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Current practice

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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. 

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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Mycoplasma genitalium: Information and guidance for clinicians in British Columbia

September 14, 2021 by Troy Grennan, Physician Lead, STI Program, Clinical Prevention Services, BC Centre for Disease Control

Mycoplasma genitalium is an STI that can cause genital symptoms similar to other STIs, including urethritis, cervicitis, and discharge. As it is not a reportable infection, and there is currently no evidence to support routine testing, we do not have good data on prevalence. The clinical teams at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC)…

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Recent Updates to Hepatitis C Testing Guidelines in British Columbia

July 15, 2021 by Stephanie Gin, Nurse Educator, Clinical Prevention Services, BC Centre for Disease Control

British Columbia (BC) is now the first province or territory in Canada to recommend one-time birth cohort screening for people born from 1945 to 1965. This update is included in recent revisions to the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) Communicable Disease Control (CDC) Manual and Guidelines and Protocol Advisory Committee (GPAC) viral hepatitis…

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MindMapBC: An online database of LGBTQ2+-affirming mental health supports

January 25, 2021 by Sarah Watt, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University

Collaborators at the Health Initiative for Men, the Community-Based Research Centre, and Simon Fraser University have developed and launched MindMapBC. MindMapBC is an online database of accessible, free or low-cost, and/or LGBTQ2+-affirming mental health supports. Experiences of stigma, discrimination, and marginalization among LGBTQ2+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-, queer, Two-Spirit, and other gender- and sexually-diverse) people…

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HIV Self-Test approved for use in Health Canada

January 12, 2021 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 and have been used in clinics and health care settings for many years. On November 2, 2020, Health Canada approved the INSTI® HIV Self-Test for use and sale. It is the same test used…

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Updates to BCCDC Non-Certified Practice Decision Support Tools and Certified Practice Competencies

September 23, 2020 by the Education Team, Clinical Prevention Services, BC Centre for Disease Control

Non-Certified Practice Revisions to the BCCDC’s Non-Certified Practice Decision Support Tools (DSTs) have been completed and are now posted in the BCCDC Communicable Disease Control Manual, Chapter 5: Sexually Transmitted Infections. A provincial working group comprised of frontline and nursing leads certified in STI practice convened to discuss and review BCCDC’s proposed changes over a…

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Your Sexual Health: A Guide for People Living with HIV

August 11, 2020 by Dan Udy, Editor/Writer, Health Information Resources, CATIE, Canada’s source for HIV and hepatitis C information

Treatment as prevention and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) have expanded the definitions of “safer sex” for people living with HIV. It’s important to update resources and messages to reflect current evidence, and to support everyone in having happy, healthy sex lives. Your Sexual Health is a new resource from CATIE which gives up-to-date information in plain…

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New BCCDC Non-Certified Practice Decision Support Tool: HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)

September 19, 2019 by Geoffrey Ford, HIV/STI Senior Practice Lead, Clinical Prevention Services, BC Centre for Disease Control

Please join the BCCDC education team for a Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) webinar to review this new Decision Support Tool (DST) for Registered Nurse assessment and management of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).  This DST includes information on: PrEP eligibility considerations Required and recommended baseline testing PrEP initiation, ongoing testing, monitoring and management Consultation and/or referral…

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