The Better2Know Blog

Better2Know tests for two types of Herpes.  They differ in where they affect you and the creams to make the outbreaks less bothersome are also more effective on the right viral type. Herpes Type 1 is oral herpes, very common, and is the leading cause of most cold sores around the mouth.  Herpes Type 2 is genital herpes, less common, and is the leading cause of blisters and rashes in the genital area.

HPV is the Human Papillomavirus, most commonly associated with cervical cancer in women.  There are over 100 types of HPV, around 40 are thought to be sexually transmitted.  Of these, 15 are “High Risk” for being present in people who go on to develop cancer.  The most common cancer they are associated with is Cervical Cancer in women, but they are also found in other cancers such as: penile, anal, throat, mouth, ovarian.  Low-Risk HPVs include those which are responsible for most cases of genital warts.

A recent study by the BMJ has found that there should be a more open discussion about anal sex for both men and women. The study found that young people, especially women, find anal sex painful and pressured into having it, and then not knowing who to talk to about it.

Better2Know is always looking to bring you the fastest test results.  We have been researching the various options, and there is, finally, a test that we feel is reliable enough to offer you instant Chlamydia and Gonrorhoea testing at selected clinics in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff, Bristol, Belfast and Milton Keynes.

A report by Public Health England in September 2014, shows that MSM (Men who have sex with Men) are at a higher risk of contracting and passing on an STI.

The report found that MSM made up 2% of London’s population (thought the be higher than elsewhere in the country) but accounted for 24% of new STIs in 2013.  The report found:

• Of all the new cases of syphilis in London, 84% were in MSM.
• 65% of new cases of Gonorrhoea in London were in MSM
• 1 in 12 MSM in London are HIV positive, which has increased by 88% in the last ten years
• Over 50% of all new cases of HIV in London are in MSM

In good news: the report found that most MSM had had a sexual health check, and the take up of screening was increasing (which is one reason that more STIs are being found – more people are getting tested).  Less than half of MSM had had an HIV test in the last year.

The report recommends various things to Public Health Boards, but in particular for MSM:

• to have an STI screen including HIV at least once a year (the report is silent on which STIs they suggest are included in this screen), and every three months if you have multiple partners
• to use condoms consistently with all new and casual partners, and with longer term partners until they have had an STI test
• to reduce the numbers of partners and to remove overlap of partners
• Sero sorting is unsafe.  This is only have sex with someone you believe is the same HIV status as you.  For people who are HIV positive, this increases their risk of another STI e.g. Hepatitis C, Gonorrhoea, Syphilis which the body will have to work much harder to fight, and for HIV negative men it carries the risk of HIV infection.

Better2Know’s medical team has put together three STI screens specifically tailored for MSM.  These are comprehensive screens put together by experts to meet and exceed Public Health England’s requirement for an annual STI test.  If you have any further questions please ask us below or on the phone number above.

Local media in China has reported that three people were refused boarding for a plane on Spring Airlines at Shenyang airport in Liaoning province in North-East China.  Two of the men were HIV positive.  The men have taken their case to court accusing the airline of discrimination.  The country’s first HIV discrimination case was dismissed in 2010 when a teacher claimed his status was the reason he was not given a job.

All this week has been Sexual Health Week, the focus this year is on emergency contraception.  You may have seen some of our tweets.  Sexual Health Week is organised by the FPA every year to raise issues surrounding sexual health.

The World Health Organisaion (WHO) has said that all gay men should take anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) to help prevent the spread of HIV.  Although HIV is higher in gay men than in the homosexual population, it is by no means “all” gay men.  Asking everyone to take strong medication is not the answer.  It is as easy to forget to take your drugs as it is to not wear a condom.

The summer months, sunshine and seaside have been tempting Brits overseas for years, but if you are recently back or about to go, you will not be the only person visiting our website who has had a holiday romance or passionate encounter.

Regular readers of this blog will know that we have reported on the increased resistance of gonorrhoea to antibiotics regularly over the last few years.  Well, finally there is some good news that gonorrhoea is now less resistant than it used to be according to research by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Better2Know will soon be launching its service in Botswana.  We have sponsored a small group of young people from the UK to visit Botswana to see the impact that HIV has had on this country. Here is what Shaun, one of the group, has written about their visit in July 2014.

New figures from Public Health England for 2013 show that the trend of more people over the age of 45 are diagnosed with an STI. This has led to claims from some experts that the baby boom generation have rarely (and some have never) used a condom. The FPA’s Harry Walker, who is the Policy and Parliamentary Manager said that “while increases in STI diagnoses can in part be attributed to greater awareness and better testing programmes, there has been an undeniable growth of STIs among older age groups…. some of these people will be from the ‘baby boom’ generation who grew up in the 1960s when the contraceptive pill was introduced and may have never or rarely used condoms.”

PrEP or Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis is a prescribed drug to help HIV negative people maintain their status, even if they have unprotected intercourse with someone who is HIV positive.

The HPV vaccines, Gardasil (which is used at Better2Know clinics) and Cervarix, have had the number of recommended doses changed from three to two. Following research from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), their recommendation has been adopted.

We have discussed Gonorrhoea treatment before on our blog. It is an important topic because every day the bacteria causing Gonorrhoea become a little bit harder to treat.

What sex?  You may well ask.  Chemsex is having sex whilst high on drugs, the most common of which is crystal meth.  It is particularly common in MSM in large cities.  The loss of common sense, as well as your inhibitions whilst high, has meant that there is an increase risk of transmitting STIs including HIV during chemsex, as participants are less likely to play safely.  1 in 3 of men questioned said that they had unprotected sex whilst high on drugs.

A research team at the Huck Institute at Penn State University in the United States of America have started the process of developing a Herpes vaccine.  The library where different types of the virus (the viral genomes) is not as comprehensive as the stores of HIV and the common cold.  This means that the researchers have to start from the beginning.

The Labour Party leader Ed Milliband has said that he sees prevention of HIV needing greater emphasis than we currently have in the UK.  He said “Preventing HIV is a far better solution because it’s not necessary for people to become infected.  I think it’s crucial making sure that there is that investment in HIV prevention”.  Public Health England released a report in November 2013 show that new HIV infections in MSM was the highest yet.

Following the death of 19 year old Sophie Jones from Cervical Cancer last week,  Better2Know has designed a short survey to ask women about what they know about cervical cancer, and the different testing options.  There are just nine questions.  If you have got the time, please can you complete the survey and share the link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KHWS3PK

We will publish the results of the survey on our blog at the end of April.

Thank you.

A report by the Terrence Higgins Trust  called 2020 Vision: Making England’s HIV Prevention Response The Best in the World. was published last month.

The report says that increasing testing by 125% would decrease new infection rates by a third.  This is because people who are HIV positive usually become more responsible about their behaviour with regards to their sexual practices, and also, by starting a medical regime, they can reduce their viral load, and make it far less likely that they will infect new people.  Without this medication, viral loads and the likelihood of passing on the virus remain high.
The report highlights the NHS’s excellent record in HIV treatment and helping those who are HIV positive keep their viral load low to make them unlikely to pass the virus on, but says that more can be done to prevent new infections from those who are HIV positive, but do not know it.  Therefore increasing the number of people having an HIV test should find more people who are undiagnosed so that they can access the same life saving care.

There has been a lot of recent media coverage about the complacency of some medical professionals in putting people forward for HIV testing, as well as some people’s attitude towards the virus.

Following the recent launch of our Better2Know STI testing services in South Africa, Finance Director Anthea Morris has been interviewed by Behiye Hassan of the popular DIRECTOR magazine.

The interview, published in the March 2014 edition of the magazine, explains how South Africa can be the ideal first step towards international expansion.

You can read the full interview here.

A question our friendly booking team often get asked is: what is the most popular STI test? We wondered why people are asking this question. It seems a strange one to ask, as we think a better question would be: what do most people test positive for?

The number of people, in particular gay men, who have tested positive for STIs including HIV has reached record highs.  It is thought that the rise in unprotected sex and drug use in clubs is to blame for the increase in HIV, Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea and Syphilis where there are record high infection rates.  The number of gay men who tested positive for the first time for HIV in 2012 was 3,250, which is the highest year on record.  There were also 8.500 new cases of Chlamydia, 10,800 new cases of  Gonorrhoea,  2,100 new cases of Syphilis and 11,350 other STIs.

More people are having affairs, romances, relationships and sex with their work colleagues than ever before.  Increasingly, this aspect of work is not as frowned upon as once it was, and many organisations have relaxed their Workplace Relationship Policies, and in some places, they are seen as good for business and can improve performance, and can cement relationships between different teams.

London remains the city with the highest number of HIV positive people in the UK. Although with over 12% of the UK’s population living there, this fact is hardly surprising. However, it is still the city where the number of HIV positive people is growing fastest. Some of this will be down to the high number of single people in London, enjoying all that being single in the capital has to offer, and with increased availability of HIV testing, more people will be getting tested.

Men and their doctors must be encouraged to talk openly about sexual matters, says Professor Geoff Hackett, Chairman of the British Society for Sexual Medicine, who says that Society pressurises men to behave and perform like James Bond, and this makes men feel uncomfortable when talking about sexual health issues including infections and performance.  Women have more opportunity to talk about these issues as they are more likely to access medical help for smear tests, contraception and before and during pregnancy.

Cervical Cancer Around The World

The week of 19 to 25 January 2014 marked Cervical Cancer Prevention Week. A European wide initiative lead by the European Cervical Cancer Association (ECCA) to raise awareness of the causes, treatments and prevention of this illness.

Within Europe 60,000 women are diagnosed with Cervical Cancer every year, and there are 30,000 deaths in Europe each year from this disease (source: http://www.ecca.info). There are 175,000 women in Europe now who are living with Cervical Cancer today. Raising awareness of this disease is seen as being vital in reducing the number of deaths, as many cases could be prevented or treated more effectively through cervical cancer screening and regular testing for HPV. Early diagnosis is important in successful treatment.

It is not only Europe which is affected. The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in the USA, have estimated that as many as 79 million Americans could be currently infected with at least one type of HPV (source: http://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm#a5). That is a quarter of the population of the country.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said this week that the UK’s political leaders should regroup and rethink the issues around HIV, especially among gay and bisexual men. Clegg paid tribute to HIV campaigners but said that there were still too many people living with HIV who continued to face stigma and discrimination.

Health Protection Scotland (HPS) has reported that the number of cases of Syphilis in the last half of 2013 has increased significantly, especially in young hetrosexual people aged between 15 and 25, where five times the number of expected people have tested positive.

Young people may not come forward for syphilis testing, and failure to treat itcan lead to serious complications, including heart problems and worse if left untreated.  There have been various measures  taken to try to prevent and control the growing number of cases, including enhanced contact tracing offered to help people come forward about their previous partners so that they can be encouraged to come forward for testing by a trained healthcare professional, as well as making sure that treatment is completed when someone does test positive.