TY - JOUR
T1 - Translating mouthwash use for gonorrhoea prevention into a public health campaign
T2 - Identifying current knowledge and research gaps
AU - Chow, Eric P.F.
AU - Maddaford, Kate
AU - Trumpour, Sabrina
AU - Fairley, Christopher K.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - The gonorrhoea rate among gay and bisexual men who have sex with men (MSM) has been increasing rapidly in many Western countries. Furthermore, gonorrhoea is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics and only limited options remain for treatment. Recent evidence suggests that the oropharynx may play an important role in gonorrhoea transmission. It is hypothesised that reducing the prevalence of oropharyngeal gonorrhoea will also reduce the population incidence of gonorrhoea. Mouthwash has been proposed as a novel non-antibiotic intervention to prevent oropharyngeal gonorrhoea hence, reducing the probability of antibiotic resistance developing. However, its efficacy is yet to be confirmed by a randomised controlled trial-the findings of which will be available in 2019. If the trial shows mouthwash is effective in preventing gonorrhoea, this finding could potentially be translated into a public health campaign to increase the mouthwash use in the MSM population. This article summarises the current evidence of the effectiveness of mouthwash against gonorrhoea and discusses the potential literature gaps before implementing the mouthwash intervention at a population level.
AB - The gonorrhoea rate among gay and bisexual men who have sex with men (MSM) has been increasing rapidly in many Western countries. Furthermore, gonorrhoea is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics and only limited options remain for treatment. Recent evidence suggests that the oropharynx may play an important role in gonorrhoea transmission. It is hypothesised that reducing the prevalence of oropharyngeal gonorrhoea will also reduce the population incidence of gonorrhoea. Mouthwash has been proposed as a novel non-antibiotic intervention to prevent oropharyngeal gonorrhoea hence, reducing the probability of antibiotic resistance developing. However, its efficacy is yet to be confirmed by a randomised controlled trial-the findings of which will be available in 2019. If the trial shows mouthwash is effective in preventing gonorrhoea, this finding could potentially be translated into a public health campaign to increase the mouthwash use in the MSM population. This article summarises the current evidence of the effectiveness of mouthwash against gonorrhoea and discusses the potential literature gaps before implementing the mouthwash intervention at a population level.
KW - gay men
KW - intervention
KW - men who have sex with men
KW - Neisseria gonorrhoeae
KW - prevention
KW - sexually transmissible infections
KW - sexually transmitted diseases
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065834320&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1071/SH18237
DO - 10.1071/SH18237
M3 - Review Article
AN - SCOPUS:85065834320
VL - 16
SP - 433
EP - 441
JO - Sexual Health
JF - Sexual Health
SN - 1448-5028
IS - 5
ER -