Sexually transmitted diseases in homosexual men

Abstract

Recent studies have suggested that homosexual behavior in men is associated with significant personal and public health problems due to several sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Gay men appear to be at greater risk than heterosexual men or women for gonorrhea, syphilis, anorectal venereal warts, and perhaps for genital and anorectal herpes simplex virus infections, as well as for several STDs outside the traditional sphere of venereology, including hepatitis A, hepatitis B, amebiasis, giardiasis, shigellosis, enteritis due to Campylobacter fetus, genital and anorectal meningococcal infection, and cytomegalovirus infection. Most studies to date, however, have been conducted in STD clinics or at sites where persons congregate for anonymous sexual activity, such as steambaths, and the applicability of their findings to the homosexual male population at large is unknown.