Record highs of sexually transmitted infections in UK's MSM.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) in the UK are experiencing recordhigh diagnosis rates for various sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and HIV. Data from Public Health England (PHE) showing these increases were recently presented at the conference Sex, Drugs, and MSM in Birmingham, UK (Nov 1), convened by the British Society for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) after concerns about an STI crisis in UK’s MSM. In 2012, there were around 36 000 STI diagnoses in MSM in sexual health clinics in England— the location where most MSM are tested. This fi gure includes chlamydia (8500 cases), gonorrhoea (10 800 cases), syphilis (2100 cases), herpes (1400 cases), and genital warts (3500 cases). Since 2008, STI diagnoses in MSM have risen sharply, especially gonorrhoea diagnoses, which have trebled. There were 3250 new HIV diagnoses in UK MSM, an all time high, and a 10% increase on the 2960 new diagnoses in MSM in 2011. In 2012, an estimated 7300 MSM were living with HIV but unaware of their infection compared with 34 000 MSM living with a diagnosed HIV infection. All of these infections are over-represented among the UK’s MSM population, with 51% of new diagnoses of HIV occurring in MSM, along with 72% of syphilis, 42% of all gonorrhoea, and 9% of all chlamydia diagnoses.