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STI Updates

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STI updates are blog posts from the BCCDC or our community partners about a variety of sexual health topics. These include program updates, clinical practice changes, new research, events, and more. We will not clutter your inbox with frequent emails, and your email address will not be used for any other purposes. 

Building a Roadmap for Viral Hepatitis Elimination in BC: Your Input is Important!

March 20, 2024 by Deb Schmitz, BC Hepatitis Network, Sofia Bartlett, BC Centre for Disease Control and Janice Duddy, Consultant.

The BC Viral Hepatitis Elimination Roadmap Service Mapping Survey has now launched. The Road map team is collecting responses to this survey until April 8th 2024, so please complete it as soon as possible, and forward this invitation to anyone else who you think may wish to complete it. Our ask from you If you are someone who works…

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Service Providers: Tell us what you think about HIV point-of-care testing in BC and the BCCDC’s provincial program

January 5, 2024 by Janice Duddy, Evaluator and Angela Knight, Program Lead, BC HIV POC Testing Program, BCCDC Public Health Laboratory

The BC Point-of-Care HIV Testing Program, has been operating at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) since 2011. It was established to increase access of HIV testing in BC under the BC Ministry of Health’s Hope to Health: Towards an AIDS-Free Generation provincial strategy. The program provides point-of-care tests and supplies, free-of-charge to approved…

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New Syphilis Course for Clinicians in British Columbia

December 1, 2023 by BCCDC Clinical Prevention Services STI/HIV Education Team

The BC Centre for Disease Control is offering a self-directed online course Overview of Syphilis for Healthcare Providers in BC for clinician in British Columbia. The online course provides clinicians with the key foundational knowledge to support their role in the clinical recognition, screening and appropriate testing, treatment and follow-up of syphilis cases. This course…

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The BCCDC Position Statement on Doxycycline as Prophylaxis for Sexually Transmitted Infections

November 8, 2023 by BC Centre for Disease Control, Clinical Prevention Services, STI Services

Recent clinical trials show that doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxyPEP) is efficacious in preventing certain sexually transmitted infections (STI) in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) and transgender women (TGW) with a recent history of bacterial STI (i.e. in the previous year). Further, in many jurisdictions including here in BC, doxycycline…

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New healthcare provider training: Inclusive practices, strategies and tools for sex work and health

August 22, 2023 by Vancouver Sex Work Community Alliance

The Vancouver Sex Work Community Alliance is a partnership between the Health Initiative for Men and the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, aimed at increasing the wellbeing of sex workers of all genders and promoting their access to healthcare across the Lower Mainland. To do this, we combine research, education, advocacy, and outreach…

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Gay Dating Apps: What are the impacts on youth?

March 3, 2023 by Maxim Gaudette, Research assistant - Centre de recherche en santé publique (CReSP) , PhD candidate in public health – École de santé publique de l’Université de Montréal

Background Many queer men use gay dating apps such as Grindr, Scruff and Hornet [1], but their impacts on youth are not well understood. To further understand these impacts, we interviewed health professionals who work with young gay, bisexual, trans and queer men (YGBQTM). Summary of research We interviewed 28 health professionals working with YGBTQM in…

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HIV self-testing update and where it is offered

December 13, 2022 by Monica Durigon, Nurse Educator, Clinical Prevention Services, BC Centre for Disease Control

What is an HIV self-test? Point of Care (POC) HIV tests, also known as “rapid” HIV tests, screen for HIV antibodies. The first POC HIV test approved by Health Canada is the INSTI® Rapid HIV Test, which has been used in clinics and health care settings for many years. In November 2020, it was approved…

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Policy & Guidelines for Sexually Transmitted and Blood Borne Infection (STBBI) Testing and Care in BC Correctional Centres

March 3, 2022 by Terri Buller-Taylor, Hepatitis Education Canada/Pathways to Care for STBBIs in Prisons, Hepatitis Clinical Prevention Services, BC Centre for Disease Control

You Matter Pathways to STBBI Care – Project Update –  March 2022 People who experience incarceration are disproportionately affected by STBBIs, with significantly higher rates of infections such as hepatitis C virus (HCV) among people in prison compared to the overall population. People who have experienced incarceration can also face many difficulties in getting access…

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Structural barriers & facilitators to the ongoing implementation of GetCheckedOnline

February 10, 2022 by Oralia Gómez-Ramírez (BC Centre for Disease Control, University of British Columbia, CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network), Mark Gilbert (BC Centre for Disease Control, University of British Columbia), Daniel Grace (University of Toronto)

Background GetCheckedOnline is a comprehensive internet-based testing service for sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) available in select communities in British Columbia (BC), Canada, first implemented in 2014. The Digital Sexual Health Initiative team led by Dr. Mark Gilbert at the BC Centre for Disease Control conducted a study to understand the macro-level structural barriers and facilitators to…

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HIV incidence and prevalence estimates for British Columbia and Canada in 2018

November 29, 2021 by Jason Wong, Associate Medical Director, Clinical Prevention Services, BC Centre for Disease Control

Background HIV prevention continues to be a public health priority in British Columbia (BC). Incidence and prevalence are two measures of disease frequency used to inform our response to the HIV epidemic. Incidence is the number of new infections (both diagnosed and undiagnosed) that occur in an area over a year whereas prevalence is the…

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