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Gay Health News: A recent study has shown that young, gay, white men are significantly contributing to the spread of HIV in Europe.
Men infected had more STIs
Young, gay, white men spreading HIV
Research by scientists at Ghent University in Belgium seem to prove that messages about safer sex are not getting through to a sub set of the gay community.
Five hundred people of all sexualities and nationalities who had been diagnosed with HIV over the past nine years were examined, in an attempt to identify local factors leading to their infection.
The virus was broken down into two “subtypes” – subtype HIV1 B which is associated with men who have sex with men, and subtype HIV1 non-B which is associated with sub-Saharan Africa.
The majority of newly-infected cases were of subtype B – gay or bisexual men. Those infected with subtype non-B were largely heterosexual, with the virus being acquired abroad.
The men infected with subtype B also had more chlamydia and syphilis infections than the rest of the population, suggesting that they were more likely to practise unsafe sex without condoms.
It seems likely that these statistics are reflected in the UK where it is estimated that 45,000 men who have sex with men are living with HIV, more than half of whom are under 35.
