People who are at a higher risk of contracting an STI include:
Men who have sex with men (MSM)
Sexually active men who have sex with men or transgender persons, even if they also have sex with women
People who use drugs during sex (chemsex)
People who use mood altering and behaviour modifying drugs (or ‘chems’) that lead to increased sexual risk-taking
Commercial Sex Workers (CSW) and their clients
People (male or female) who pay for sex or are paid for sex
People from countries with higher prevalence of STIs
‘Outside Europe’ is only a generalisation. More accurately, people born in, or who have had sex with someone from the countries shaded in blue or green (>25,000 new cases) on this world map.
People with multiple or concurrent partners
People with a high number of sexual partners, especially if sex with these partners overlap or occur in a group situation
Intravenous drug users
Sharing needles or works is a major risk factor for many blood-borne viruses such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C
People with sexual partners from
Sexual partners of individuals in the above groups are also at greater risk of STIs
The risk of contracting HIV can be reduced before having sex by taking Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) tablets.
The risk of HIV infection can also be reduced after having sex, by taking Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) tablets.
Vaccinations are available to protect against certain infections including Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).