A surge in “chemsex” parties, where people spend days getting high on drugs and having sex with scores of partners, is re-fuelling epidemics of HIV among gay men in European towns and cities, doctors say.

Axar.az reports citing Reuters that despite much higher risks of contracting the virus that causes AIDS, as well as other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), users search online “hook-up” apps like Grindr for tags such as “high and horny” or “party and play” to find others wanting drug-heightened and often anonymous and unprotected sex. The result, AIDS experts say, is that in cities across Europe, HIV is spreading rapidly among men who have sex with men - leading to concentrated epidemics in hard-to-reach groups.

“Chemsex is very pervasive now - it’s a growing phenomenon,” said Rusi Jaspal, a professor of psychology and sexual health at De Montfort University in the British city of Leicester who has been studying the spread of HIV and the chemsex scene.

“It’s not just a UK thing,” he told that during the IAPAC conference. “It’s in Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Rome, Kiev, Moscow, Helsinki - and in many of what people call ‘gay destinations’, like (Spain’s) Ibiza, Torremolinos, the Canary Islands.”

“In this epidemic, we always have to be looking for what’s coming next that we’re not addressing,” she said. “And with PreP, we need to ensure we’re not missing people in the chemsex environment.”