JAAD flags emerging sexually transmissible pathogens beyond classic STIs

The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology will publish a review in its November 2026 issue, Volume 95, Issue 5, on sexually transmissible pathogens that fall outside the classic STI roster. Dermatologists Urmi Khanna, Sweta Subhadarshani and Anuradha Bishnoi authored the paper, titled "Beyond classical sexually transmitted infections: Emerging nontraditional sexually transmissible pathogens in modern sexual networks."

The framing matters for clinical practice. Where a typical STI workup targets gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis and HIV, this review directs attention to organisms clinicians may not associate with sexual transmission at all. The setting is what the authors call "modern sexual networks" — the behavioral and social structures through which these pathogens now travel.

For a dermatology audience, the stakes are diagnostic. Skin and mucous membranes are often the first site where these infections declare themselves. A patient presenting with anogenital or oral lesions may carry something no standard STI panel will catch. That gap between presentation and testing is where the authors position their contribution.

What does the review cover?

The paper surveys nontraditional sexually transmissible pathogens — organisms outside the canonical STI list — as they behave within contemporary sexual networks. The JAAD placement signals the journal's judgment that dermatologists need this material at reference depth, not as a footnote.

Three dermatologists from the field collaborated on the work:

• Urmi Khanna, lead author
• Sweta Subhadarshani, co-author
• Anuradha Bishnoi, co-author

The review's full pathogen list, case data and management recommendations appear in the print issue. Readers should treat this article as a publication notice; the underlying findings sit in the November 2026 volume itself.

Why does this land in a dermatology journal?

Skin signs drive STI detection more often than any other organ system. Syphilis earned dermatology's attention the same way. When transmissible pathogens emerge outside the usual suspects, the lesions frequently reach a dermatologist first — often before any sexual-history question gets asked.

That first-contact position carries risk. Miss the connection between a cutaneous finding and sexual transmission, and the patient leaves with a topical prescription and an untreated infection. The review's premise is that this scenario is becoming more common as pathogens circulate through networks clinicians don't automatically associate with STI risk.

What should clinicians watch for?

The title alone offers practical guidance. It tells clinicians to widen the differential when lesions appear in anogenital or oral distributions, and to resist anchoring on the classical organisms when the clinical picture doesn't fit. Sexual history-taking remains the cheapest diagnostic instrument available.

The "modern sexual networks" framing also hints at changing epidemiology. Pathogen spread follows behavior, and behavior has changed — through partner networks, drug-facilitated encounters and app-mediated contact. Reviews like this one translate those shifts into bedside terms.

The takeaway in plain words: the STI list dermatologists memorized in training is no longer complete, and JAAD is making sure the field knows it.

What comes next?

Full details — specific pathogens, their cutaneous presentations and treatment guidance — arrive with JAAD Volume 95, Issue 5 in November 2026. Clinicians who manage sexually active patients with mucocutaneous lesions will want the issue in hand before then, and Derm Field will follow the review's findings as they shape screening conversations in dermatology clinics.