Striking shift seen among newly HIV-infected men regarding partners

New data from six U.S. sites show a dramatic shift by men acutely infected with HIV to choose to have unprotected intercourse only with other HIV-infected partners.

“While the findings showed condom use was up and the number of partners was down, the most startling effect was seen in men choosing to have unprotected intercourse almost exclusively with other HIV-infected individuals. This reflects a systematic shift by men, most of whom are gay, following HIV infection to behaviors that protect their sex partners,” said lead author, Wayne Steward, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine at UCSF’s Center for AIDS Prevention Studies.

The findings, presented today (December 5) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta, were from clinics that enroll newly HIV-infected study participants in San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, New Haven, San Diego, and Providence. Over 90 percent of the 27 participants in this study were men who have sex with men.

The research showed that the men prior to HIV infection had unprotected intercourse acts with HIV-negative or HIV-unknown partners almost 75 percent of the time. Following diagnosis with acute HIV infection, they sharply altered their behavior to having unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse 97 percent of the time with other HIV-infected individuals.

Acute infection is the one-month period immediately following HIV infection when individuals tend to have the highest levels of HIV circulating in their blood, making them much more likely to infect a partner with HIV during unprotected intercourse.

“If all you are doing is counting condom usage, you are missing a powerful risk reduction strategy that is actually taking place. In addition, this study highlights the importance of identifying acute or recent HIV infections, so that this partner selection strategy can be implemented at the critical juncture when individuals are most infectious and when our data show they engage in behaviors reflecting strong motivation to avoid infecting someone else,” said Steward.

Source: University of California - San Francisco

Related stories:

ACP recommends routine HIV screening for all patients
On World AIDS Day, the American College of Physicians (ACP) is giving doctors a call-to-action to routinely encourage HIV screening to all of their patients older than 13 years. This new practice guideline appears on the Annals of Internal Medicine Web site at www.annals.org.
Indonesia's vast Papua in the grip of Asia's worst AIDS crisis
Gaunt and covered in sores, 20-year-old Christina Mabele is a rarity in the ballooning AIDS crisis that has hit the remote Papua region in eastern Indonesia: she knows why she is sick.
More at-risk teens and young adults engaging in anal intercourse
A new study by researchers at the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center suggests that the incidence of heterosexual anal sex is increasing among teens and young adults – particularly those who have recently had unprotected vaginal sex. These findings mirror recent data that show anal sex rates among adults doubled between the years 1995 and 2004.
Study examines repeated exposure to HIV in treatment-suppressed HIV patients
A new study looking at unprotected intercourse within gay couples when each partner has established HIV-infection found a correlation between anti-HIV immune response and sexual activity.
Looking past the 'down low:' New research
The popular media in the U.S. have focused too much on moral issues surrounding black bisexual men who do not disclose their same-sex behaviors to female lovers, otherwise known as men "on the Down Low," with this focus creating a stigma that interferes with effective public health strategies, says Indiana University sexual health expert Brian Dodge.
Behavioral intervention works to reduce risky behavior
In an effort to curb the rising rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) along the Mexico-US border, a binational team of researchers led by the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown that brief but personalized behavioral counseling significantly reduced rates and improved condom use among female sex workers in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Women in India abused by husbands at far greater risk for HIV infection
India is home to the third-largest number of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases in the world and, as in the U.S. and many African nations, the rate of infection among women continues to rise faster than that among men. In a new study, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have found that married Indian women who experienced physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their husbands were approximately four times more likely to become infected with HIV than married women who were not abused. This first large-scale, national study to examine the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) against wives and clinically verified HIV infection appears in the August 13, 2008 issue of JAMA.
Study offers new insight on HIV transmission risk of men who have sex with men
Approximately half of all new HIV infections in the United States result from the sexual risk behaviors of men who have sex with men. Now, a new study led by a researcher at The Miriam Hospital provides additional insight into which of these men are most likely to transmit HIV to others, potentially paving the way for the development of more targeted prevention programs.

News discussion:

Medicine & Health news