We invite submissions for a special issue to be published in 2012 which will address the topics of Reinfection and Re-testing for STis and HIV. The Guest Editors for this important publication will be Dr Matthew Golden (Seattle, USA) and Dr Katy Turner (Bristol, UK). In this issue we aim to bring together a wide […]
Latest articles
The unequal benefits of male circumcision against HIV
The publication last August in the Lancet (Aaron A R Tobian, Ronald H Gray et al.) of findings from one of the two randomized control studies undertaken 2004-9 by the Rakkai Health Sciences Program (RHSP), Uganda, on the health impacts of circumcision to reduce HIV/STI transmission, has generated further comment in the Lancet from researchers […]
US sees little improvement in high-rate of teenage pregnancy
A recent report on US teenagers (G Martinez & J C Abma) has published selected data relative to sexual activity, contraceptive use and childbearing experience of 15-19 year olds deriving from the US National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). The latter is a US survey that periodically collects data on a wider range of factors […]
To circumcise or not to circumcise?
Against the background of recent legislation by 18 states of the US to eliminate Medicaid Insurance for male circumcision, an editorial in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) argues the case for circumcision largely on the basis of evidence from African trials of its benefit in reducing HIV transmission. […]
How does the experience of sexual coercion influence subsequent sexual behaviour?
Does the experience of sexual coercion predispose the sufferer to the kind of sexual behaviour likely to render him/her more vulnerable to HIV? Knowing the extent and the mechanisms of such influence could be helpful to those planning public health interventions in high risk populations. How important to HIV prevention is it to modify coercive […]
Hormonal contraception doubles the risk of African HIV-1 transmission
What should be the policy on hormonal contraceptives in settings where the transmission of HIV is a serious concern – e.g. in sub-Saharan Africa? Some studies have indicated the possibility of added risk of heterosexual transmission between sero-discordant partners where this method of contraception is used. But given the need to balance that risk against […]
What fluidics engineering can do to prevent vertical HIV/syphilis transmission in low resource settings
The economic case for investment in the prevention of vertical (mother to child) transmission of HIV and syphilis is easily made – even in low resource settings. Yet the virtual elimination of maternal HIV transmission remains a goal still to be achieved in many regions, while syphilis in pregnant mothers is often unaddressed with tragic […]
Bringing to light the HIV epidemiology of “hidden” MSM populations in the Middle East
What evidence is there of HIV epidemiology among MSM populations in the Muslim countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)? More than one might suppose, according to the authors of a recent systematic review, which draws on a comprehensive re-examination of all literature containing data points relating to HIV, as well as of […]
HIV incidence in the US
Estimations of HIV incidence in the US from 2006 to 2009, based on data from 16 states extrapolated to the country as a whole, show stability over the period in respect to rates overall yearly incident cases (2006: 48,000; 2009: 48,100) and stability in respect to its ethnic distribution (incidence for Blacks and Hispanics respectively […]
When an STI doesn’t behave like an STI: the case of Trichomonas
The second conference issue to hit the headlines arises from a study led by Charlotte Gaydos of John Hopkins University investigating the prevalence in the US of the parasite trichomonas vaginalis. Not only does overall prevalence prove to be twice what might have been expected (8.7% as opposed to 4%); more surprisingly still, age-specific prevalence […]