Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Dec 12;3(4):1386-91.
doi: 10.3390/jcm3041386.

High Prevalence of Asymptomatic Sexually Transmitted Infections among Men Who Have Sex with Men

Patrick Philibert  1 , Hacène Khiri  2 , Guillaume Pénaranda  3 , Claire Camus  4 , Marie-Pierre Drogoul  5 , Philippe Halfon  6   7
Affiliations

High Prevalence of Asymptomatic Sexually Transmitted Infections among Men Who Have Sex with Men

Patrick Philibert et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infection. The aim of this cross-sectional study is to prospectively detect the prevalence of chlamydia trachomatis (CT), neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), mycoplasma genitalium (MG), and high risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV), and syphilis in a population of asymptomatic sexually active MSM.

Methods: Rectal, pharyngeal, and urine samples for CT, NG, MG, and HR-HPV were analyzed in 116 MSM patients attending the clinic for their routine follow-up during the period the study was conducted: 99 patients were issued from the clinic routine follow-up for their HIV infection, and 17 attended the clinic because they were sexual partners of an HIV infected male.

Results: An STI was found in 16% of the patients (19/116), with at least one bacterial strain (CT, NG, or MG) found in one site (the pharynx, rectum, or urine).

Conclusions: In this study, 16% of the MSM reporting recent RAI were asymptomatic carriers of rectal CT, NG, or MG. According to the high prevalence of asymptomatic STIs found in our MSM population and in other studies, prevention efforts in the form of counseling about the risk of STI need to be done in the population of MSM.

Keywords: chlamydia trachomatis; high risk HPV infection; men who have sex with men; mycoplasma genitalium; neisseria gonorrhoeae; sexually transmitted infection.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Sanders E.J., Thiong’o A.N., Okuku H.S., Mwambi J., Priddy F., Shafi J., de Vries H., McClelland R.S., Graham S.M. High prevalence of chlamydia trachomatis and neisseria gonorrhoeae infections among HIV-1 negative men who have sex with men in coastal Kenya. Sex. Transm. Infect. 2010;86:440–441. doi: 10.1136/sti.2010.043224. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dudareva-Vizule S., Haar K., Sailer A., Wisplinghoff H., Wisplinghoff F., Marcus U. Prevalence of pharyngeal and rectal chlamydia trachomatis and neisseria gonorrhoeae infections among men who have sex with men in Germany. Sex. Transm. Infect. 2014;90:46–51. - PubMed
    1. Sanders E.J., Wahome E., Okuku H.S., Thiong’o A.N., Smith A.D., Duncan S., Mwambi J., Shafi J., McClelland R.S., Graham S.M. Evaluation of who screening algorithm for the presumptive treatment of asymptomatic rectal gonorrhoea and chlamydia infections in at-risk MSM in Kenya. Sex. Transm. Infect. 2014;90:94–99. doi: 10.1136/sextrans-2013-051078. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Le Roy C., Papaxanthos A., Liesenfeld O., Mehats V., Clerc M., Bebear C., de Barbeyrac B. Swabs (dry or collected in universal transport medium) and semen can be used for the detection of chlamydia trachomatis using the cobas 4800 system. J. Med. Microbiol. 2013;62:217–222. doi: 10.1099/jmm.0.048652-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brown B., Davtyan M., Galea J., Chow E., Leon S., Klausner J.D. The role of human papillomavirus in human immunodeficiency virus acquisition in men who have sex with men: A review of the literature. Viruses. 2012;4:3851–3858. doi: 10.3390/v4123851. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources