(RxWiki News) Condom use is recommended for prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease between partners. Condom use is even more important when multiple sexual partners are involved.
A recently published report regarding the percentage of sexually transmitted diseases among Los Angeles County found performers in the adult film industry had an annual risk of 14 percent for acquiring chlamydia and five percent for acquiring gonorrhea. The women in the adult film industry are at particularly high risk as they accounted for 72 percent of all the infections reported.
"Sex with multiple partners requires the use of condoms to prevent STDs."
Binh Y. Goldstein, PhD, and colleagues of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health express concern about the industry standards for protecting their actors are not up to current worker health and safety standards. Goldstein and his team are calling for state of the art occupational safety standards to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections.
The study fills a void regarding the alarming rates of sexually transmitted diseases in the adult film industry and Goldstein and his colleagues believe the reinfection rate is even higher amongst the performers.
The authors point out that testing alone will simply not suffice to control spreading sexually transmitted diseases in the sex industry. Other strategies need to be employed including education and promotion of condom use to prevent workplace exchange of sexually transmitted diseases.
Adult film performers should also realize that they need to take responsibility as well and protect themselves from STDs including HIV by insisting upon condom use for their coworkers and themselves.
The researchers analyzed data from laboratories that provide testing services to adult film performers. According to current industry standards, performers must provide negative test results every 30 days in order to be allowed to work.
Dr. Goldstein and colleagues identified all cases of gonorrhea and chlamydia reported 2004 to 2008 to analyze the annual rates of infection and repeated infection among adult film performers, and found that gonorrhea and chlamydia are common and recurrent among performers.
This paper is published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
