HIV Infections Up 22% in 2 Years For Young Gay Guys - How did I miss that?

[rawTOP]

I just came across some articles from December about the rate of increase in HIV infections from 2008 to 2010. I was a little shocked to hear that HIV infections among 13-24 year old gay men are up 22% over those two years. That sounds like the infections are going up exponentially. Young black guys are 55% of that group despite the fact that black men are nowhere near 55% of the population.

Overall infections among gay men are up 12% - that's still double digits (though over two years).

Here's the PDF from the CDC...

http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/2012/hiv-infections-2007-2010.pdf

Some other interesting tidbits that they mentioned...

Although the analysis did not examine the factors driving the increases in young MSM, other studies indicate that individual risk behavior alone does not account for the disproportionate burden of HIV among young MSM. Other factors are likely at work, including: higher prevalence of HIV among MSM, which leads to a greater risk of HIV exposure with each sexual encounter; the high proportion of young MSM (especially young MSM of color) who are unaware of their infection, which increases the risk of unknowingly transmitting the virus to others; stigma and homophobia, which deter some from seeking HIV prevention services; barriers, such as lack of insurance and concerns about confidentiality, that result in less access to testing, care, and antiretroviral treatment; and high rates of some STDs, which can facilitate HIV transmission. Additionally, many young MSM may underestimate their personal risk for HIV.

So basically young gay guys (especially young black guys) underestimate the risk they're taking (or they're aware and don't care), and they don't get tested (possibly because they don't have access to healthcare), so they get infected and then spread it among the other young guys they have sex with. It's not that they're having more bareback sex than older guys, it's that the guys they're having bareback sex with don't know they're poz or don't care they're poz (and haven't gone on meds). And then as a greater percentage of the guys in their cohort become poz it means more and more risk.

If access to good healthcare is a big issue then it's not likely that these young guys are going to be going on PrEP any time soon - so this is just going to continue.

That data is 2+ years old. I suspect the trends have just continued and possibly gotten even more dramatic.

However, infections among black women are down substantially. That part is definitely good news since they often get it from guys who are on "the DL" and not telling the women that they're bisexual and getting fucked raw by guys.

[wood]

I just came across some articles from December about the rate of increase in HIV infections from 2008 to 2010. I was a little shocked to hear that HIV infections among 13-24 year old gay men are up 22% over those two years. That sounds like the infections are going up exponentially. Young black guys are 55% of that group despite the fact that black men are nowhere near 55% of the population.

So basically young gay guys (especially young black guys) underestimate the risk they're taking (or they're aware and don't care), and they don't get tested (possibly because they don't have access to healthcare), so they get infected and then spread it among the other young guys they have sex with. It's not that they're having more bareback sex than older guys, it's that the guys they're having bareback sex with don't know they're poz or don't care they're poz (and haven't gone on meds). And then as a greater percentage of the guys in their cohort become poz it means more and more risk.

I wish i could say I was surprised. Im mostly attracted to black men, and tend to top about 90% of the time. I'm neg and get tested very often, and usually aim for the same. I still use condoms a lot of the time however, and a lot of the guys I will fuck will want me to take it off, and fuck them raw. I know more than a few poz guys, but I have a feeling a lot of the guys just simply dont care, and dont get tested. If I had to take a personal guess I would say that many of them under estimate their risk, and take a person at face value if they say they are neg.