Academic writing hasn’t come easily to me and I’ve come to realise that learning to write – like most things – is something we never really stop doing. Doing a PhD has given me a great opportunity to think about and improve how I write for academic publication. Here are my top tips: 1. Start […]
Latest articles
Another failed sub-Saharan #PrEP study: unpicking the disappointing performance of the dapivirine ring
The potential value of PrEP as an intervention in Western MSM populations has recently been conclusively demonstrated (PROUD – 86% (PROUD study/STIs/blog)), despite results from a whole series of trials in sub-Saharan African populations that seemed to cast doubt on its likely efficacy (CAPRISA 004 – 39%; iPrEX – 44%; CDC TDF2 – 62%; Partners-PrEP – 75%; FEM-PrEP – 0%; VOICE– 0%). The difference in […]
Impressive declines in #HPV types amongst 14-24 yr olds in the US, despite poor vaccination coverage
Conclusive demonstration of cancer prevention benefits of HPV vaccination will only be possible in the relatively long term; good indicators of its probable effectiveness are, of course, already available. These include: reduced prevalence of the HPV types that have been vaccinated against; the decline in diagnoses of – or prescription for – genital warts; and […]
Editor-in-Chief Vacancy, Sexually Transmitted Infections
Sexually Transmitted Infections (sti.bmj.com) is the world’s longest running international journal on sexual health, publishing peer reviewed original research, descriptive epidemiology, evidence-based reviews and comment on the clinical, public health, translational, sociological and laboratory aspects of sexual health from around the world. It also has an active online presence via a regular blog, podcasts, and […]
Modeling the potential effectiveness of PrEP as against other preventative interventions in addressing MSM HIV
Despite the known preventative benefits of ART, the incidence of HIV among UK MSM population has remained relatively constant over the last 10 years and looks set to remain so. The UN 90:90:90 target will soon be achieved for this population, yet the goal of eliminating the infection seems no nearer. Not surprisingly there […]
Inadequacy of ‘treatment as prevention’ strategy for combating HIV in young US MSM
The secret of containing the HIV epidemic is the successful engagement of key populations, we are told. In the case of the US that evidently includes young MSM (YMSM), amongst others. The scale of the task that confronts public health interventions aimed at prevention in this group is brought out in a recent study by Wilson & Hightow-Weidmann […]
Health professionals violate human rights of sex workers in Kenya
‘Key’ populations – such as sex workers – are now seen as crucial to turning the tide of the HIV epidemic. Given the recognized epidemiological potential of such marginalized groups to act as ‘bridging populations’ into the wider population, much importance has rightly been attached to countering the kind of routine violations of human […]
Warding off the scourge of untreatable gonorrhoea?
A recent analysis (Kircaldy & Papp (K&P) of 2006-2014 US CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) data on Neisseria gonorrhea (NG) susceptibility to cefixime and ceftriaxone in isolates suggests a halt in the drift to resistance over the period 2011-13 followed by a return in 2014 to the upward trend. Among isolates from […]
Where next for HIV prevention in New Zealand?
A recent issue of the New Zealand Medical Journal (NZMJ) (128: vol. 1426) gives pride of place to a series of papers that reconsider the way forward for HIV prevention in New Zealand (NZ) against the background of the past thirty years. Recent contributions to STI journal by these authors analyse the behavioural surveillance data […]
Sexual and reproductive health in the new migrant “jungle” camp in Calais, France– A perfect storm?
written by Fionnuala Finnerty Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Brighton fionnuala.finnerty@gmail.com The new migrant “jungle” camp in Calais, France has been described in a recent environmental health report by the University of Birmingham as a humanitarian emergency1. Due to the recent refugee crisis and tightening border controls, the camp has swollen in size to an […]