Risky sexual behaviour and STIs on the rise despite the pandemic

Despite the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, an Italian study with data from 2 centres for sexually transmitted infections in Milan revealed an increase in sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including gonorrhoea, secondary syphilis, and Mycoplasma genitalium in 2020 compared with 2019. Data for the study was collected in 2 main centres for STIs, which together account for about 80% of STI diagnoses in the Lombardy region in Italy [1]. Both centres limited their access but stayed open during the lockdown that started on 8 March 2020 in Italy. The total attendance of the centres decreased by 70% from 1,696 patients in 2019 to 534 in 2020. In 2019, 86% of patients were male compared with 76% male in 2020. The prevalence of men who have sex with men (MSM) was 31% in 2019 and 35% in 2020. The median age was 37 years in 2019 and 33 in 2020. In 2019, 233 confirmed STI cases were diagnosed. In the same period in 2020, 147 persons were diagnosed...

Please login to read the full text of the article.

If you have no account yet, please register now.

Posted on 17 December, 202018 December, 2020