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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.
November 16, 2020 by Aidan Ablona, BCCDC; Hsiu-Ju Chang, BCCDC; Daniel Grace, University of Toronto; Cathy Worthington, University of Victoria; Jason Wong, BCCDC; Gina Ogilvie, BCCDC; Mark Gilbert, BCCDC
Background The Digital Sexual Health Initiative team conducted a survey to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected people’s sex lives, their access to sexual health services, and whether alternate ways of delivering sexual health services would be acceptable. The results will help inform possible changes & decisions on sexual health services in British Columbia…
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…
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…
June 10, 2020 by The BC Centre for Disease Control and the Ministry of Health
In April, non-urgent Hepatitis C (HCV) testing at the BCCDC Public Health Laboratory (PHL) was suspended to redirect resources to support COVID-19 testing. As of June 2020, all HCV testing has resumed. If you may have been exposed to HCV and need a test, contact your health care provider or use the clinic finder to…
April 13, 2020 by The BC Centre for Disease Control and the Ministry of Health
All non-urgent Hepatitis C (HCV) testing at the BCCDC Public Health Laboratory (PHL) is temporarily suspended to redirect resources to support COVID-19 testing. This includes all routine HCV screening and testing related to HCV treatment. The BCCDC PHL performs more than 95% of all BC’s HCV testing. When HCV testing resumes, health care providers will be…
March 18, 2020 by Troy Grennan, Physician Lead, HIV/STI Program, Clinical Prevention Services, BCCDC
The BCCDC Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Clinics are committed to ensuring our patients and staff remain safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, while still ensuring that our patients get the best care. During this time, we will only be seeing the highest priority STI patients at the Provincial STI Clinic at 655 W 12th St, Vancouver….
by Balanding Manneh, University of British Columbia MPH Candidate
The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) is conducting a survey of stakeholders involved in Hepatitis C (HCV) treatment and related services in British Columbia (BC). The 5-10 minute survey can be completed by anyone familiar with HCV-related services (treatment, care and support services) in BC, including people with lived experience. It will yield a…
February 20, 2020 by Travis Salway, Assistant Professor, Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Affiliated Researcher, BC Centre for Disease Control and Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity
Background The Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, in collaboration with the Community-Based Research Centre, No Conversion Canada, Born Perfect, the BCCDC, BCCDC Foundation for Public Health, and Simon Fraser University, released a new report describing ongoing conversion therapy practices, also known as sexual orientation and gender identity or expression change efforts (SOGIECE) in…
January 30, 2020 by Heather Pedersen, Online Sexual Health Services Manager, BC Centre for Disease Control
This February, we are changing the service we use to manage and send emails for the SmartSexResource STI Updates blog. If you are currently subscribed, your email address will automatically be carried over to the new service. You can unsubscribe at any time. Moving forward, blog subscriptions will be managed directly through the SmartSexResource website….
January 16, 2020 by BCCDC Public Health Laboratory
As of January 13, 2020, the BCCDC Public Health Laboratory (BCCDC PHL) will implement automatic hepatitis C (HCV) RNA nucleic acid testing (NAT) reflex testing for all new HCV cases. This is a change from the previous two-step process that required a follow-up EDTA blood sample which often delayed time to diagnosis. Under the new…