Increase in Sexually Transmitted Infections among Men Who Have Sex with Men, England, 2014

Abstract

Surveillance data from sexual health clinics indicate recent increases in sexually transmitted infections, particularly among men who have sex with men. The largest annual increase in syphilis diagnoses in a decade was reported in 2014. Less condom use may be the primary reason for these increases.

Figure 1. New diagnoses of selected sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men who attended sexual health clinics, England, 2005–2014. *First episode. †Primary, secondary, or early latent.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a major public health concern; they can facilitate the transmission of HIV and are associated with severe disease. Treatment for some STIs, especially gonorrhea, has been compromised by antimicrobial drug resistance (1). In 2014 in England, there were 439,243 diagnoses of STIs. Although this number reflects a very small decline (0.3%) relative to 2013, numbers of diagnoses of syphilis and gonorrhea rose substantially, by 33% (from 3,236 to 4,317) and 19% (from 29,419 to 34,958), respectively (2). This number of syphilis diagnoses is the highest reported in England since 1949, and the number of gonorrhea diagnoses is the highest reported since 1986. These increases resulted almost entirely from increased diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM), among whom diagnoses of syphilis and gonorrhea increased 46% (from 2,375 to 3,477) and 32% (from 13,629 to 18,029), respectively (Figure 1), resulting in the highest number of diagnoses of these STIs since reporting among MSM began in 1994. We explored the epidemiology of these and other STIs among MSM and describe recent trends.

Below:  Figure 1. New diagnoses of selected sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men who attended sexual health clinics, England, 2005–2014. *First episode. †Primary, secondary, or early latent.

Figure 2. Rate of diagnoses (per 1,000 sexual health screens) of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis (primary, secondary, and early latent) and proportion of extragenital chlamydia and gonorrhea diagnoses among men who have sex with men who attended sexual health clinics, England, 2009–2014. Surveillance codes for extragenital infections were introduced mid-2011 and are only available for chlamydia and gonorrhea diagnoses.

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/PqXPdW

By:   Hamish Mohammed , Holly Mitchell, Bersabeh Sile, Stephen Duffell, Anthony Nardone, and Gwenda Hughes

Author affiliations: Public Health England, London, UK

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