IntroductionAustralia recorded its first case of COVID-19 in late January 2020. On 22P March 2020, amid increasing daily case numbers, the Australian Government implemented lockdown restrictions to help ‘flatten the curve’. Our study aimed to understand the impact of lockdown restrictions on sexual and reproductive health. Here we focus on sexual practices.MethodsAn online survey was open from the 23PP April 2020 to 11P May 2020. Participants were recruited online via social media and other networks and were asked to report on their sexual practices in 2019 and during lockdown. Logistic regression was used to calculate the difference (diff) (including 95% CIs) in the proportion of sex practices between time periods.ResultsOf the 1187 who commenced the survey, 965 (81.3%) completed it. Overall, 70% were female and 66.3% were aged 18–29 years. Most (53.5%) reported less sex during lockdown than in 2019. Compared with 2019, participants were more likely to report sex with a spouse (35.3% vs 41.7%; diff=6.4%; 95% CI 3.6 to 9.2) and less likely to report sex with a girl/boyfriend (45.1% vs 41.8%; diff=−3.3%; 95% CI −7.0 to -0.4) or with casual hook-up (31.4% vs 7.8%; 95% CI −26.9 to -19.8). Solo sex activities increased; 14.6% (123/840) reported using sex toys more often and 26.0% (218/838) reported masturbating more often. Dating app use decreased during lockdown compared with 2019 (42.1% vs 27.3%; diff= −14.8%; 95% CI −17.6 to -11.9). Using dating apps for chatting/texting (89.8% vs 94.5%; diff=4.7%; 95% CI 1.0 to 8.5) and for setting up virtual dates (2.6% vs 17.2%; diff=14.6%; 95% CI 10.1 to 19.2) increased during lockdown.ConclusionAlthough significant declines in sexual activity during lockdown were reported, people did not completely stop engaging in sexual activities, highlighting the importance of ensuring availability of normal sexual and reproductive health services during global emergencies.

There may be a small increased efficacy of up to 3% for doxycycline compared with azithromycin for the treatment of urogenital chlamydia and about 7% increased efficacy for doxycycline for the treatment of symptomatic urethral infection in men. However, the quality of the evidence varies considerably, with few double-blind placebo-controlled trials conducted. Given increasing concern about potential azithromycin failure, further well-designed and statistically powered double-blind, placebo-controlled trials are needed.

The efficacy of a single dose of 1 gram of azithromycin for the treatment of urogenital MG has decreased to approach 60%. Even though most of the available evidence is based on observational studies that have considerable variability in sample size and timing of microbial cure, this low efficacy is of considerable concern. It is vital that new treatment options for MG are investigated.

The efficacy of single-dose azithromycin may be considerably lower than 1 week of doxycycline for treating rectal chlamydia. However, the available evidence is very poor. Robust randomized controlled trials are urgently required.

Pharmacokinetic considerations regarding the treatment of bacterial sexually transmitted infections with azithromycin-A review