STI screening among MSM has been reported to be suboptimal. In a cross-sectional sample of MSM in the United States, approximately one third reported not having had an STI test during the previous 3 years, and MSM with multiple sex partners reported less frequent screening (221). MSM living with HIV infection and engaged in care also experience suboptimal rates of STI testing (222,223). Limited data exist regarding the optimal frequency of screening for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis among MSM, with the majority of evidence derived from mathematical modeling. Models from Australia have demonstrated that increasing syphilis screening frequency from two times a year to four times a year resulted in a relative decrease of 84% from peak prevalence (224). In a compartmental model applied to different populations in Canada, quarterly syphilis screening averted more than twice the number of syphilis cases, compared with semiannual screening (225). Furthermore, MSM screening coverage needed for eliminating syphilis among a population is substantially reduced from 62% with annual screening to 23% with quarterly screening (226,227). In an MSM transmission model that explored the impact of HIV PrEP use on STI prevalence, quarterly chlamydia and gonorrhea screening was associated with an 83% reduction in incidence (205). The only empiric data available that examined the impact of screening frequency come from an observational cohort of MSM using HIV PrEP in which quarterly screening identified more bacterial STIs, and semiannual screening would have resulted in delayed treatment of 35% of total identified STI infections (206). In addition, quarterly screening was reported to have prevented STI exposure in a median of three sex partners per STI infection (206). On the basis of available evidence, quarterly screening for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis for certain sexually active MSM can improve case finding, which can reduce the duration of infection at the population level, reduce ongoing transmission and, ultimately, prevalence among this population (228).
Essential information about the sample and the patient must be registered within the laboratory in such a manner that the tube is traceable and unambiguously linked to the patient, collected sample, test request, requestor and phlebotomist. These data include but are not limited to:
sample modeling the saxophones v1.1.1 incl 23
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