Dr. Peter Saxton Gay and bi men who hook up online for sex are much more likely to have HIV than others, worrying new research from Otago University has found. Overall the just-released research found that one in fifteen gay and bi men has HIV, whether they know it or not. But those who meet up on line or have a higher number of sex partners are more likely to have contracted HIV, with as many as one in ten infected. However, one in five gay and bi men infected with HIV don't even know they have the debilitating virus, which can lead to AIDS. The data has emerged from the Get It Wet study conducted a year ago in which over a thousand men who have sex with men provided anonymous saliva samples for HIV testing and answered an accompanying questionnaire anonymously. Overall the study found that 6.5% of gay and bi men in the Auckland area have HIV but this figure rises to 9.4% of men who hook up online. For men with more than six or even twenty sex partners over six months the infection rate is almost 10%. "HIV prevalence was higher in some groups, such as men who had over 20 recent sexual partners and men who'd recently met a sexual partner online," says lead researcher Dr. Peter Saxton, a world-respected HIV epidemic researcher. "Now if these men tend to mix sexually with guys who are like themselves - for example highly sexually active guys preferring other highly sexually active guys as partners - then it can create clusters of infection because the chance of encountering HIV with each pairing is simply higher." This current trend has a parallel with the early days of the HIV epidemic. "Essentially this is what we saw happen in the 1980s," says Saxton. "HIV had burned through tightly-knit groups of gay men like the leather scene because of a combination of sexual adventurism, which increased HIV risk, and strong within-group partnering." The NZ AIDS Foundation, which helped fund the research, says sexually active gay and bi men should get tested for HIV regularly but the bottom line is that the surging HIV epidemic will only be controlled if men who have sex with men commit to using condoms and lube for anal sex. You can discuss this New Zealand gay community news story in the GayNZ.com Forum.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 4th February 2012 - 10:33pm