready to take part in risky behaviors” she says. Lords, meanwhile, says that pressuring your partner into agreeing to unprotected sex isn’t just a jerk move — it’s also a great way for STI transmission to occur.

    “Teasing your partner’s body with ‘just the tip’ isn’t cool,” she explains. “If they’ve asked you to wear a condom, and you’re making them wait or doing the ‘baby, baby, it’s OK, it’s just the tip,’ then you’re violating consent, and potentially putting both of you at risk. Full penetration isn’t the only way that STIs can be passed from one partner to the other.”

    Another important factor is your approach to oral sex. Think you’re off the hook from contracting STIs by sticking to oral? Well, think again.

    “Some men do not link oral sex with STIs,” notes Ariela. “There is this mindset that if they receive oral sex and not have intercourse, they will be fine.”

    Mackenzie Riel of TooTimid.com agrees that unprotected sex can be an avenue where men let down their guard when it comes to safer sex. “Oral sex is also another common form of STI transmission,” she says. “Some STIs that are specifically oral illnesses [and] can be transferred through oral sex via mouth to genitals. This can happen if an individual were to perform oral sex on a partner that has an STI in/on their genitals.”

    If that’s not concerning enough,  “many forms of STIs are actually even more painful when experienced orally,” adds Riel. Meaning, if you’re not sure of your partner’s STI status (or your own), the smart choice is to either forgo oral sex entirely, or to practice it with either a condom or dental dam, depending on the situation.

    And finally, if you weren’t certain … no, the human body isn’t the only place you can catch an STI. Items you may incorporate into sexual play could carry diseases that could be easily transferred to either person involved with their use.“Using sex toys that your partner hasn’t cleaned,” says Riel, is also a potential way to get an infection. “When using sex toys during sex, you should always either be the first one to use it, or make sure it’s thoroughly cleaned as they can easily hold onto harmful bacteria.”

    4. What to Do If You’re Concerned You Have an STI

    If you do engage in unprotected sex and are concerned that you might have contracted something, it can be a scary experience. The first thing you should do is get tested to be sure of your STI status — whether at a health clinic, a hospital or a doctor’s office.

    “Make an appointment and get tested as soon as you’re able to,” says Riel. “It can be a scary and overwhelming experience for anyone, but what matters is getting a proper diagnoses so you can start treatment if there is an issue. If you can’t do that immediately, try to clean the area where you may be infected as well as possible. The area may be sensitive or itchy, so be mindful and gentle of it as you clean it.”

    If the idea of making that happen seems overwhelming, it might benefit you to reach out to someone you can trust, as they’ll be able to help you in the process.

    “Find support to get tested,” says Ariela. “When we can find a support system, it can motivate us to want to get tested. If someone lacks a support system, there are many clinics or centers that can offer the support and most likely have better information and guidance.”

    When you get the results back, don’t keep them a secret — especially if they show you have an STI. That means telling recent partners who may have contracted an infection from you (or from whom you may have contracted it), as well as future partners.

    “Share those test results with your partners,” says Lords. “Just like you should discuss what you like and don’t like with a partner and what kind of STI and/or pregnancy prevention methods you’re going to use, you also need to talk about your STI status, too. It’s all part of making sure both of you can give enthusiastic and informed consent to the sex you’re about to experience together. You can use at-home testing kits, too, which means there’s no real excuse not to know your STI status.”

    RELATED: STIs That Show on Your Face

    Thanks to advancements in medicine, treatments exist for many STIs, and even serious ones are no longer the death sentence they once were. As well, online communities and dating sites specifically for people with STIs can help de-stigmatize them and make living with one less unpleasant than it once was.

    At the end of the day, a commitment to making choices focused on your sexual health and a willingness to get tested regularly (and let’s not forget transparency about the results of those tests), you’ll significantly reduce the likelihood of contracting an unpleasant infection in the first place.

    Have fun, but be smart, too.

    You Might Also Dig:

    [ad_2]

    Alex Manley

    Source link