Sunday, July 6, 2008

UB2 and you


If declining to have sex with men who are HIV positive reduces your risk by a small percentage, feel free.  I'm not sure what I would do in your position, so I make no judgements. 

When drugs, especially methamphetamine are involved, I don't know what all is going on, but I have heard some HIV doctors speculate that 80% of the new infections they see in gay men are related to meth use. If you're using meth, the risk is so high for getting HIV that worrying about a partner's status is almost silly.

About a third of men with HIV are totally unaware of their status, and some of these are recent infections.  These men who may honestly believe that they are negative, are the biggest danger, as they have the highest viral levels in the blood, and possibly they semen.  These contacts will not identify themselves as "positive" and they are the highest risk.    Tracking the contacts of the acutely infected proves this.  The acutely infected are the most likely to transmit HIV to the HIV negative.

In both settings, new infection and meth use (and these groups travel together, frequently) asking men if they are positive or negative, is a pretty useless strategy, especially if you also assume that everyone not only knows the score, but tells the truth, too.

Another third of HIV positive men is aware of status, but not on treatment.  It's probably a safe bet that many of these men have been infected for months to years.  They are controlling HIV with their immune systems alone, and while they have detectable viral loads, the levels of virus in the blood  and semen are not terribly high, and they are not a terribly high risk for transmission (though certainly not zero risk), as long as "safer sex" rules are followed.

The remaining third of men who are aware of their HIV status, and who are on treatment, have low levels of HIV in the blood, and probably, but not definitely, pretty low levels of HIV in the semen, as well.   This makes theme even lower risk of spreading HIV, but the risk is not zero.  The  presence of other sexually transmitted diseases, and whether that person is a top or bottom certainly do affect the risk of infection, too.   Practicing "safer" sex remains an important part of a harm reduction strategy, too.

Make your choices, and do what you will.......

but please take care of yourself.

and please, try to be respectful of others.

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