Some of these infections, such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes, LGV and syphilis, can only be transmitted through sexual contact. Women who have a gonorrhea or chlamydia infection of the cervix can develop proctitis when infected secretions travel to the anal area. Many of the other infections are most common among men and women who engage in anal intercourse or in oral-anal contact, a practice called rimming. Some of these infections are also very common among travelers, who acquire them by eating improperly prepared food. We do not have reliable information about how many of the people who are diagnosed with these infections each year have acquired them through sexual contact, but we do know that in the era of HIV the practice of safer sex among men who have sex with other men has led to a decrease in the prevalence of the infections in this group.

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