44% of HIV-Positive Gay Londoners Do Not Know They Are Infected
Taurus
05-05-2007, 12:40 PM
[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/aidsribbon.jpg[/img2](London) More than a third of British gay men who are HIV-positive do not know it and are continuing to have unprotected sex according to a study published Tuesday in a prestigious medical journal.
Researchers asked men in bathhouses, gay bars and clubs in three English cities - London, Manchester and Brighton - on their sexual practices.
They asked some 3,600 patrons to fill out questionnaires and took saliva samples from more than 2300 men to test for HIV.
The study, published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, shows that the highest rate of HIV infection in gay men in Brighton - at almost 14 percent. Manchester was lowest at about nine percent.
But the most surprising fact for the researchers was the high number of gay men who did not know they were HIV-positive.
Forty-four percent of those who tested positive in London did not previously know they were infected. In Brighton, one in three did not know they were positive.
Even more surprising - more than two thirds of those who were positive but did not know had been to a sexual health clinic within the past year.
The authors of the report said in detailing the statistics that despite the availability of treatment and a national policy to promote HIV testing, a significant proportion of infection remains undiagnosed.
They called for renewed efforts to be made to boost diagnosis and educate gay men about risky sex.
Researchers asked men in bathhouses, gay bars and clubs in three English cities - London, Manchester and Brighton - on their sexual practices.
They asked some 3,600 patrons to fill out questionnaires and took saliva samples from more than 2300 men to test for HIV.
The study, published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, shows that the highest rate of HIV infection in gay men in Brighton - at almost 14 percent. Manchester was lowest at about nine percent.
But the most surprising fact for the researchers was the high number of gay men who did not know they were HIV-positive.
Forty-four percent of those who tested positive in London did not previously know they were infected. In Brighton, one in three did not know they were positive.
Even more surprising - more than two thirds of those who were positive but did not know had been to a sexual health clinic within the past year.
The authors of the report said in detailing the statistics that despite the availability of treatment and a national policy to promote HIV testing, a significant proportion of infection remains undiagnosed.
They called for renewed efforts to be made to boost diagnosis and educate gay men about risky sex.
Note: No trees were destroyed in the sending of this contaminant free message. However, I do concede, a significant number of electrons may have been inconvenienced.
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