HIV Infection Diagnoses on the Rise in Young Homosexual Men

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 26, 2018 — Among men who have sex with men (MSM), the change in the annual number of HIV diagnoses from 2008 to 2016 varies with age, according to research published in the Sept. 21 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Andrew Mitsch, M.P.H., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed National HIV Surveillance System data for MSM aged ≥13 years by age group in 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The researchers found that the annual number of diagnoses of HIV infection increased 3 percent per year among MSM aged 13 to 29 years, decreased 4 percent per year among those aged 30 to 49 years, and remained stable among those aged ≥50 years during 2008 to 2016. Among MSM aged 13 to 29 years, the number of HIV diagnoses was four times that of MSM aged ≥50 years. During 2008 to 2015, there was an average increase of 11 percent in the number of MSM aged ≥50 years living with diagnosed HIV infection per year; at year-end 2015, prevalence was three times that of MSM aged 13 to 29 years. Racial/ethnic disparities in HIV persisted; 49 percent of all diagnoses in MSM aged 13 to 29 years were among younger black men.

“Sexually active MSM at risk for HIV infection should be tested at least once a year,” the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text

Posted: September 2018

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