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Tourists Bring Sex Diseases Back with Souvenirs
Reuters ^ | July 22, 2004 | Pat Reaney

Posted on 07/22/2004 8:38:28 PM PDT by missyme

LONDON (Reuters) - Young travelers and sex tourists are returning from exotic locations with more than just tans and souvenirs. For some, infections such as syphilis and HIV are lingering reminders of a holiday romance.

"A large proportion of people are having sexual intercourse with new partners when they go abroad...and are putting themselves at risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs)," said Dr Karen Rogstad of the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, England.

In a report published in the British Medical Journal on Friday, Rogstad reviewed research studies on STIs and searched global health Web Sites and others that could be expected to provide information about traveling to other countries.

"Travel abroad seems to be responsible for a small but increasingly important proportion of acute STIs in the United Kingdom," she said.

In one study of heterosexual men in Britain, 21 percent of syphilis infections were from sexual contacts abroad and 9 percent of gonorrhea sufferers had had sex in a foreign country in the previous three months.

"Between 2000 and 2002, 69 percent of United Kingdom born men with heterosexually acquired HIV were infected through sex while abroad, as were a quarter of women. Of these men, 22 percent were probably infected in Thailand," Rogstad said.

Young people under 25 years old face a high risk of bringing home more than they had expected from a holiday abroad because foreign tourists are often perceived as easy prey, alcohol may cloud their judgment and there is an increasing use of the date rape drug Rohypnol.

But Rogstad said sex tourists who traveled abroad with the intention of having sex faced the ultimate holiday gamble.

"A study of male German sex tourists in Thailand showed that most were aged 30-40 and single, with a well-paid job. Of these, 30-40 percent used condoms," she added.

Only about three percent of travel brochures contain advice on safe sex and few companies supply information about the risk tourists face, according to the research.

"More worrying is tour operators' encouragement of sex with new partners by presenting prizes," she added.

Rogstad believes educating travelers about the risks they may face abroad and supplying information when tourists book their holidays or receive medical treatment before leaving could help to reduce the problem.

"Prevention advice should be offered to all people going on holiday but particularly those going to the developing world," she added.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: std

1 posted on 07/22/2004 8:38:29 PM PDT by missyme
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To: missyme

Those sex tourists are frequenting establishments where women and children are held as sex slaves. The most charitable thing I can say is that I have no sympathy.


2 posted on 07/22/2004 8:42:10 PM PDT by Canticle_of_Deborah
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To: Canticle_of_Deborah
Yeah, Those Londeners have to watch those vacations to San Francisco!
3 posted on 07/22/2004 8:46:30 PM PDT by Viet-Boat-Rider (Kerry Lied)
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To: missyme

Dumbasses.


4 posted on 07/22/2004 8:49:47 PM PDT by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all)
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To: Viet-Boat-Rider
A study of male German sex tourists in Thailand showed that most were aged 30-40 and single, with a well-paid job. Of these, 30-40 percent used condoms," she added.

Eastern Europe and SE Asia are among the worst offenders for sex slavery which is found in every nation including Europe and the United States. I'm afraid I don't find the subject amusing.

5 posted on 07/22/2004 8:51:50 PM PDT by Canticle_of_Deborah
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To: missyme

I remember a SNL commercial called "Bad Idea Jeans". It was a bunch of dim-witted guys standing around in their Bad Idea jeans talking about stuff like remodeling their rented apartments and other "bad ideas". One guy was pondering taking a sex vacation to Haiti (this was the early days of AIDS when it was thought to have originated in Haiti).


6 posted on 07/22/2004 8:52:44 PM PDT by randog
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To: Viet-Boat-Rider

And don't forget Palm Springs!


7 posted on 07/22/2004 8:54:26 PM PDT by missyme
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To: randog

"I figured, 'Hey, when am I ever going to be back in Haiti.'"


8 posted on 07/22/2004 9:03:46 PM PDT by Semaphore Heathcliffe
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To: Semaphore Heathcliffe

That's it!


9 posted on 07/22/2004 9:05:39 PM PDT by randog (What the....?!)
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To: Canticle_of_Deborah

So this says that 60 to 70% of Germans apparently have some kind of death wish if they choose to have unprotected sex in a cesspool of AIDS and STDs.


10 posted on 07/22/2004 9:11:26 PM PDT by Kirkwood
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To: randog

I remember that commercial spoof; "So I didn't use a condom, but I figure, hey when's the next time I'm gonna be in Haiti?"


11 posted on 07/22/2004 9:17:09 PM PDT by elmer fudd
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To: missyme

,,, nature has it's own way of taking care of the gene pool.


12 posted on 07/22/2004 9:24:01 PM PDT by shaggy eel
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To: missyme
SNL, 1991:

Yeah, sure, I was gonna wear a condom, but then I thought "Hey, when am I ever gonna be in Haiti again?"

13 posted on 07/22/2004 9:25:38 PM PDT by Petronski (Nobody "inadvertently" takes sensitive docs in their pants.)
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To: randog

GMTA! Fabulous.


14 posted on 07/22/2004 9:26:24 PM PDT by Petronski (Nobody "inadvertently" takes sensitive docs in their pants.)
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To: randog

"Sure, I don't know the guy, but hey: he needs a kidney and I have two."


15 posted on 07/22/2004 9:29:49 PM PDT by Petronski (Nobody "inadvertently" takes sensitive docs in their pants.)
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To: missyme

They don't call the flight back home from Southeast Asia "The Chlamydia Clipper" for nothing.


16 posted on 07/22/2004 10:28:34 PM PDT by coydog (End Single-Party rule in Canada!)
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