Active clinical trials for "Sexually Transmitted Diseases"

Background: Several major studies have demonstrated the success of Truvada as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in preventing HIV infection.The CDC guidelines recommend PrEP for people who are at elevated risk of HIV including men who have sex with men (MSM) and people who use injection drugs. People who are incarcerated bear a disproportionate of disease burden, including HIV. Furthermore, men who have been involved with the criminal justice system are more likely to engage in risky behaviors following their release, including condomless sex with partners of unknown serostatus, and injection drug use. The incarceration setting provides a place to engage men who may be at risk of HIV after they are released. Following release, community clinics, including the STD clinic at The Miriam Hospital (TMH) Immunology Center, that perform routine testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) may be ideal settings to engage vulnerable populations in care, including PrEP. Despite the demonstrated clinical efficacy of PrEP in reducing HIV transmissions, few clinical programs have piloted the use of PrEP in real-world settings, particularly criminal justice settings. Furthermore, studies demonstrate numerous challenges to PrEP uptake and adherence, including a lack of access or discontinuing care. Engaging at risk men in PrEP care before they leave prison and potentially lost to care during the transition may increase uptake, adherence, and retention. Objective: This study protocol will evaluate a clinical program that aims to prevent new HIV infections among recently-incarcerated men using a once daily dosing of tenofovir/emtricitabine (Truvada) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). This protocol presents an overview of the clinical program, which uses standard-of-care clinical practices and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for prescribing and monitoring PrEP. Male inmates at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (RIDOC) will be screened for HIV risk and, if eligible and interested, will be prescribed and given a one-month supply of PrEP shortly before their release, and receive follow up care at The Miriam Hospital (TMH) Immunology Center following their release.

Transgender men (trans men; assigned female sex at birth but identify as male) are generally thought to be at low risk of HIV acquisition, perhaps because of the assumption that they have sex with cis-gender women. Emerging data from resource-rich settings show that trans men often face many of the same high risks as transgender women (trans women; assigned male sex at birth but identify as female). Trans men report similar rates to trans women of engagement in sex work and engage in unprotected receptive vaginal and/or anal sex with cis-gender men. Additionally, they report high sexual risk-taking behaviors including inconsistent condom use which puts them at risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Little is known about HIV risk in trans men globally, and no published data are available from sub-Saharan Africa. We will recruit a cohort of 50 trans men through respondent driven sampling. We will use mixed methods to gain a deeper understanding of the sexual health experiences and risk behaviors of trans men in Uganda. Guided by the Social Ecological Model, we will conduct in-depth interviews with up to 20 trans men to understand individual, interpersonal, community and social contextual factors that influence sexual risk behaviors and HIV/STI risk (Aim 1). In Aim 2, we will characterize HIV and STI prevalence and risk among trans men by conducting a behavioral HIV risk assessment including sexual practices, alcohol and drug use, partner violence, gender dysphoria, male hormone use and willingness to take PrEP. In Aim 3, we will evaluate PrEP uptake and persistence among HIV-negative trans men with HIV risk. Participants will be offered PrEP and followed monthly for 12 months. At quarterly visits, participants will receive integrated next steps adherence counseling and drug level feedback using a point-of-care urine tenofovir lateral-flow immunoassay. Free testing and treatment of common curable STIs (Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis and Trichomonas vaginalis) will be provided. Primary outcomes are: 1) PrEP persistence at 6 and 12 months as measured by tenofovir levels in dried blood spots collected quarterly, and 2) STI incidence. Assessment of PrEP use by trans men will help increase the utilization of HIV services, including HIV and STI testing and PrEP, with a goal of decreasing HIV acquisition.

A cross-sectional study of urogenital schistosomiasis and sexually transmitted infections (STI) prevalence and associated morbidity in a rural community in Madagascar. Clearance of infections and resolution of morbidity were subsequently studied in two phases following systematic anti-STI and anti-schistosoma treatment, respectively.

This study will evaluate the effect of easy access to emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) on the rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

This is a multicenter study with a minimum of three CLIA-Waived intended operator sites in which prospectively collected vaginal swab specimens will be evaluated with the Click Sexual Health Test as compared to standard of care. The specimen collection will occur over one study visit for each enrolled subject, but study staff will continue to follow the subject through standard of care until the subject receives treatment or she is lost to follow up.

Transgender women (TGW) are at high risk for HIV infection, and are an important, under-researched population in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, HIV acquisition risk among TGW is 13 times higher than other adults aged 15-49 years. In Uganda, HIV prevalence among TGW is 22% compared to 5.9% in the general population. Encouraging use of self-controlled HIV prevention tools - specifically, HIV self-testing (HIVST), STI self-sampling (STISS) and antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) - to those testing HIV negative could decrease HIV incidence among African TGW. This R34 application proposes formative research and a pilot trial to develop an HIV prevention intervention for African transgender women (TGW). The investigators will evaluate whether peer-delivered combination HIV prevention increases testing uptake and empowers effective prevention decision making in TGW. Peer-led interventions are effective in increasing HIV and STI testing among other hard-to-reach vulnerable populations with high HIV prevalence but low testing coverage and are recommended by the World Health Organization. Exploring peer-delivery approaches to increase coverage of combination HIV prevention interventions is key to addressing research gaps in HIV epidemic control. However, little is known about the effectiveness of peer-delivered combination HIV prevention (HIVST, STISS and PrEP) for African TGW, or the best way to deliver care to this population. Key knowledge gaps include: 1) whether peer delivery increases testing rates and status knowledge, 2) the role of peers in creating demand for repeat testing and PrEP, and 3) how to optimize peer delivery of combination HIV prevention (HIVST, STISS and PrEP). To address these questions, this proposal seeks to conduct formative research to inform implementation of peer-delivered combination HIV prevention for African TGW (Aim 1), implement a pilot cluster randomized trial to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of peer delivered combination HIV prevention (Aim 2), and conduct in-depth interviews to explore how peer-delivery of HIVST, STISS and PrEP influences prevention choices among TGW and sexual partners (Aim 3). This will be the first clinical trial, to our knowledge, to evaluate HIV self-testing and STI self-sampling in HIV-uninfected TGW. Pilot data from TGW and their partners will provide unique perspectives to inform HIV prevention delivery. The proposed proof-of-concept evaluation is uniquely positioned to improve prevention uptake for African TGW - a high-risk, marginalized, and underserved population. Rigorous application of mixed methodologies will generate actionable data for policy and programs, and provide a strong foundation for scalable implementation of cutting edge combination HIV prevention interventions for African TGW. The local transgender community is involved in study design, planning and implementation. This project is supported by the Ugandan Ministry of Health.

Primary purpose of the study: to describe sexual behavior of Prep users, whatever mode of intake, ie continuous or on-demand; it has been shown in some studies, an increase of sexual risks in Prep users, and therefore an similar increase of STIs (sexually transmitted diseases); using a self-questionnaire, we'd like to evaluate sexual behavior before, and 6 months after, starting Prep. Secondary purposes: to describe medical characteristics of Prep users (past medical condition, demographic characteristics, vaccinations, kidney function, serological results, urine and anal/pharyngeal swabs), clinical and biological Prep safety, STIs occurrence, and antibiotic prescriptions, continuous or on-demand intake, Prep indication.

This study tests the effectiveness of the bilingual Health and Success program, which aims to support Latino parents and schools in their efforts to promote the academic success and healthy choices of youth, with the goal of reducing barriers that lead to elevated levels of HIV/AIDS in urban Latino communities.

The purpose of this study is to assess the acceptability and effectiveness of utilizing vaginal self-swabs for HPV DNA testing as compared to provider-collected cervical swabs for HPV, as well as to investigate the prevalence of other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) among sexually active female-to-male (FTM) transgender adults.

The purpose of this study was to use participant samples to simultaneously evaluate three nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) diagnostic platforms.