The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) continues to severely affect men who have sex with other men (MSM), far more than any other population group.
Now, new data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that the HIV epidemic is growing exponentially among MSM , and remaining stable among heterosexuals, so new strategies to reduce risky sexual behaviors among young people gay and bisexual people with HIV would be necessary to reduce new infections, according to a new study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics .
And it is that young men (aged between 13-29 years) with detectable levels of the human immunodeficiency virus (that is, whose amount of virus in the blood is high enough to be reliably detected) who have sex with men, they are more likely to have anal sex without a condom, although the couple no longer carry the virus, which increases their vulnerability, since this sector represents more than 25% of new infections in the United States, and more than 70% of all new HIV infections among young people.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers examined the differences in demographic and psychosocial factors between YMSM ( Young Men that have Sex with Men ) and 991 young people between 15-26 years of age who attended the Comprehensive Attention Center (CAI) during the period 2009-2012.
More than half of the YMSM (54.7%) had detectable HIV and among the risky sexual behaviors that led to this percentage, anal intercourse without a condom, with or without knowledge on the part of the sexual partner, was included.
“ Greater prevention is needed that includes behavioral, biomedical and structural strategies to increase viral suppression and reduce risk behaviors for HIV transmission. To really stop the incidence of HIV among young men who have sex with men, we cannot rely exclusively on a single strategy to prevent and treat HIV, ”explains Patrick A. Wilson, leader of the study.
