Research from Imperial College, London, shows how certain genetic strains of common STDs can be used to track community spread of an STD and apply public health interventions.
Rresearchers from Imperial College and the Health Protection Agency used molecular typing to analyse different strains of gonorrhoea. Out of a total of 2045 strains recovered in London during a six month period, they were able to identify 21 prevalent strains, each infecting between 20 and 124 individuals. Seven of these strains were almost exclusively from homosexual men, while the other 14 were from almost exclusively from heterosexuals, suggesting very little spread of gonorrhoea between different behavioural groups.
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