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Thu, May. 17th, 2007, 11:38 am
HIV/AIDS among Men Who Have Sex with Men

The CDC has issued a new report on HIV/AIDS among gay/bisexual men in the US, with data up to 2005.


Some tidbits:

  • Since the beginning of the epidemic, an estimated 300,669 MSM (260,749 MSM and 39,920 MSM who inject drugs) with AIDS had died, accounting for 68% of male adults and adolescents with AIDS who had died and 57% of all people with AIDS who had died.

  • Through its National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system, CDC found that 25% of the MSM surveyed in 5 large US cities were infected with HIV and 48% of those infected were unaware of their infections.

  • In a recent CDC study of young MSM, 77% of those who tested HIV-positive mistakenly believed that they were not infected. Young black MSM in this study were more likely to be unaware of their infection―approximately 9 of 10 young black MSM compared with 6 of 10 young white MSM. Of the men who tested positive, most (74%) had previously tested negative for HIV infection, and 59% believed that they were at low or very low risk.

It also mentions "complacency" (due to HAART therapy), the impact of Meth/X/poppers/etc on sexual decision making, and how the internet leads to a lot of risky hookups. It's sobering - check it out.

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