To guide chlamydia programs, we developed 10 national prevention indicators and report on each indicator for New South Wales. We used systematic methods to review literature on 15- to 29-year-old heterosexuals. Data shows that although notifications have risen steeply from 2000 onwards, the modest increase in prevalence maybe a more realistic reflection of chlamydia transmission. Strategies are needed to increase testing and to modify sexual risk behaviour.

Universal access to effective and tolerable antiretroviral treatment (ART) for HIV infection has saved lives and contained the epidemic in Australia. However, otherwise fit people on long stay temporary visas are being diagnosed with HIV, often during health screening. Non-citizen status and Medicare ineligibility compound the distress of diagnosis with this highly stigmatised infection; hinders access to ART; and limits employment and migration opportunities for individuals and potentially, their families.

This study, featuring samples predominantly from Bali and Jakarta, but also from around the Indonesian archipelago, aimed to determine if there is an epidemiological association between HIV-associated risk behaviour and subtype, or if there is evidence of significant mixing of HIV types within and among people with different risk factors.

With treatment options for Neisseria gonorrhoeae diminishing, strengthening antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance is paramount. We investigated PCR based methods, in parallel with NG-MAST genotyping for direct detection of four N. gonorrhoeae chromosomal mechanisms associated with emerging resistance to extended spectrum cephalosporins. Overall the methods proved highly sensitive and specific. The results also show that for molecular N. gonorrhoeae AMR surveillance, the population being investigated is equally important as the genetic mechanisms being targeted.

In a thematic content analysis of 103 publicly produced YouTube videos designed to destigmatise HSV infection, we identified five destigmatising strategies and differing abilities to successfully destigmatise HSV. We conclude that efforts to reduce HSV-associated stigma may be unsuccessful and may even perpetuate stigma. Special attention must be paid to balance and affective content, specifically humor, when attempting to convey a destigmatising message.

Court-based sexual health programs could provide a critical bridge between women in the justice system and public health services. This formative study explored the features of such a program that would encourage STI testing among court-involved women. We provide a description of how community-based participatory research principles (CBPR) were adapted and operationalised for use in a court setting, describe the key lessons learned and discuss the implications for CBPR projects in a community court.

In an online survey, 519 non HIV-positive Australian gay men commonly indicated that they sometimes avoided HIV testing because they did not think they had done anything risky, and due to the need to return for a second clinic visit. Among men who had engaged in sexually risky behaviour, however, men often cited a lack of symptoms as the reason for not testing. Implementation of the recent changes to Australia's HIV testing policy is required to reduce the number of clinic visits required for HIV testing. Moreover, education about the benefits of early treatment and the experience of seroconversion illness would be particularly beneficial for men at high risk of infection.

This study investigates the factors related to sexual debut among adolescents, and examines the association between subject characteristics and condom nonuse among those who experienced sexual intercourse in South Korea. Factors associated with condom nonuse included early sexual debut and frequent smoking behaviour for males, and early sexual debut and frequent drinking for females.

This cross-sectional study of sexual health clinic attendance and STI diagnoses during the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand (2011) found that approximately 7% of those attending sexual health clinics reported RWC-related sex. Most attendees who had RWC-related sex had consumed 3 or more drinks, and about 22% used a condom. Seven percent of women reported non-consensual sex. RWC was associated with an increased risk of some bacterial STIs in men. These findings highlight issues amenable to prevention such as the reduction of alcohol and promotion of condoms.

Combining social research with mathematical modelling, this study sought to determine the acceptability and potential impact of interventions promoting testing for syphilis and increases in partner notification among gay men.

This cross-sectional study conducted among 5742 Chinese-Burmese mixed couples in Dehong prefecture in south-west China revealed a high prevalence of HIV infection. Factors associated with HIV discordance were different depending on the gender of the HIV-infected spouse, whereas HIV concordance was associated only with a marital relationship of >3 years. Premarital HIV counseling and testing for this population and interventions to reduce secondary transmission among serodiscordant couples are urgently needed.

After identifying a case of secondary syphilis in a HIV infected patient where a falsely non-reactive rapid plasma reagin assay due to the prozone phenomenon was associated with a delayed diagnosis of reinfection we undertook a prospective evaluation for the prozone phenomenon in 3222 consecutive sera. The overall rate of the prozone phenomenon was 2/3222 samples (0.06%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.02–0.22%) and the rate per reactive sample was 2/397 (0.5%; 95% CI 0.14–1.81%).

The Four Seasons and modern HIV medicine in high-income countries: a screening and management approach of non-AIDS illnesses.

In spite of advances in processing and interpreting liquid based cervical cytology, the reliability of diagnosing genital herpes from cervical cytology specimens is disputed. This letter highlights the issues when ‘herpes present’ is reported in routine smears taken from asymptomatic women.

HIV-positive adults are at risk of vaccine-preventable infections including Streptococcus pneumoniae, hepatitis A virus and hepatitis B virus. Uptake of immunisations in HIV patients is suboptimal despite evidence of efficacy. An audit was made of the vaccination records in 200 adult HIV-positive regular clinic attendees, with a CD4+ count >200 cells μL-1. In this population, very few patients had been vaccinated against S. pneumonia, and not all patients had received hepatitis vaccination. Strategies to improve vaccine uptake are required.

Sex and death have traditionally been linked in Huli culture in the Southern Highlands in Papua New Guinea. However, Huli traditions are changing. Nowadays, unlike before, sex occurs on the occasion of funerals. This has not only changed the customary meaning of the funeral space, but is also encouraging the spread of HIV. Huli use the fatalistic expression ‘Eat coffee candy and die,’ to refer to funerals as a space of HIV risk.