Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionally affected by sexually transmitted infections (STI). STI are often extragenital and asymptomatic. Both can delay diagnosis and treatment. Approval of HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) might have influenced sexual behaviour and STI-prevalence of HIV-MSM. We estimated STI-prevalence and risk factors amongst HIV-and HIV+ MSM in Germany to plan effective interventions. Methods: We conducted a nationwide, cross-sectional study between February and July 2018. Thirteen MSMfriendly STI-practices screened MSM for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Mycoplasma genitalium (MG), Neisseria gonorrhea (NG), and Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) using self-collected rectal and pharyngeal swabs, and urine samples. APTIMA™ STI-assays (Hologic™ Inc., San Diego, USA) were used for diagnostics, and samples were not pooled. We collected information on socio-demographics, HIV-status, clinical symptoms, sexual behaviour within the last 6 months, and PrEP use. We combined HIV status and PrEP use for defining risk groups, and used directed acyclic graphs and multivariable logistic regression to identify risk factors for STI. Results: Two thousand three hundred three MSM were included: 50.5% HIV+, median age 39 [18-79] years. Median number of male sex partners within the last 6 months was five. Sex without condom was reported by 73.6%, use of party drugs by 44.6%. 80.3% had a STI history, 32.2% of STI+ MSM reported STI-related symptoms. 27.6% of HIV-MSM used PrEP.

Following the report of a non-travel-associated cluster of monkeypox cases by the United Kingdom in May 2022, 41 countries across the WHO European Region have reported 21,098 cases and two deaths by 23 August 2022. Nowcasting suggests a plateauing in case notifications. Most cases (97%) are MSM, with atypical rash-illness presentation. Spread is mainly through close contact during sexual activities. Few cases are reported among women and children. Targeted interventions of at-risk groups are needed to stop further transmission.

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ObjectivesIt is still debated if pre-existing minority drug-resistant HIV-1 variants (MVs) affect the virological outcomes of first-line NNRTI-containing ART.MethodsThis Europe-wide case–control study included ART-naive subjects infected with drug-susceptible HIV-1 as revealed by population sequencing, who achieved virological suppression on first-line ART including one NNRTI. Cases experienced virological failure and controls were subjects from the same cohort whose viraemia remained suppressed at a matched time since initiation of ART. Blinded, centralized 454 pyrosequencing with parallel bioinformatic analysis in two laboratories was used to identify MVs in the 1%–25% frequency range. ORs of virological failure according to MV detection were estimated by logistic regression.ResultsTwo hundred and sixty samples (76 cases and 184 controls), mostly subtype B (73.5%), were used for the analysis. Identical MVs were detected in the two laboratories. 31.6% of cases and 16.8% of controls harboured pre-existing MVs. Detection of at least one MV versus no MVs was associated with an increased risk of virological failure (OR = 2.75, 95% CI = 1.35–5.60, P = 0.005); similar associations were observed for at least one MV versus no NRTI MVs (OR = 2.27, 95% CI = 0.76–6.77, P = 0.140) and at least one MV versus no NNRTI MVs (OR = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.12–5.18, P = 0.024). A dose–effect relationship between virological failure and mutational load was found.ConclusionsPre-existing MVs more than double the risk of virological failure to first-line NNRTI-based ART.

The incidence of ADIs was higher in individuals with a current CD4 count of 500-749 cells/µL compared to those with a CD4 count of 750-999 cells/µL, but did not decrease further at higher CD4 counts. Results were similar in patients virologically suppressed on combination antiretroviral therapy, suggesting that immune reconstitution is not complete until the CD4 increases to >750 cells/µL.