Social and psychological factors in the distribution of STD in male clinic attenders. III Sexual activity.

Abstract

We report on the relation between various aspects of sexual activity and risk of infection with sexually transmitted disease (STD) in two groups of men attending an STD clinic. Sexual promiscuity appeared to have little effect on the distribution of most STDs, showing a strong association only with gonorrhoea. This finding was contrary to expectation but consistent with the results reported in the first two papers in this series. In contrast to promiscuity, however, sexual orientation subgroups showed a sharp difference in incidence of the major STDs. Hepatitis and syphilis occurred equally commonly among bisexual and homosexual men, but much less commonly among heterosexuals; NSU occurred more commonly among heterosexual men; and gonorrhoea, though common in all three groups, occurred most commonly in bisexual men and least commonly among heterosexuals. For certain STDs the form of intercourse may be as important a risk factor as sexual promiscuity but the precise mechanisms by which sexual orientation influences risk of STD remain undefined.

One hundred years of STIs: the expansion of venereal medicine through the pages of its journal

“…The obvious question is how much the emergence of men who have sex with men as a distinct population owes to the outbreak of HIV/AIDS in the late '80s. Evidence in the journal suggests a growing recognition as the '80s go by—with an increasing volume of publications on more specific conditions and issues (hepatitis B, cytomegalovirus, gonorrhoea resistance)33–35 and a heightening awareness of the distinctiveness of this group 36…”

Syphilis in HTLV-Iii Infected Male Homosexuals

“…In the U.S.A. the percentage of homosexuals is about 73% (1) and in Denmark 92% (2). Homosexual men frequently have a history of multiple sexually transmitted diseases (3). In the present study, we focused on the occurrence of syphilis in HTLV-III infected homosexuals.…”