A recent study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases found that many doctors do not have access to the appropriate tests for primary syphilis. Although the syphilis blood tests are capable of detecting an infection that has been going on for a while,doctors need to swab a chancre and examine the sample under a special type of microscope to confidently detect an early syphilis infection . The blood test alone can miss up to 30 percent of new syphilis infections, thus leaving newly infected people falsely confident of their negative status and more likely to pass on the disease.

• How to Test for Syphilis
• What is a VDRL Test?
• Syphilis 101
• Sorely Confused: Cold, Chancre, or Canker?

There was a great story on NPR last week that was designed to debunk the popular belief that the down low is a major contributor to the HIV epidemic among African American women. The reasoning didn't come as much of surprise to me, but I was really fascinated to hear some of Dr. Kevin Fenton's ideas about the actual explanation for the fact that although African Americans make up less than 15% of the population, African American women make up more than 65% of new female HIV cases in the U.S. I highly recommend taking a few minutes to take a listen to the story on the NPR webpage. Dr. Fenton is the director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD & TB Prevention and he knows of what he speaks.

• Myth: HIV/AIDS Rate Among Black Women Traced To 'Down Low' Black Men from NPR
• The Low Down on the Down Low
• HIV 101
• Glossary: The CDC

An ongoing series of British surveys have found that the use of condoms by British women has been steadily increasing over time. In 2009, for the first time, they were used by similar numbers of women as were using the birth control pill. Although I think that the rise in the number of women who are protecting themselves from not just pregnancy but STDs is great, the accompanying TimesOnline editorial does make an excellent point. If your major goal is to protect against pregnancy, it's worth considering other options in addition to condom use. Condoms are fabulous, but they do occaisionally fail - particularly if they're not used correctly - so it's important to have other tools in your arsenal, including emergency contraception.

• Condoms 101
• The Top 10 STDs
• How to Use a Male Condom
• Emergency Contraception - From the Guide to Contraception.

Want to know what has been pinging my radar lately? The fact that so many people have bad experiences getting care for sexual health. The first thing that brought it to mind was a conversation with a woman who utterly refused to get a Pap smear because she equated it to sexual assault, but it just came to my attention again with this article about how overzealous and somewhat insensitive health care workers are scaring patients away from STD testing in DC.

It's easy for doctors and scientists to forget how many people associate sexual health with shame. Although talking about sex and dealing with sexual issues may be a regular part of our lives, doing so can be a source of immense stress, and even trauma, for our patients and subjects. It's therefore important for us to remember that to give better care, we need to care more - about privacy, about reducing feelings of shame, and even about finding non-threatening ways to educate people about sensitive issues. Sexual health care, and health care in general, is a difficult business, but a little patience, kindness, and consideration (from both patients and doctors) can make it easier on everyone.

• User Stories - The Problem with Linking Birth Control Pills to Pap Smears
• STD Testing 101
• But isn't STD Testing Automatic?
• User Stories About STD Testing