Emergency doctors warn: “Protection against new sexual practices must be increased”

In this sense, the organization has pointed out that ‘chemsex’ is a growing phenomenon, which occurs basically in large cities, and that it is associated with risky practices that can facilitate the transmission of HIV and other STIs, in addition to causing serious problems. cardiovascular or mental health. Chemsex is considered the intentional use of drugs, mainly stimulants and dissociative drugs, to have sexual relations for a long period of time (which can last from several hours to several days). When some of these drugs are used intravenously, they are called ‘slamming’. According to experts, today this practice leads to an increased risk of infections in proportions similar to those of the past, with the terrible epidemic secondary to intravenous heroin use. “There is a wide variety of drugs used in the practice of ‘chemsex’, some of them are more frequently consumed in this area, such as gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHL/GBL), cocaine, mephedrone and methamphetamine, ‘poppers ‘ (inhaled use of amyl, butyl or isobutyl nitrites), ketamine, and drugs used for erectile dysfunction: the combination of some of these drugs produces disinhibition and sexual stimulation. In this context, it is common for unprotected sex to be practiced with different sexual partners and the risk of contracting STIs, such as HIV, increases”, said the coordinator of the SEMES Toxicology Group, Guillermo Burillo. In fact, in the words of the expert, about 30% of HIV-positive patients practice ‘chemsex’, while ‘slamming’ occurs in 16 percent of them: it is estimated that the practice of chemsex can triple the risk HIV infection and up to double the risk of STIs such as chlamydia and gonorrhea, and is associated with 80% of HIV seroconversions. On the other hand, an increase in the consumption of drugs known as NPS (novel psychoactive substances), easily accessible on the Internet and barely detectable in hospitals, has been detected in ‘chemsex’ practices. Substances that, alone or in combination with other drugs, have clinical consequences that are not yet well known, but are worrying from an organic point of view.