Syphilis epidemic reaches Australia

Syphilis epidemic reaches Australia

A syphilis epidemic has reached Australian shores and chlamydia is on the rise among Australian youth, the Australasian Sexual Health conference has heard.

Experts at the conference said nearly all of the 135 new syphilis infections at the Royal Perth Hospital in the last two years were gay men -” 10 times the number of infections reported in the entire five years prior.

Researchers also expressed concern at the lax attitude of young Australians towards the testing for and treatment of asymptomatic chlamydia infections, claiming there was a disconnect between the sexually active young and the health care system in general.

The disease burden is still enormous and increasing, Helsinki-based Professor Jorma Paavonen told the conference.

The concern coincides with the alarming notification results showing most new STI notifications in Australia were among 14 and 15 year olds.

Health experts are looking at a number of solutions to the infection rate including STI testing through sporting clubs.

The conference was also told about a groundbreaking new Sydney study which has shown circumcision may help reduce the risk of HIV transmission to insertive partners in anal sex.

As most HIV infections in homosexual men occur after receptive anal sex, circumcision is likely to have limited impact as an HIV prevention intervention in Australian homosexual men, National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research’s Dr David Templeton, the study’s author, said.

However, circumcision may have a role in those men who are predominantly at risk of HIV seroconversion through insertive rather than receptive anal intercourse.

Circumcising all men who have sex with men right now would cost $196 million and could prevent 37 new infections in the next 10 years, NCHECR’s Dr Jonathan Anderson said, based on modelling to determine cost effectiveness.

Targeting the intervention to insertive men would be most efficient, but even in the best case, the benefits of an intervention based on male circumcision would not be seen for at least a decade and would have significant upfront costs, Anderson said.

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5 responses to “Syphilis epidemic reaches Australia”

  1. Circumcision is genital mutilation. The people pushing this just want to make lots of money by mutilating little boys, infants and men. Under no circumstances should this barbaric practice be forced on infants or boys.

    If a grown man is stupid enough to do it then that’s his business. But we need to protect our boys against the predatory and greedy medical industry that wants to make money by mutilating people.

  2. Anecdotally, a good top is hard to find, suggesting the bottoms outnumber tops. And we know that top-to-bottom transmission is far easier than the reverse, and we know why – because the function of the colon is to extract fluids, and because it is susceptible to tearing. Therefore, circumcising tops is a REALLY inefficient way of preventing HIV spread (and circumcising bottoms is useless). And if a top is unwilling to wear a condom, how willing is he likely to be to be circumcised? So is is those who are already careful who are more likely to come forward.

    Conversely, it’s alomst impossible that anyone has measured HIV infection of bottoms against the circumcision status of the tops who gave it to them. It seems highly likely that the keratinised glans of a penis lacking its moving part is more likely to damage a man’s colon than an intact one. And there’s lots of anecdotal evidence that circumcised men are more vigorous in intercourse than intact ones (and plenty of visual evidence from US vs European porn), and we know why that should be, too. With fewer nerve endings, they need more stimulation to achieve the same effect. Therefore, it seems at least plausible that circumcising tops would INCREASE HIV transmission to their partners.

  3. They seem to have a conference for everything these days. I aint getting circumcised for nobody. These Academic Trendies think they know it all.

  4. Wow, fascinating. I’ll bet pulling your teeth would reduce your risk of tooth decay as well. We don’t think about such nonsense because having a whole intact body wonderful. Brushing and flossing prevent tooth decay, and condoms thwart STDs.

    Foreskin feels REALLY good. HIS body HIS decision.