January 29, 2009

Unprotected Serodiscordant Sex Among MSM Ratchets Up in Sydney

An increased number of HIV-negative men who have sex with men (MSM) in Sydney are reporting having casual unprotected anal sex with HIV-positive partners, according to the online edition of AIDS and Behavior as reported by aidsmap.com.  However, researchers do not consider these men “a core group of high risk men.”

Analyzing data from two cohort studies among MSM in Sydney, Iryna Zablotska MD, PhD, and her colleagues from the University of New South Wales found that between 2003 and 2006, the number of HIV-negative men having sex with casual HIV-positive partners increased from 11 percent to 13 percent, while the number specifically having unprotected anal intercourse with those men rose from 3 percent to 4 percent.   

According to the article, researchers also found that while these results show a small but statistically significant increase in high-risk sexual activity, HIV diagnoses in Sydney have remained stable. They suggest that other risk reduction strategies—such as the negative man being the insertive partner or the positive partner practicing early withdrawal—are being employed.

Search: serodiscordant, MSM, insertive, Australia, Sydney

Scroll down to comment on this story.