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Harm reduction is an evidence-based approach that could promote health equity through the implementation of pragmatic strategies for people who use drugs or who engage in sex work. The purposes of this study were to describe whether nurses received harm reduction education in their nursing programs, whether nurses are practicing harm reduction, and strategies for integrating harm reduction within nursing curriculum. An online survey was delivered to nurses and an interview with a nurse harm reductionist was conducted. Among the 30 survey participants, only 17% (n = 5) stated they were taught about harm reduction in their nursing programs. On average, survey participants practiced harm reduction less than "half of the time" by meeting people where they are in their drug use or sex work. The nurse harm reductionist described how harm reduction should be taught as a skillset for evidence-based nursing practice. By incorporating harm reduction principles into nursing education and nursing practice, nurses can provide competent care for people who use drugs or who engage in sex work., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objective: Vibration of the vocal folds can disrupt the tissue and induce structural, functional, and molecular changes; the presence or absence of contact between the vocal folds during vibration can affect the type and extent of these changes. The purpose of this study was to characterize vocal fold changes following 2 hours of contact phonation or phonation without vibratory contact., Methods: Six New Zealand white breeder rabbits underwent 120 minutes of phonation with or without vibratory contact, and four served as nonphonated controls. The larynx was exposed and current was applied to the cricothyroids bilaterally to achieve vocal fold adduction while humidified airflow was delivered to induce vocal fold vibration. Laryngeal position, airflow, and stimulation levels were adjusted to obtain phonation with or without contact, and phonation was elicited for 120 minutes. Following excision, larynges were stained using Hematoxylin & Eosin, Elastica van Gieson, and Grocott's Methenamine Silver, or labeled with immunofluorescent markers for E-cadherin, CD31, CD11b, and Vimentin. All images were captured using a Nikon 90i microscope and analyzed using ImageJ., Results: Differences between vibratory conditions and control samples were observed. There was more extensive epithelial thinning, reduced epithelial integrity and increased vascularity in the contact phonation group, while both phonatory groups demonstrated a decreased presence of mucous on the luminal surface and a decrease in elastin band thickness and lamina propria depth. Neither condition showed differences in inflammatory cell presence compared to control tissue., Conclusions: By showing that these two vibratory conditions result in structural changes of different types and magnitude, we have provided the first empirical evidence that vocal fold tissue is sensitive to differences in forces, and that changes in vibratory pattern can elicit different downstream biological changes within the tissue. The differences described herein are an important step toward understanding the vocal folds' potential for differential response to phonotraumatic damage following different vibratory behaviors., (Copyright © 2019 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Trichomonas vaginalis prevalence (2.8%) in female sexually transmitted infection clinic attendees was within the prevalence of chlamydia (5.8%) and gonorrhea (1.8%), while being very low for male attendees (0.2%). Correlates among women were indigenous ethnicity, other ethnicity, and being symptomatic.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and correlates of M ycoplasma genitalium (MG) infection among men and women, determine the prevalence of gene mutations conferring resistance and compare test performance of female specimen types., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on specimens collected for gonorrhoea (NG, Neisseria gonorrhoeae ) and chlamydia (CT, Chlamydia trachomatis ) among male and female Alberta STI clinic attendees using the M. genitalium transcription-mediated amplification-research use only test. Positive specimens were sequenced for 23SrRNA, parC and gyrA genes. Gender-stratified analysis compared test results using χ 2 or Fisher's exact test, Mann-Whitney U test and logistic regression. Female endocervical and urine specimens were compared., Results: A total of 2254 individuals were tested; 53.8% (n=1212) were male. Male prevalence of MG was 5.3%; CT was 5.9% and NG was 1.8%. Correlates of male infection were a non-gonococcal urethritis diagnosis and NG coinfection. MG prevalence for women was 7.2%; CT was 5.8% and NG was 1.8%. Correlates of female infection were younger age, Indigenous/Other ethnicity and CT/NG coinfection. Nearly two-thirds of eligible specimens had mutations associated with macrolide resistance and 12.2% of specimens had a parC mutation signifying possible moxifloxacin resistance. There was high concordance (98.1%) of results between urine and endocervical swabs., Conclusions: The high prevalence of MG relative to CT and NG supports the incorporation of MG testing into routine sexually transmissible infection screening. The high rate of resistance to macrolides and moxifloxacin raises concerns about treatment options. The good concordance of results between urine and endocervical swabs supports the use of female urine specimens for testing., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.)

Fifty-seven cases of gonococcal and chlamydial infections complicated by acute epididymitis seen at 2 Alberta STI clinics from 2004 to 2014 were reviewed. The majority responded to treatment recommended by national guidelines. Three of 6 treatment failures were not treated according to guidelines.

We examined the prevalence of rectal chlamydia treatment failures in men who have sex with men and women attending Alberta sexually transmitted infection clinics. Among those completing a test of cure, there was no significant difference among patients treated initially with azithromycin (treatment failure, 39/460 [8.5%]; 95% confidence interval, 5.9%-11.0%) compared with patients treated with doxycycline (0/16; 95% confidence interval, 0%-0.2%; P = 0.63).

The implementation of express testing in an sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinic reduced the length of visit time compared with other visit types and increased the proportion of STIs diagnosed at clinic visits. Express testing did not impact the time to treatment for asymptomatic patients diagnosed as having an STI.