Rates of gonorrhoea continue to rise among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Australia. This study looked at how common throat gonorrhoea and throat chlamydia is among men who have sex with men (MSM) . The study also looked at what behaviour could increase the risk of getting these throat infections.
100 MSM who had tested positive for throat gonorrhoea were recruited into this study. We collected throat swabs at week 1 and week 12 of the study. Participants also provided weekly saliva samples. These samples were tested for chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Participants also answered a weekly questionnaire on their sexual behaviours, including kissing, oral sex and rimming.
We found that the incidence rate ratio for oropharyngeal gonorrhoea increased with an increased number of kissing partners and an increased number of penile-oral sex partners. But the incidence rate ratio for oropharyngeal gonorrhoea did not increase with an increased number of insertive rimming partners or other demographic factors.
Publications
Incidence and duration of incident oropharyngeal gonorrhoea and chlamydia infections among men who have sex with men: a prospective cohort study
Chow EPF, Vodstrcil LA, Williamson DA, Maddaford K, Hocking JS, Ashcroft MM, De Petra V, Bradshaw CS, Fairley CK
(2020), Sexually Transmitted Infections,