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The following is a summary of “Sexual behaviors and risk of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales carriage: A cross-sectional analysis,” published in the December 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Boyd et al. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to identify clusters of sexual behaviors associated with extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-E) carriage among individuals at risk of sexually transmitted infections (STI).  

They included individuals attending an STI screening center and human immunodeficiency virus outpatient clinic in Paris, France, between 2018 and 2019. Participants were asked about sexual activities in the last 6 months, including receptive/insertive anal intercourse, passive/active rimming, receptive/insertive fellatio, receptive/insertive fisting, receptive/insertive fingering, and active/passive cunnilingus, ESBL-E carriage was determined from rectal swabs. Bayesian latent class analysis identified clusters of sexual activities, which were associated with ESBL-E carriage using logistic regression. 

The results showed that among 1,211 men who have sex with men (MSM), those in 2 latent classes with higher prevalence of insertive fingering and active rimming had higher rates of ESBL-E carriage (15.3%, N = 124 and 16.0%, N = 100), as well as 1 class with a higher proportion of all sexual behaviors (24.3%, N = 70), compared to a class with fewer sexual behaviors (7.3%, N = 259) after adjustment. Among 439 other men and 479 women, no clear associations between sexual behavior clusters and ESBL-E carriage were found.  

Investigators concluded the specific sexual behaviors were associated with varying levels of carriage of ESBL-E, particularly among MSM. 

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971224003485