{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T22:12:45Z","timestamp":1790719965199,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,24]],"date-time":"2022-08-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1661299200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006254","name":"Ruhr-Universit\u00e4t Bochum","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006254","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Aims<\/jats:title><jats:p>Since 2017, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) care has been provided through an intersectoral collaboration at WIR (Walk-in-Ruhr, Center for Sexual Health and Medicine, Bochum, Germany). The aim of this study was to establish possible impact of COVID-restrictions on the sexual behavior of PrEP users in North Rhine-Westphalia.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>The current PrEP study collected data of individuals using PrEP, their sexual behavior and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) before (each quarter of year 2018) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (each quarter of year 2020).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>During the first lockdown in Germany from mid-March until May 2020, PrEP-care appointments at WIR were postponed or canceled. Almost a third of PrEP users had discontinued their PrEP intake in the 2<jats:sup>nd<\/jats:sup> quarter of 2020 due to alteration of their sexual behavior. The number of sexual partners decreased from a median of 14 partners in the previous 6 months in 1<jats:sup>st<\/jats:sup> quarter of 2020, to 7 partners in 4<jats:sup>th<\/jats:sup> quarter of 2020. Despite such a significant reduction in partner number during the pandemic in comparison to the pre-pandemic period, a steady rate of STIs was observed among PrEP users in 2020.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The SARS-CoV-2-pandemic has impacted PrEP-using MSM in North Rhine-Westphalia with respect to their PrEP intake regimen and sexual behavior in 2020. Our study revealed a steady rate of STI among PrEP users even during the pandemic, thus highlighting the importance of ensuring appropriate HIV\/STI prevention services in times of crisis.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2022.930208","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,24]],"date-time":"2022-08-24T08:58:41Z","timestamp":1661331521000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: Results from a prospective observational study in Germany"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"M.","family":"Uhrmacher","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"A.","family":"Skaletz-Rorowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"S.","family":"Nambiar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"A. 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