STI Podcast

Testing for Blood Borne Infections in Antenatal Clinics

Today we will discuss the evolution and efficacy of antenatal testing for blood borne pathogens as a strategy to improve pregnancy outcomes and prevent parent to child transmission. Over the last 40 years the number of infections tested for in the antenatal setting has expanded which has been followed closely by treatment guidelines for each infection. However, there are stark regional differences in the infections routinely tested for. Brazil has recently added Human T Leukaemia Virus (HTLV) to its antenatal testing and is planning to test 2.5 million pregnancies yearly. Pregnant people who test positive for HTLV are advised to avoid breast feeding and are provided with formula milk free of charge. Health care providers are being offered upskilling in HTLV care provision. This way Brazil aims to "Take HTLV out of Invisibility" and ultimately eliminate HTLV in Brazil.
Host: Ass Prof/Dr Fabiola Martin, Sexual Health Specialist, Associate Professor at Australian National University
Guests: Professor Graham Taylor, Head of Section of Virology at Imperial College London and a founder of the National Centre for Human Retrovirology at St. Mary’s Hospital – the UK’s clinical service for people living with Human T Leukaemia Virus (HTLV) infection.
Dr Pâmela Cristina Gaspar, General Coordinator of Sexually Transmitted Infections Surveillance at Ministry of Health of Brazil, Brasilia, Brazil Host: Ass Prof/Dr Fabiola Martin, Sexual health, HIV and HTLV Specialist, Canberra, Australia and Australian National University
 
Brazil HTLV ANC testing:- National guide: https://www.gov.br/aids/pt-br/central-de-conteudo/publicacoes/2022/guia_htlv_internet_24-11-21-2_3.pdf/view  - Folder HTLV for general population: https://www.gov.br/aids/pt-br/assuntos/ist/materiais-informativos/folder-htlv-final-grafica.pdf - Distance Learning Course for HTLV: https://campusvirtual.fiocruz.br/gestordecursos/hotsite/htlv  
 NACCHO-ASHM, Australia, HTLV testing guidelines:https://htlv1.guidelines.org.au/ 

HIV and Syphilis Home Testing 101

Today we will discuss different types of HIV and Syphilis antibody testing performed at home by the patient or consumer. Home testing for HIV and Syphilis empower people, especially pregnant women who live in remote areas or are marginalised and hard to reach, to screen themselves for these two serious and communicable infections at home and seek additional confirmitory testing, treatment and support if their screening test is reactive. We will discuss what these tests are, how they can be used as well as review their merits and potential risks.
Host: Dr Fabiola Martin, Sexual Health Specialist, Associate Professor at Australian National University
Guest: Dr Bobbie Van Der Pol, Professor of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Director of the UAB STD Diagnostics Laboratory and President of the International Society for STD Research.

To Screen or Not to Screen?

Today we will discuss if screening asymptomatic Men who have sex with Men, also referred to as MSM, who are receiving HIV pre-exposure anti-retroviral medication, called HIV PrEP, routinely for bacterial STIs, gonorrhoea and chlamydia through pharyngeal, urine and rectal PCR testing every three months- also referred to as 3x3 testing is indeed of benefit or may cause harm. This year, in Lancet HIV, the Gonoscreen trial, a randomised controlled trial, of 500 MSM on PrEP in each arm followed up for 12 months reported that 3x 3 testing does not reduce the incidence of gonorrhoea and chlamydia infections in this specific cohort. In Belgium, this trial has led to a change in clinic practice through the Belgium HIV PrEP guidelines where patients will be screened less frequently and intensely. Lancet ID on the other hand published an opinion piece by Raccagni et al where concerns about transmission and morbidity risk of untreated infection and implications of using poor quality screening tools are voiced. We will discuss today the merit of the Gonoscreen trial and other studies that support a decrease in screening & treating asymptomatic bacterial STIs and exercising stricter antimicrobial stewardship versus the risks associated with leaving asymptomatic infections untreated and risking morbidity and transmission.
Relevant links:
Effect of screening for Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis on incidence of these infections in men who have sex with men and transgender women taking HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (the Gonoscreen study): results from a randomised, multicentre, controlled trial
Primum non-nocere: Is it time to stop screening for Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis in men who have sex with men taking HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis?
The arrested immunity hypothesis in an immunoepidemiological model of Chlamydia transmission
Gonorrhoea and chlamydia screening for asymptomatic people with HIV and HIV PrEP users: open issues
Host: Dr Fabiola Martin, Sexual Health Specialist and Associate Professor, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Dr Thibaut Vanbaelen, physician and post-doctoral researcher at The Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium
Dr Angelo Roberto Raccagni, physician at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy

Novel antimicrobial approaches to Trichomoniasis

Today we provide you with an update on the sexually transmitted infection: Trichomonas vaginalis, a protozoan which infects the vagina, urethra and paraurethral glands. It is an uncommon cause of vaginal discharge and penile urethritis and can persist for a long time if left untreated. Up to 50% of people with vaginal infections and especially people with urethral infections remain asymptomatic. Persistent trichomonas infection has been associated with facilitating the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and adverse poor reproductive health outcomes. Dr Christina Muzny, Professor in Infectious Diseases at University of Alabama, Birmingham, USA, will present on published clinical trial data on novel treatment against trichomoniasis.
Relevant publications:
Van Gerwen OT, Aaron KJ, Schroeder J, et al. Spontaneous resolution of Trichomonas vaginalis infection in men. Sexually Transmitted Infections. Published Online First: 27 June 2024. doi: 10.1136/sextrans-2024-056160.
Muzny CA, Van Gerwen OT, Kaufman G, Chavoustie S. Efficacy of single-dose oral secnidazole for the treatment of trichomoniasis in women co-infected with trichomoniasis and bacterial vaginosis: a post hoc subgroup analysis of phase 3 clinical trial data. BMJ Open. 2023;13:e072071
Kissinger PJ, Gaydos CA, Seña AC, McClelland RS, Soper, Secor WE, Legendre D, Workowski KA, Muzny CA, Diagnosis and Management of Trichomonas vaginalis: Summary of Evidence Reviewed for the 2021 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 74, Issue Supplement_2, 15 April 2022
Howe K and Kissinger PJ. Single-dose compared with multidose metronidazole for the treatment of trichomoniasis in women: a meta-analysis. Sex Transm Dis 2017; 44: 29–34.
Kissinger P, Muzny CA, Mena LA, et al. Single-dose versus 7- day-dose metronidazole for the treatment of trichomoniasis in women: an open-label, randomised controlled trial. Lancet Infect Dis 2018; 18: 1251–1259.
Sherrard J, Pitt R, Hobbs KR, Maynard M, Cochrane E, Wilson J, Tipple C. British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) United Kingdom national guideline on the management of Trichomonas vaginalis 2021. Int J STD AIDS. 2022 Jul;33(8):740-750.
STI Guidelines Australia - Trichomoniasis
Host: Dr Fabiola Martin, STI BMJ Podcast editor, a Sexual Health, HIV and HTLV Specialist, Canberra & University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Guest: Dr Christina Muzny, Professor in Infectious Diseases at University of Alabama, Birmingham, USA

Revisiting gonorrhoea: Update on the 4CMenB vaccine for gonorrhoea prevention

You will recall a previous podcast about preventing Neisseria gonorrhoea through an effective vaccine. Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a ubiquitous sexually transmitted bacteria that can cause both localised and systemic disease if left untreated. It may be transmitted to neonates. We also reported on a rise of the gonorrhoea incidence, as well as increasing rates of antibiotic resistance.
Today we will revisit the implementation of vaccinations against gonorrhoea in the UK. Here is an exciting up-date on the advice provided by UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, JCVI, on using the vaccine 4CMebB OMV against Meningococcus used off-label for the prevention of gonorrhoea infection
• in patients at significant risk of infection with bacterial STIs who
• attend specialist sexual health services.Host:
Dr. Fabiola Martin, Sexual Health HIV, HTLV Specialist, Canberra Sexual Health Services & University of Queensland, Australia
Participants:Dr. Suneeta Soni, Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV, University Hospitals Sussex and Chair of the Bacterial special interest group for BASHH *British Association for Sexual health and HIV)
Dr. Yen Bui, Consultant in Vaccination and Travel Health, Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Canada
A/P. Dr. Kate Seib, NHMRC Leadership Fellow and Associate Director for Research, Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Australia

Beyond penicillin: are new antibiotics for syphilis on the horizon?

Today we will focus on the alternative treatments of early Syphilis. Worldwide many of us have experienced a shortage of gold standard treatment benzathine benzylpenicillin injections for syphilis. It is time we look for alternative antibiotic treatments and prevention strategies for syphilis. In conversation with Prof Jeffery Klausner, Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Public Health at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, we will discuss a new study published in the Lancet in 2024. Mitja O. et al compared oral linezolid with benzathine penicillin G for treatment of early syphilis in adults (Trep-AB Study) in Spain, which is a prospective, open-label, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial.
Acknowledgement for his valuable contributions to the content of the podcast: Dr Oriol Mitjà, Skin Neglected Tropical Diseases and Sexually Transmitted Infections Section, Fundació Lluita Contra les Infeccions, Barcelona, Spain.
Related link:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(23)00683-7/fulltext 

WORLD AIDS DAY Pt 2: Growing Older with HIV

In our final episode in honour of the World AIDS Day we have a conversation with Assistant Prof. Rajasuriar, who coordinates the translational research program in HIV immunology and Ageing at the Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS (CERiA) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Today, thanks to effective HIV antiretroviral therapy, people living with HIV can live long and healthy lives. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2021, of the nearly 1.1 million people living with diagnosed HIV in the United States and dependent areas, over 53% were aged 50 or older. Hosted by: Dr Fabiola Martin, the BMJ STI Podcast editor and Sexual Health Specialist based in Australia and Senior Clinical Lecturer at School of Public Health at University of Queensland.
Growing older with HIV in the Treat-All Era Reena Rajasuriar 1 , Heidi M Crane 2 , Aggrey S Semeere 3 PMID: 36176021 PMCID: PMC9522984 DOI: 10.1002/jia2.25997 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jia2.25997 
Integrated care for older people (‎ICOPE)‎: guidance for person-centred assessment and pathways in primary carehttps://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/WHO-FWC-ALC-19.1 

WORLD AIDS DAY Pt 1: Managing HIV in Young People

Today we are honouring the World AIDS Day on 1st December in 2023, by focusing on young people who live with HIV. Adolescents and young people represent a significant share of people living with HIV worldwide. In 2022 alone, 255,000-760,000 young people between the ages of 10 to 24 were newly infected with HIV, of whom 35,000-250,000 were adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19. In conversation with Prof Natella Rakhmanina, who is a Professor of Paediatrics at the George Washington University and the Director of the HIV Program at Children's National Hospital, we will discover the pro & cons of long-acting antiretrovirals to mange HIV infection in young people. Hosted by: Dr Fabiola Martin, the BMJ STI Podcast editor and Sexual Health Specialist based in Australia and lecturer at School of Public Health at University of Queensland.

IAS23 Conference Feedback in Brisbane, Australia in July 2023

Welcome to the 4th episode of the 2023 BMJ Sexually Transmitted Infections Podcast Series. This year the International AIDS Society Conference was held for the first time in Brisbane Australia in July 2023. It was wonderful to learn about many new research findings, community perspectives and to connect with old friends and make new ones. Today we will provide you with some of the many clinical, vaccine and policy research highlights of this conference and share our subjective perspectives. We were joined by: Dr Ming Lee, a sexual health & HIV physician and UK MRC Clinical Research Training Fellow at Imperial College London, London, UK, Prof Damian Purcell, Head of the Molecular Virology Laboratory in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Peter Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, Dr Meg Doherty, Director of Global HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infection Programmes at World Health Organization, Heath Quarter. Hosted by: Dr Fabiola Martin, the BMJ STI Podcast editor and Sexual Health Specialist based in Australia and lecturer at School of Public Health at University of Queensland.

World Hepatitis Day 2023: Unveiling the Hidden Threats of the Hepatitis B Virus

In honour of World Hepatitis Day, today we focus on the Hepatitis B virus (HBV), a virus that can be transmitted through contact with infected blood and from mother to child during labour. HBV can also be transmitted sexually. It infects liver cells and causes both acute and chronic infections, which can be severe. Since HBV was discovered in 1965, we have made great progress in reducing the burden of infections and disease through prevention and antiviral treatment, but much is left to do. The World Health Organization has called for enhanced efforts along four main pathways: i) increasing awareness of HBV infection, ii) promoting prevention strategies, iii) expanding access to testing and treatment; and iv) improving surveillance, data collection and research. Today we will discuss these topics with a focus on the European Region with our three guests:
- Dr. Erika Duffell, Public Health Physician, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden
- Prof. Anna Maria Geretti, Editor in Chief, STI journal; Professor & Consultant in Infectious Diseases & Virology, Fondazione PTV, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy; North Middlesex University Hospital and King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- Prof.  Simon de Lusignan, Senior Academic General Practitioner (GP) and Director of the Royal College of GPs Research & Surveillance Centre, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Hosted by: Dr. Fabiola Martin, Sexual Health, HIV, HTLV specialist, BMJ STI Podcast Editor, Brisbane, Australia 
 
Relevant papers:
Hepatitis B virus infection in general practice across England: An analysis of the Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre real-world database
https://www.journalofinfection.com/article/S0163-4453(23)00130-5/
Impact of maternal HIV–HBV coinfection on pregnancy outcomes in an underdeveloped rural area of southwest China
https://sti.bmj.com/content/96/7/509
Prevalence of hepatitis B immunity and infection in home self-sampling HIV service users
https://sti.bmj.com/content/98/4/286
Hepatitis A and B vaccination in gbMSM in Ireland: findings from the European MSM Internet Survey 2017 (EMIS-2017)
https://sti.bmj.com/content/99/5/337
Hepatitis A and B vaccine uptake and immunisation among men who have sex with men seeking PrEP: a substudy of the ANRS IPERGAY trial
https://sti.bmj.com/content/99/2/140
Hepatitis A, hepatitis B and HPV vaccine needs and coverage in MSM initiating HIV PrEP in a sexual health clinic in Paris
https://sti.bmj.com/content/99/5/361