VIDEO: Universal screening for STIs in adolescents could avoid stigma
NEW YORK — In this video, Jacob R. McLean, DO, assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University, recaps his presentation on adolescent STI screening and treatment at the Infectious Diseases in Children Symposium.
Adolescents “bear a really disproportionate share of” the STI burden, McLean said.
He suggested universally screening young women, young men who have sex with men and young men who have sex with women for gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis, with a “default opt-out for gonorrhea and chlamydia screening at the pharynx and rectum, since we know that urogenital testing only actually misses a lot of diagnoses and that people are often reluctant to talk about having oral or anal sex.”
“Universal screening, besides avoiding missed opportunities for diagnoses, can really help avoid stigma. By being up front and telling patients you are going to offer them HIV and STI screening before asking sexual history questions, you really avoid some of the stigma that might come from people perceiving that they are being offered testing based on their identity or reported sexual practices,” he said.
McLean recommended visiting the CDC website for guidance on STI treatment. For more complex cases, he said the CDC offers free consultations by email, phone and text in as little as 1 business day, and the New York State Department of Health has a hotline for more immediate assistance.
For more information:
CDC. Sexually transmitted infections treatment guidelines, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/std/treatment-guidelines/default.htm.
CDC STD Clinical Consultation Service. https://www.stdccn.org/render/Public.
New York State Department of Health Clinical Education Initiative. https://ceitraining.org/resources/sexual-health.
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