ASHM Report Back
Clinical posts from members and guests of the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) from various international medical and scientific conferences on HIV, AIDS, viral hepatitis, and sexual health.
Epidemiology of gonorrhoea in Australia
Dr Praveena Gunaratnam
Research Fellow at Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney
Praveena spoke on Gonorrhoea infections in women across all major cities, WA being on top of the list. She mentioned an alarming increase of 118% based on 2007-2016 statistics of women aged between 20-39yrs. She mentioned that the increase was not based on the increase in testing but an increase in infections.
Rates in Aboriginal and Torres straight islander women are higher than non-aboriginal women in all major cities.
Gonorrhoea is the major cause of pelvic inflammatory diseases and infertility in women. There is also a concern for increasing antimicrobial resistance.
Investigations via research into the reasons why the increase is the next step. Contributory factors are:
-changes in sexual behaviours e.g. dating apps
-a particular strain of gonorrhoea
-lower socio-economic factors
-inadequate health care access or a combination of these factors.