The Sexually Transmitted Infections podcast is back and we start with relevant advice for both clinicians and patients about HIV and COVID-19. STI podcast editor Dr Fabiola Martin* talks to Associate Professor Dr Edwina Wright, who’s leading the COVID-19 Taskforce for the Australasian Society of HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs (ASHM), and Mr Adam Ehm, President of Living Positive Victoria and is a member of the COVID-19 ASHM Taskforce.  They discuss the recent statements released by the British HIV Association and ASHM to assist health care providers and people living with HIV during the COVID-19 pandemic. *Dr Fabiola Martin is a Consultant Physician in Sexual Health, HIV and HTLV medicine in Brisbane and Senior Research Fellow at School of Public Health, University of Queensland.Read more about this subject on the Sexually Transmitted Infections blog: https://blogs.bmj.com/sti/2020/04/07/covid-19-and-hiv-calling-attention-to-the-importance-of-ensuring-hiv-status-and-testing-is-included-in-the-management-of-covid-19/ https://blogs.bmj.com/sti/2020/06/04/hiv-covid-19-podcast/ Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook and please subscribe to the podcast on your favourite platform to get the latest episodes.

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HIV and COVID-19 - what do we know so far?

Two women die a week in consequence of domestic violence and abuse in the UK. It is increasingly recognised that enquiry by healthcare practitioners can enable pathways to earlier intervention and support. Editor-in-Chief of Sexually Transmitted Infections, Jackie Cassell, is joined by two specialists in the field to discuss the special issue of the journal on domestic and intimate partner violence, published in March 2018: http://sti.bmj.com/content/94/2. Neha Pathak (Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Fellow, Institute for Epidemiology & Healthcare, University College London) and Gene Feder (University of Bristol, Centre for Academic Primary Care) discuss the various forms of the abuse and how healthcare practitioners can intervene. Related papers discussed in this podcast: - Highlights from this issue - http://sti.bmj.com/content/94/2/79 - Editorial: Routine enquiry for domestic violence and abuse in sexual health settings - http://sti.bmj.com/content/94/2/81 - Improving the healthcare response to domestic violence and abuse in sexual health clinics: feasibility study of a training, support and referral intervention - http://sti.bmj.com/content/94/2/83 - Assessing for domestic violence in sexual health environments: a qualitative study - http://sti.bmj.com/content/94/2/88 - Sexual relationships, intimate partner violence and STI partner notification in Cape Town, South Africa: an observational study - http://sti.bmj.com/content/94/2/144

Domestic violence affects a quarter of UK women: the role of sexual health practitioners

Dr James Bingham, regarded by many as a father figure of the modern speciality, tells Lt Col Ngozi Dufty about the beginning of the field of venereal disease in the UK and how the origins of the sexual health service developed in consequence of the need to protect the health of the military troops first, and then the general population as a result. This interview is one of two podcasts published by the Sexually Transmitted Infections journal to signal the Centenary of the Venereal Disease Act 1917. Read all the articles here: http://sti.bmj.com/pages/bashh-centenary-of-the-venereal-disease-act-1917.

A century of military sexual health: the origins of the speciality of venereal disease

Dr. George Kinghorn, genitourinary medicine physician with 35 years' experience, talks to Dr. Maryam Shahmanesh (Consultant and Senior Lecturer at the University College London and Mortimer Market Centre) about the “dramatic changes” introduced in the treatment of STIs with the Venereal Disease Act 1917. Professor George Kinghorn also analyses how the effects of the easier access to travel, the introduction of the contraceptive pill and the decriminalisation of homosexuality lead to a “rapid increase in the number of sexually transmitted infections” in the last 40 years and which translated into an increasing need for specialists. Commenting on the particular case of the UK, Dr Kinghorn advocates the need for specialised services in the NHS, saying that an “urgent access to [STI clinics] services is essential to preserve low-cost control of STIs”. He also looks to the main future challenges in this medical field. The interview is one of two podcasts published by the Sexually Transmitted Infections journal to signal the Centenary of the Venereal Disease Act 1917. Read all the articles here: http://sti.bmj.com/pages/bashh-centenary-of-the-venereal-disease-act-1917.

How we treat STIs: Centenary of The Venereal Disease Act

How can burdens and trends of gonorrhoea and syphilis be estimated using surveillance data routinely collected in low- and middle-income countries? Eline Korenromp, epidemiologist from the Avenir Health, Geneva, Switzerland, tells STI Editor Jackie Cassell how the Spectrum-STI tool, developed at request of the World Health Organization, facilitates standardised, country-level estimation of trends in adult prevalence of sexually transmitted infections. The Spectrum-STI is an epidemiological framework which facilitates data review, validation and strategic analysis, prioritisation of data collection needs and surveillance strengthening by national experts. It has so far been applied in Zimbabwe, Morocco and Mongolia. Read the full details of the study, “Estimating prevalence trends in adult gonorrhoea and syphilis in low- and middle-income countries with the Spectrum-STI model: results for Zimbabwe and Morocco from 1995 to 2016”, on the STI website (http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2016-052953).

The Spectrum-STI model: gonorrhoea and syphilis prevalence trends in low and middle-income countries

Audit vs. Quality Improvement Methodology. How to undertake quality improvement and integrate it into GUM and HIV services? Hanna Bos, from the Municipal Health Service of Deventer, The Netherlands, discusses with Anna Hartley, one of the authors of a article, which explores the premise that true quality improvement methodology is poorly understood and poorly used in the NHS. Dr. Hartley, from the Ambrose King Centre, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK, brings some examples to the discussion to illustrate why audits alone cannot bring about continual improvement. "How to integrate quality improvement into GUM and HIV services" is the title of the study that can be found here: http://sti.bmj.com/content/early/2016/08/22/sextrans-2016-052732.

How to integrate quality improvement into GUM and HIV services

In this podcast, Jackie Cassell, the Editor in Chief of STI, talks to Anatole Menon-Johansson, from the Department of Sexual Health, Guy's & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK, about partner notification technologies. The STI blog post "Improving Partner Notification with a new online tool from SXT Health CIC [Community Interest Company]" is the starting point for a broad conversation about why is partner notification on STIs so important, what's the tool about and what the future holds in the digital era. Read the blog post here: http://blogs.bmj.com/sti/2016/05/05/improving-partner-notification-with-a-new-online-tool-from-sxt-health-cic-from-anatole-menon-johansson/. On the STI website: - Claudia Estcourt study on Accelerated Partner Treatment for primary care: http://sti.bmj.com/content/91/8/548.full.pdf+html?sid=17d93526-4a85-4ae6-a34b-7a603dd67873. - Hannelore Götz study of an online partner notification tool: "Initial evaluation of use of an online partner notification tool for STI, called ‘suggest a test’: a cross sectional pilot study", http://sti.bmj.com/content/90/3/195.abstract.

Digital tools: the future for partner notifications?

In this podcast we explore the management of STI outbreaks. Ian Simms, of the HIV & STI Department, Public Health England, interviews two authors who have managed STI outbreaks. Kirsty Foster, of the Public Health England North East, investigated an outbreak of gonorrhoea in young heterosexual adults in that area of the UK. Read the full letter here: http://sti.bmj.com/content/92/5/364.full. Giri Shankar, of the Health Protection Team, Public Health England, talks about hepatitis B in the East of the country. He studied and managed an outbreak of the infection in men who have sex with men but identify as heterosexual. Read the full text here: http://sti.bmj.com/content/early/2016/01/04/sextrans-2015-052490.full. The STI Outbreaks issue, which was published in August 2016, was guest edited by Gwenda Hughes and Ian Simms. It includes articles that explore epidemics, clusters, changes in antibiotic resistance, changes in behaviours that increase the chance of outbreaks, as well as considering how we respond to and describe outbreaks. Here is the Outbreak special issue, with editorial material and field reports on the control of STI outbreaks: http://sti.bmj.com/content/92/5.toc.

STI Outbreak Issue August 2016: two cases of success in England

What do we know about sexual behaviour when travelling? Are backpackers and gap year travellers a special group? These are some of the questions Christopher Lewis, from the University of Birmingham, and Dr Clare Tanton, from the UCL's Centre for Sexual Health and HIV research, answer in this podcast. They are the authors of two recent studies published at sti.bmj.com. Read the full studies: 'Sexual behaviour of backpackers who visit Koh Tao and Koh Phangan, Thailand: a cross-sectional study', by Dr Christopher Lewis, is accessible here: http://sti.bmj.com/content/early/2016/04/19/sextrans-2015-052301.full. 'Forming new sex partnerships while overseas: findings from the third British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes & Lifestyles (Natsal-3)', by Dr Clare Tanton is available here: http://sti.bmj.com/content/early/2016/04/19/sextrans-2015-052459.full. Read the related STI Editorial: 'The Holy Grail of prevention of sexually transmitted infections in travelers' by Dr. Alberto Matteelli (http://sti.bmj.com/content/early/2016/04/19/sextrans-2016-052573.full). For more information on these issues, please visit the NHS page about sex on holiday: http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/sexualhealth/pages/sexonholiday.aspx. Find your nearest 'Sexual health information and support services': http://www.nhs.uk/service-search/sexual-health-information-and-support/locationsearch/734. 

Sexual behaviour abroad: patterns revealed and advice for backpackers and other travellers

In this podcast, Dr Khalil Ghanem discusses ocular syphilis with the authors of two studies. Dr Susan Tuddenham, from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, is the author of 'Increasing Case Reports of Ocular Syphilis in the United States: An Opportunity to Address Important Unanswered Questions', accessible here: http://goo.gl/cPcbLM and Dr Motoyuki Tsuboi, from the AIDS Clinical Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan, is the author of 'Prognosis of ocular syphilis in HIV-infected patients in the antiretroviral therapy era': http://goo.gl/giAx9s .

Ocular Syphilis: Unanswered Questions and the Role of HIV Co-Infection

A lot has changed since the last study among shipboard populations has been conducted, about 20 years ago. What is the health of shipboard military personnel and why is it important to study their sexual health? How is life in a deployment? How can the findings of this study apply to civilian populations? In this podcast, Judith Harbertson of San Diego State University and US Military HIV Research Program talks to Tom Nadarzynski, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, about these questions and the main conclusions of the study. Read the related article: Sexually transmitted infections and sexual behaviour of deploying shipboard US military personnel: a cross-sectional analysis goo.gl/5GPm2D

Sexual life of deploying US military shipboard populations

In this podcast Dr Katy Turner talks to Dr Vincent Cornelisse about his recently published paper "Summer Heat: A cross-sectional analysis of seasonal differences in sexual behaviour and sexually transmissible diseases in Melbourne, Australia". They discuss the seasonal differences in sexual activity and disease transmission across different sexual pairings and the seasons. Full text: http://sti.bmj.com/content/early/2015/11/05/sextrans-2015-052225.full?sid=1b9dd132-b40c-4e25-afb6-995380d28d03

Seasonal differences in sexual behaviour and sexually transmissible diseases in Melbourne, Australia

In this podcast Dr Katy Turner talks to Dr Jane Hocking at the ISSTDR conference in Brisbane, Australia. They discuss Dr Hocking's preliminary results from a Chlamydia screening trial across Australia and the logistics for testing and collecting data across such a large area.

ISSTDR conference - Jane Hocking

In this podcast Dr Katy Turner talks to PhD student Hayley Denison at the ISSTDR conference in Brisbane. They discuss the differences studying for a PhD in New Zealand compared to the UK and how social media has helped people keep up to date at conferences.

ISSTDR conference - Hayley Denison

How does drug use feed into STI transmission in men who have sex with men? What kinds of behaviours happen, and how can clinicians discuss these issues with men and best help them? In this podcast Adam Bourne, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and David Stuart, substance use lead at the 56 Dean Street sexual health clinic, discuss the issues and offer their advice. Read the related article: Illicit drug use in sexual settings (‘chemsex’) and HIV/STI transmission risk behaviour among gay men in South London: findings from a qualitative study http://goo.gl/u6xubb

Sex, drugs, and men who have sex with men

Sexually Transmitted Infections is the world's longest running international journal on sexual health. It aims to keep practitioners, trainees and researchers up to date in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all STIs and HIV. * The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. The content of this podcast does not constitute medical advice and it is not intended to function as a substitute for a healthcare practitioner’s judgement, patient care or treatment. The views expressed by contributors are those of the speakers. BMJ does not endorse any views or recommendations discussed or expressed on this podcast. Listeners should also be aware that professionals in the field may have different opinions. By listening to this podcast, listeners agree not to use its content as the basis for their own medical treatment or for the medical treatment of others.

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