Sexual relations while travelling

It is common for travellers to have sexual relations with new partners during their stay in a foreign country, sometimes without protection, which carries a risk of catching sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as HIV, syphilis and gonorrhoea, amongst others.  

The majority of these diseases are curable, but others can cause serious health problems and have long-term consequences.  

Men aged between 20-30 years and those who have sex with men are the groups most often affected by STDs acquired during travel, although everyone is at risk if they do not take adequate preventative measures, as STDs are present across the whole world.  

Travellers may be at increased risk due to the fact that they sometimes engage in risky behaviour that they wouldn’t normally do at home. Furthermore, some of these diseases are widespread in certain tropical countries, as is the case with HIV or viric hepatitis.  

There are effective vaccines available against hepatitis B, hepatitis A and infection by human papillomavirus, all of which are transmittable by sex, which may be recommended in certain cases. They do not replace the recommendation to use a condom under any circumstances, as they do not protect against other STDs.