Risky sexual behavior fuels HIV increase

[The Straight Story]

Risky sexual behavior fuels HIV increase

NEW YORK, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Risky sexual behavior among men having sex with men under age 30 is a major contributor to the rise in HIV diagnoses, New York City health officials say.

The number of new human immunodeficiency virus diagnoses in New York City has not changed significantly in recent years -- about 4,000 -- but the number and proportion of new diagnoses among men who have sex with men continues to increase, health officials say.

Preliminary numbers suggest that men having sex with men accounted for 42 percent of the city's new HIV diagnoses last year, up from 37 percent four years earlier, the study said.

For men ages 13-29 years old, this rising proportion reflects a rapid increase in actual infections from 551 in 2004 to 706 in a partial count for 2008.

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2009/12/02/Risky-sexual-behavior-fuels-HIV-increase/UPI-78071259732249/

[pnwmom]

1. "Men" aged 13 years? This is statutory rape, if the partner isn't a kid, too. n/t