LA porn stars have significantly higher rates of sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) than legal prostitutes in Nevada, according to a report published Tuesday.
A study of 168 adult industry actors in Los Angeles County found that 28 percent, or 47 actors, tested positive for either gonorrhea or chlamydia or both.
The report said that in the adult industry, "Undiagnosed asymptomatic ... STIs were common and are likely reservoirs for transmission to sexual partners inside and outside the workplace." The study was conducted in 2010 and written by six public health experts affiliated with the LA County Department of Public Health, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and UCLA.
About condom use in the industry, the report said, "Few participants reported using condoms consistently while performing or with their personal sex partners."
The STD rate among porn actors is significantly higher than among legal prostitutes in Nevada, said the report, because Nevada law requires that prostitutes wear condoms and be tested weekly for disease.
Since those rules for Nevada brothels went into effect in 1988, the report said, there have been no cases of HIV infection and a negligible rate of STDs, the Los Angeles Times reports.
In contrast, just since 2004, there have been eight HIV cases among adult film performers. In 2011, porn production halted for nearly a week after an actor tested positive for HIV. In August of this year, there was a 10-day moratorium on porn filming because of a syphilis outbreak among actors.
The report published Tuesday warned of the health consequences of contracting STDs. According to the report, "Repeated and chronic infection with [sexually transmitted infections] can lead to infertility, chronic pelvic pain and ectopic pregnancies, and can facilitate HIV infection," KTLA reports.
The report recommended that condom use be enforced among porn performers. On Tuesday, Angelenos will vote on ballot Measure B, which would require porn actors to wear condoms.
Many in the porn industry say that condoms are unnecessary because the industry already conducts regular STD checks and that prolonged condom use causes chafing, tearing and increased risk of diease. They also say that condoms would hurt their profit and drive the industry either out of LA or underground, creating even more unsafe conditions. Some producers have threatened to move production -- and thousands of jobs -- to Nevada if the measure passes.
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