“Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) are at increased risk for STDs, including emergence of antimicrobial resistance when compared to women and exclusively heterosexual men. Because STDs, and the behaviors associated with acquiring them, increase the likelihood of acquiring and transmitting HIV infection, STD incidence among MSM may also be an indicator of higher risk for subsequent HIV infection.”
Gonorrhea and Chlamydial Infection
“Across the participating STD clinics, 18,568 MSM were tested for gonorrhea and 18,414 MSM were tested for chlamydia. The median site-specific gonorrhea prevalence among those tested was 19.2% (range by site: 14.5%–25.3%). The median site-specific chlamydia prevalence among those tested was 14.9% (range by site: 7.0%–17.9%). For this report, a person who tested positive for gonorrhea or chlamydia more than one time in a year was counted only once for each infection.”
Nationally Notifiable Syphilis Surveillance Data
“The number of reported cases of P&S syphilis among MSM has been increasing since at least 2000. Twenty-seven states reported sex of sex partner data for at least 70% of all cases of P&S syphilis each year during 2007–2014. Among these states, cases among MSM increased 8.8% during 2013–2014, and 47.9% during 2010–2014. In 2014, MSM accounted for 82.9% of all male P&S syphilis cases with known information about sex of sex partners, and MSM accounted for more cases than MSW or women in all racial and ethnic groups.”
Co-infection of Primary and Secondary (P&S) Syphilis and HIV
Among MSM who presented to participating STD clinics with P&S syphilis infection in 2014, the proportion who were also infected with HIV ranged from 9.1% in Los Angeles to 53.2% in Baltimore. The median site-specific proportion of MSM co-infected with HIV (41.9%) was similar to the proportion of co-infection in MSM observed in 2014 case report data (51.6%).
