National STI Awareness Day brings the nation’s Sexual Health under the microscope

In little over a week’s time will see the annual National STI Awareness Day take place, held every January 14th – exactly two weeks after New Year.

Two weeks is the timeframe after which the common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as chlamydia, can be detected with a simple STI test kit. One popular example of such a test kit is the Clamelle chlamydia one, available from Medical Specialists® Pharmacy and can be used in the comfort of one’s own home.

Sexually active people should be both knowledgeable and careful when it comes to sexual health throughout the whole year however. Failure to use condoms – especially with new sexual partners – can lead to an unwanted pregnancy or one of a number of serious STIs.

The awareness day was launched back in 2010 as a method of getting people to think more about their sexual health – it is a day to ask questions about sexual health, and for people to begin to question their own sexual health.

Right now, many reading this could be thinking ‘I’m perfectly healthy!’ This may indeed be the case, but is worth remembering that some STIs often don’t display any external symptoms initially for some length of time. Therefore, getting a STI assessment is the only way of finding out.

This is particularly crucial in regards to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Unfortunately, HIV does not have a cure. The majority of those infected with HIV will experience a short, flu-like illness which will begin 2 to 6 weeks after infection. There are usually no further symptoms for several years.

The next period is known as the asymptomatic HIV infection, an approximate 10 year process where the virus continues to be active and will cause progressive damage to the immune system. Once the immune system is severely damaged, common symptoms include: night sweats, skin problems, chronic diarrhoea, life-threatening illnesses, and more.

However, an earlier HIV diagnosis and subsequent treatment is imperative to stopping the serious symptoms from beginning after the virus reaches an advanced stage. It is important that anybody who has put themselves at risk in the past should have a HIV test, even if there are no symptoms of the virus evident.

Moreover, it is debatable how many sexually active people are aware that around 70% of women and 50% of men will display absolutely no symptoms at all after contracting chlamydia. Chlamydia remains the most common STI condition in the UK, with the prevalence of infection being the highest in young sexually active adults aged between 15 and 24. Without sufficient chlamydia treatment, the sufferer is at risk of becoming infertile or developing pelvic inflammatory disease.
There are other conditions – hepatitis being one – that may be life-threatening in the long-term. So why delay getting an STI assessment…is it really worth leaving it up to chance?

It could be easy to adopt a flippant attitude to historical sexual activities…After all nobody wants to imagine that they may have a contracted a STI, but the fact remains that anyone who has previously engaged in unprotected sexual contact (including oral sex) could be at risk.

In fact, approximately 1-in-12 who get tested discover they are infected. Although this sounds an alarming statistic, as mentioned previously, many common STIs (i.e. chlamydia) often don’t show any signs or symptoms.

Over 95% of people with chlamydia can be cured providing they take antibiotics correctly. There are two antibiotics commonly prescribed for chlamydia treatment, these being a single dose of the azithromycin or doxycycline, taken for one week.

If STIs are left untreated, they can become extremely painful or uncomfortable, and even lead to long-term problems such as infertility.

If you show signs of any of the following symptoms, then you should seek help:

. Unusual vaginal discharge.
. Discharge from the penis.
. Pain and/or bleeding during sexual intercourse.
. Bleeding following sex.
. Bleeding between periods.
. Blisters, itches, lumps or rashes around the genitals or anus.
. Pain in the testicles.

Medical Specialists® Pharmacy provide treatments for many of the more common STIs such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea and genital herpes.

In addition, Medical Specialists® can provide almost 100% accurate pregnancy tests to be used in the privacy and comfort of a woman’s own home, a wide variety of condoms to suit different preferences, emergency hormonal contraception (morning after pill), other contraceptive pills, and the previously mentioned chlamydia test to be taken at home and posted off for a quick analysis and result, avoiding the time and embarrassment of having to personally attend a clinic for a check-up.

To obtain any prescription or antibiotic or contraceptive treatment, all patients must first undergo an online consultation with one of the GMC-registered doctors at Medical Specialists®, or send in a private prescription by post, obtained from the patient’s own doctor.

HIV cases soar to all-time high in the UK

HIV figures have reached an all-time high in the UK, with more than 100,000 people now living with the virus – though a quarter are still unaware they have it. This means there is a massive risk these people will be spreading the condition on to others unknowingly via unprotected sex and not using condoms.

The latest statistics on HIV have been published by Public Health England (PHE) ahead of National HIV Testing Week, running from 22 – 30^th November.

However, the figures do show that in general, there are a higher number of people being given an earlier diagnosis. This is good news as the majority of people that die from HIV are those that are diagnosed too late.

The proportion of those given a diagnosis at a late stage of the HIV infection dropped from 57% in 2004 to 42% by 2013.

In addition, an estimated 6% of gay and bisexual men across the UK are now living with HIV, but this jumps to 13% in the capital, meaning one on eight sexually active men in London has HIV.

There were 3,250 men given a new diagnosis of HIV last year, representing an all-time annual high, meanwhile it is believed there are around 7,000 gay men living with the HIV infection and are undiagnosed, with an estimated 2,800 men contracting the virus in 2013 alone.

Health experts say the findings show there is a need to boost both the number of HIV tests carried out, and the frequency of them, crucial action to hopefully fight the continuous high levels of HIV transmission.

In a statement, Public Health England (PHE) said: “While the large majority of black Africans do not have the HIV infection, the report also draws attention to the fact that one-third of the 40,000 black African heterosexual men and women living with HIV in the UK do not know they have HIV.”

Dr Valerie Delpech, head of PHE’s national HIV surveillance, added: “We can’t overstate the importance of testing for HIV to ensure an early diagnosis. People diagnosed promptly with HIV infection can expect to live long and healthy lives. However in 2013, people diagnosed with HIV late were 10 times more likely to die in the first year of diagnosis compared to those diagnosed promptly. People who remain unaware of their infection are also at risk of transmitting HIV to others. Knowing HIV status is the key to both effective treatment, and to preventing onward transmission.”

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) attacks the immune system; our body’s natural defence mechanism against infections and disease. Health Protection Agency statistics from 2010 showed 95% of cases in the UK came about as a result of sexual contact, usually not bothering to wear a condom. However, sharing infected needles, syringes or other drug paraphernalia are also risk factors for HIV.

Signs of HIV

After infection, the signs of HIV will normally take between two to six weeks to show up and they include common flu symptoms such as fever, sore throat, tiredness, muscular pain and a bodily rash may also arise. If you believe you might be at risk then you should go for a test immediately and do not delay.

For those concerned that they could have HIV, remember it is absolutely vital to go and get tested now and not delay it. Delaying vital critical treatment can be fatal and somebody diagnosed at a late stage is actually nine times more likely to die within twelve months of receiving their diagnosis compared to somebody who gets tested and diagnosed at an early stage.

If HIV is left untreated or insufficiently managed, HIV then develops into AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) and at this point the body is now unable to fend-off life-threatening infections because of the severe damage to the immune system.

Teenager with HIV blasts school sex education

A HIV-positive teenager has hit out at sex education in schools, claiming he learned nothing about the disease whilst at high school and if he had, he might have been more equipped to understand the main risks involved with contracting it.

Luke Alexander, 19, appeared on ITV’s This Morning programme, speaking to Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, called for more awareness about HIV – one year on after being given the devastating diagnosis.

Mr Alexander feels so strongly about the subject he has written an open letter to health secretary Michael Gove, arguing that it should be made compulsory in schools for lessons to be conducted on the virus. The letter was posted online as a petition on the Change.org website, where he claimed that the ‘vast majority of young people today have little or no common knowledge’, of the virus.

He says: “When they diagnosed me last year, my first reaction was “Oh my God, I’m going to die”. I knew it existed but I didn’t know a lot about treatment.”

Mr Alexander added he came out as gay at the tender age of 13 and then was sexually active from the age of 15. After losing his job at 18, his life spiralled out of control as he became dependant on alcohol and drugs, admitting he ‘went off the rails’ during this point.

He became more careless in his sex life yet says he can ‘count on one hand’ the times he has had sex without using a condom – showing it only takes just one occasion of unsafe sex for any sexually transmitted infection to pass from one person to the next.

However, Mr Alexander has criticised the lack of focus on HIV at school and explained the sex education lessons he received mainly focused on the risk of becoming pregnant and contracting chlamydia. He added there should have been more explanation about the importance of wearing condoms to safeguard against the disease as well as other STIs such as genital herpes and gonorrhoea.
“We did talk about condoms,” he said. “But it was more in the context of getting pregnant and bacterial infections. We never really went into anything else. I have always known it was necessary (to use a condom) but it wasn’t stressed (in the context of HIV).”

During a trip to Manchester in April 2013, Mr Alexander began to show the symptoms of the disease. He says: “All of a sudden I came down with a horrific fever, it was very instant, I had sweats and could not sleep. The next thing I knew I was off my food and very, very fatigued. It was awful.”

Then a month later whilst attending a Birmingham Gay Pride event, he was offered a free sexual test, which he duly accepted and thought nothing of it. However, he started to worry when a phone call informed him there was ‘cause for concern’, leading to an agonising five day wait, when the diagnosis was given – he was HIV positive.

Mr Alexander said he did not ‘get the information I felt I needed at the time’ during his high school years.

“Being gay, HIV is up there on the list of things affecting men across the world. We heard a lot about chlamydia and pregnancy but nothing in much depth, the teachers were embarrassed to talk about it. I felt they were speaking about it because they had to, because the government were telling them to. But it left no impression.”

Dr Ranj Singh, who accompanied Mr Alexander on This Morning, commented that stats released by the National Aids Trust last month showed a ‘shockingly low’ level of knowledge about HIV in young gay men – and even worse in older men. Dr Sing added that around 100,000 people in the UK have the virus, but as many as 20,000 are unaware they have it.

A Department of Education spokesman commented: “Pupils must learn about sexually transmitted infections such as HIV/AIDS as part of sex and relationship education.”

UK pledge £1 billion in the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria

The UK will give £1 billion to the Geneva-based Global Fund over the next three years in the help to combat AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria, International Development Secretary Justine Greening has announced at the United Nations in New York. Ms Greening said fighting preventable diseases was “in all of our interests.”

The Global Fund was founded in 2002 and is the world’s largest donor of funds to fight the three deadly and infectious diseases, proving prevention, treatment and care programmes.

The initiative is believed to have helped to save 8.7 million lives and 5.3 million people with HIV are now benefiting from antiretroviral therapy, 11 million new TB cases have been detected and treated and 340 million insecticide treated nets have been given to families to provide protection from malaria.

Britain’s staggering £1 billion pledge will save “a life every three minutes” and now doubles the current amount of money being donated and leaves the UK only second to the United States as the biggest donor of funds.

Throughout the next three years the UK will be involved in the delivery of vital antiretroviral treatment to an additional 750,000 people who have HIV, in addition to an extra 32 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets and over a million people will receive treatment for TB.

The Department for International Development has predicted that the generous funding provided by the UK will save the lives of 590,400 people between 2014 and 2016. This equates to one life saved every three minutes.

“AIDS, TB and malaria are among the world’s biggest killers despite being entirely preventable and treatable,” Ms Greening said at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York on Monday, where spoke on the new funding.

She continued: “The Global Fund has already helped save millions of lives but we must keep up the momentum if we are to beat these diseases for good. It is in all our interests to help people live longer, healthier, more productive lives so we all need to play our part in working towards a world free of HIV/Aids, malaria and TB.”

Bono, frontman for rock band U2 co-founder of the One foundation, said: “The UK’s pledge of up to a billion pounds for the fight against Aids, TB and malaria means what once seemed impossible could now be within our grasp. Through this smart investment in one of the most effective disease-fighting funds in history, we could witness the defeat of these global killers in our lifetime. David Cameron and Justine Greening have given us a billion reasons to believe we can do it, but Britain’s pledge will only be delivered if others step up too. Australia, Canada, Germany: your move.”

Prevention of malaria has improved significantly in recent times. The World Health Organisation’s World Malaria Report for 2012 stated that 50 countries were on target for lowering malaria incidence by 75% between 2000 and 2015. Moreover, 30 million insecticide-treated nets were given out during January and July of 2013 through Global Fund-supported programmes.

TB, the world’s second biggest infectious killer after HIV/AIDS, is slowly declining, albeit slowly. Funding from the Global Fund has resulted in detection and treatment of 11 million smear-positive cases of TB, up from 9.7 million at the end of 2012.

It was calculated that as of 1 July the Global Fund had helped to pioneer programmes resulting in 5.3 million people with HIV to receive antiretroviral therapy, up from 4.2 million at the end of 2012.
If you are travelling abroad and require malaria medication for prevention and treatment, Doxycycline, Malarone, Paludrine, and Jungle Formula Maximum Pump Spray are options worth considering.  In addition, don’t forget to check the NHS Fit For Travel website where you will find the recommended malaria medication for your destination.

Hair removal could increase risk of skin infections

Waxing, shaving and other methods of hair removal around the pubic area could result in ‘micro-trauma’ and be linked to the rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) seen in recent years, according to the findings of a new French study.

The researchers who carried out the study focused their attentions to 30 patients who had visited a private skin clinic in Nice, France, between January 2011 and March 2012. All were determined to be suffering from a poxvirus called molluscum contagiosum – a common and highly contagious viral infection of the skin that causes red, itchy spots on the skin.

It can be transmitted from contact of the skin or through contact of a contaminated object such as a flannel or towel. ‘At risk’ groups include young children, those with many sexual partners and people who have a diminished immune system because of HIV or AIDS.

‘Contact of the skin’ is usually through sex and the researchers realised that the number of STIs increases almost annually, with conditions such as chlamydia, herpes and gonorrhoea are rife – partly because of a careless failure to use condoms.

From the 30 patients who had molluscum contagiosum during the fourteen month time period, 24 were men, with an average age of 29.5 for the whole group.

There were other connected skin problems in ten instances which included warts, ingrown hairs and folliculitis – an inflammation in one or more hair follicles, cysts and scars.

Interestingly, in all cases except just two, the patients had undergone pubic hair removal. There were 20 instances of shaving, five were clipped and three waxed. In addition, the warts had managed to spread to the abdomen region in four cases and to the thighs in one case.

Writing in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, they warned: “Hair removal (especially shaving) could favour its acquisition, propagation and transmission by micro-traumatisms.”

They also added that it was ‘unclear’ for the exact reasons behind a surge in preference for pubic hair removal but suggested it could be ‘linked to internet-based pornography’.

The authors continued: “Another reason cited is an increased sexual sensation. There may also be psychological reasons, as an unconscious desire to simulate an infantile look or a desire to distance ourselves from our animal nature.”

FDA gives the green light for HIV preventive medication

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is one of the world’s most deadly infections. It starts by attacking the body’s immune system (our natural defence against infection and disease). If left untreated, HIV can then develop into AIDS, meaning the sufferer is at a very high risk of catching infections due to the weakened immune system and in particularly the risk of pneumonia or cancer is huge. The disease is primarily transmitted by unprotected sex, contaminated blood transfusions and hypodermic needles, or from an infected mother to baby during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

In 2010 it was estimated that 34 million people around the world have HIV. It is especially prominent in middle to low income countries, however even in the UK it is believed 86,500 people have HIV and in 2009 there were 6,630 new cases diagnosed. The disease is often described as a ‘pandemic’ and is one of a number of conditions that is a massive global issue for health authorities to try and tackle such as asthma, malaria, cardiovascular disease and obesity.

With all this in mind, a milestone may have been reached on Monday when U.S. health regulators the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave their approval to an existing medication to be used as a preventive measure, which could potentially drastically reduce the risk of contracting HIV. ‘Truvada’ as it is named, is a small blue tablet that is to be taken once daily. It has been manufactured by the Californian pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences since 2004 for those who already have the virus.


Indeed one study conducted back in 2010 showed that Truvada reduced the risk of HIV in healthy gay men by 42% when used with condoms and the men were given counselling as well. Also in a clinical study involving heterosexual couples in Africa, a 75% decrease in transmission rates was evident. For this study, one partner had HIV, whilst the other did not.

Before receiving a prescription for the medication, patients must undergo a HIV test to make sure they do not already have the disease. There are concerns that the virus could develop a resistance to the drug, which those who are currently infected already take together with another drug. One major stumbling block for the average person will obviously be the financial aspect of the medication. Gilead Sciences say that just one year’s supply will set you back a whopping $13,900. Although financial assistance is available for HIV-positive patients, those testing negative will have to shell out for the entire cost.

Despite the promising signs shown in the clinical trials, there are those who are against the FDA’s ruling, fearing it could pave the way for a reckless attitude when it comes to sexual health. Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Los Angeles, told reporters in a conference call, “Today marks a catastrophe in the fight against HIV in America. If you look back five years from today, you will see this decision by the FDA will cause there to be more infections, not less.”

However, FDA officials have spoken out and counteracted Weinstein’s predictions. Dr Debra Birnkrant, FDA’s director of antiviral products, said, “What we found was that condom use increased over time and sexually transmitted infections either remained at baseline levels or decreased. So in essence, we don’t have any strong evidence that condoms were not used or there was a decrease in condom use.”

As highlighted by Dr Birnkrant’s statement, condom use in men is vital to absolutely minimising the risk of contracting HIV, or many sexually transmitted infections that are currently rife such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea, herpes and many more. Medical Specialists Pharmacy made the headlines on Gay UK News last year after we teamed with Mates Condoms to give away free condoms for one week to all men who obtained any erectile dysfunction medications such as Viagra. This was to promote World AIDS Day on 1 December, and you can read more about that within the ‘in the press’ section of our website. We also promoted World AIDS Day back in 2010 when we joined forces with Skins Condoms to give away condoms for one week.

If you do suspect you have chlamydia, Medical Specialists Pharmacy offer the Clamelle chlamydia test kit from just £24.85, which can be used in the privacy of your own home to avoid an embarrassing visit to your GP. Or, if you have been confirmed as having this or gonorrhoea, the antibiotic Azithromycin can prevent the spread of the bacteria so that your body’s natural defences can fight back and remove the infection from your system. We also have the medication Valtrex from as little as £3.50 per tablet, which works by slowing the spread of the herpes virus.

FREE CONDOMS AT MEDICAL SPECIALISTS ONLINE PHARMACY TO SUPPORT WORLD AIDS DAY

 Medical Specialists Pharmacy has joined forces with Skins Condoms to promote safe sex and HIV awareness for World Aids Day.

  

As of June 2010 there are now over 90,000 people in the UK who are living with HIV which is move than ever, and in 2009 there were 6,630 new diagnoses of HIV, some which can be contributed to not wearing a condom whilst engaging in sexual activity. This year alone there were 26,262 diagnoses of Aids in the UK and 19,457 people diagnosed with HIV have died, and over half of all people living with HIV are aged between 30 and 44, which is in-line with the average age range of men being treatment for Erectile Dysfunction online.

This is why from 1st December; Medical Specialists will be giving out free condoms for one week to each patient who buys Erectile Dysfunction treatment on-line.

Condoms are usually used for both birth control but they also reducing the risk of disease. That's why some people think that other forms of birth control -- such as the IUD, diaphragm, cervical cap or pill -- will protect them against diseases, too. But that's not true. So if you use any other form of birth control, you still need a condom in addition to reduce the risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases.

A condom is especially important when an uninfected pregnant woman has sex, because it can also help protect her and her unborn child from a sexually transmitted disease. Hopefully Medical Specialists and Skins can help raise awareness that wearing a condom could stop the spread of HIV and could even save a life.

Further information is available at their website: www.medical-specialists.co.uk