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STD jump in gay men tied to drugs
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Web playing role in latest cases, researchers say
David Wahlberg
Cox News Service
Mar. 14, 2004 12:00 AM
The drugs methamphetamine and Viagra as well as the Internet appear to be fueling recent increases in HIV and syphilis among gay men, complicating efforts to reduce both diseases.
Some of those factors also are associated with gonorrhea, for which drug-resistant strains are rapidly emerging among gay men, researchers say.
And while syphilis and gonorrhea rates are down among heterosexuals, the rise in HIV among African-Americans serves as a reminder diseases often don't stay cloistered in certain g
oups.
"It also should wake people up in the general community," said Dr. Kenneth Mayer of Fenway Community Health in Boston. "They may be impacted by these increases over the next few
r
year
s."
The new findings about sexually transmitted diseases,
along with Mayer's warning, came last week at the National STD Prevention Conference in Philadelphia, co-sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Reports of HIV among gay men have increased 17 percent since 1999, after more than a decade of decline in AIDS cases. Syphilis rates, which dropped steadily among Americans during the 1990s, have gone up the past three years, and men who have sex with men account for nearly two-thirds of new cases.
Researchers say "AIDS fatigue" and the awareness of new treatments for HIV have led some men to become careless about sex. New studies suggest that drugs and the Internet also play a role, and that new programs must be implemented to combat the w
idening range of risk factors.
"Efforts on multiple fronts, with community involvement all along the way, is critical," said Gordon Mansergh, a CDC behavioral scientist.
About
16
to 17 perce
nt of gay men at STD clinics in some cities use methamphetamine, researchers found.
In a Sa
n Francisco study, gay men who used meth were twice as likely to have unprotected sex. Those taking Viagra, which sustains an erection, were almost seven times as likely not to use condoms.
In a separate study in San Francisco, gay men who used meth and Viagra were six times as likely to have syphilis.
Another study found that gay men using meth were more than three times as likely to have HIV.
"Methamphetamine use in gay men is an extraordinarily powerful determinant of HIV infection," said Hunter Handsfield, director of the STD control program at the Seattle/ King County Health Department.
Nearly a fourth of gay men with early-stage syphilis in Los Ang
eles had met sex partners on the Internet, and gay men with syphilis in San Diego were much less likely than straight men to have contact information for their partners, making it more diffic
ult to
notify them to get t
ested, other studies said.
Men who used the Internet to find sex partners were more likely to have HIV and have
anonymous sex.
Researchers also found that gay men with HIV have higher rates of syphilis and gonorrhea.
Gonorrhea is becoming more difficult to treat, with cases among gay men in Seattle increasingly resistant to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin.
That is a problem that could easily jump to the general population, said Dr. Ron Valdiserri, deputy director of the CDC's National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/n.../0314std14.html
STD jump in gay men tied to drugs
advertisement
Web playing role in latest cases, researchers say
David Wahlberg
Cox News Service
Mar. 14, 2004 12:00 AM
The drugs methamphetamine and Viagra as well as the Internet appear to be fueling recent increases in HIV and syphilis among gay men, complicating efforts to reduce both diseases.
Some of those factors also are associated with gonorrhea, for which drug-resistant strains are rapidly emerging among gay men, researchers say.
And while syphilis and gonorrhea rates are down among heterosexuals, the rise in HIV among African-Americans serves as a reminder diseases often don't stay cloistered in certain g
oups.
"It also should wake people up in the general community," said Dr. Kenneth Mayer of Fenway Community Health in Boston. "They may be impacted by these increases over the next few
r
year
s."
The new findings about sexually transmitted diseases,
along with Mayer's warning, came last week at the National STD Prevention Conference in Philadelphia, co-sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Reports of HIV among gay men have increased 17 percent since 1999, after more than a decade of decline in AIDS cases. Syphilis rates, which dropped steadily among Americans during the 1990s, have gone up the past three years, and men who have sex with men account for nearly two-thirds of new cases.
Researchers say "AIDS fatigue" and the awareness of new treatments for HIV have led some men to become careless about sex. New studies suggest that drugs and the Internet also play a role, and that new programs must be implemented to combat the w
idening range of risk factors.
"Efforts on multiple fronts, with community involvement all along the way, is critical," said Gordon Mansergh, a CDC behavioral scientist.
About
16
to 17 perce
nt of gay men at STD clinics in some cities use methamphetamine, researchers found.
In a Sa
n Francisco study, gay men who used meth were twice as likely to have unprotected sex. Those taking Viagra, which sustains an erection, were almost seven times as likely not to use condoms.
In a separate study in San Francisco, gay men who used meth and Viagra were six times as likely to have syphilis.
Another study found that gay men using meth were more than three times as likely to have HIV.
"Methamphetamine use in gay men is an extraordinarily powerful determinant of HIV infection," said Hunter Handsfield, director of the STD control program at the Seattle/ King County Health Department.
Nearly a fourth of gay men with early-stage syphilis in Los Ang
eles had met sex partners on the Internet, and gay men with syphilis in San Diego were much less likely than straight men to have contact information for their partners, making it more diffic
ult to
notify them to get t
ested, other studies said.
Men who used the Internet to find sex partners were more likely to have HIV and have
anonymous sex.
Researchers also found that gay men with HIV have higher rates of syphilis and gonorrhea.
Gonorrhea is becoming more difficult to treat, with cases among gay men in Seattle increasingly resistant to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin.
That is a problem that could easily jump to the general population, said Dr. Ron Valdiserri, deputy director of the CDC's National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/n.../0314std14.html