But, Uglee, it does exist and you know that it exist. That's why you keep trying to suppress it. Here you have it again, UG! Straight from the meth sucking, privates licking mouth of a "PlanetOut" homo: ------ U.S. data: HIV infects more gay men Christopher Curtis, PlanetOut Network Despite overall HIV infection rates remaining relatively stable in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday that infections among men who have love with men (MSM) continue to rise. According to the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which analyzes data from 32 U.S. states, HIV infections among MSM increased 11 percent between 2000 and 2003. The CDC held a press conference Wednesday, coinciding with World AIDS Day, during which Dr. Ronald O. Valdiserri, director of the CDC's HIV-AIDS prevention program, observed that an estimated 850,000-950,000 persons in the United States are living with HIV. The CDC believes out of that number, 180,000-280,000 do not know they are infected. Dr. Valdiserri claimed 40,000 people are infected each year with HIV, and that 44 percent of all diagnoses during 2000-2003 are MSM. But Valdiserri admitted with this latest round of figures that he was not certain whether the numbers came from increases in the outbreak of HIV, or simply more diagnoses. "As we are more successful in our efforts to reach out to these somewhere between 180,000 and 280,000 persons who are infected with HIV and don't know it, we would expect to see increased rates of HIV-AIDS diagnosis, which may not have anything to do with increasing rates of new infections," he said. But Valdiserri added that he could not say whether these latest numbers were due to testing or behavior. He added, "When we look at the trends in syphilis we are very concerned." Researchers at the CDC believe syphilis outbreaks not only show that risky behavior has taken place, but they also make those who have the disease more vulnerable to HIV infection. Earlier this week the CDC released national statistics about patterns of STD infections, including those among men who have love with men. Dr. Valdiserri said there was also a "tremendous concern about methamphetamine use in the gay and biloveual community." The use of the drug leads to unsafe activity and was actually linked to outbreaks of syphilis, he said. "We need to pay close attention to this population," Valdiserri said of MSM. "We need as a society to develop prevention strategies that are in keeping with 2004." In related news, nation's largest LGBT rights group issued a report card Wednesday giving the Bush administration a failing grade on HIV prevention. ----------------------------------------------------------------- How about a brief look north of the border: ------------------------------------------------------------------ Modelling the impact of HIV disease on mortality in gay and biloveual men. Hogg RS, Strathdee SA, Craib KJ, O'Shaughnessy MV, Montaner JS, Schechter MT. British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV-AIDS, St Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, Canada. OBJECTIVE: To buttess how HIV infection and AIDS (HIV-AIDS) impacts on mortality rates for gay and biloveual men. METHODS: Vital statistics data were obtained for a large Canadian urban centre from 1987 to 1992. Three scenarios were utilized with buttumed proportions of gay and biloveual men of 3%, 6% and 9% among the male population age 20 years. For each scenario, non-HIV rests were distributed according to the buttumed proportion of the total population (3%, 6% or 9%) but 95% of HIV rests were distributed to gay and biloveual men as this is the proportion of AIDS cases in gay and biloveual men in this centre. The main outcome measures of interest were age-specific patterns of rest, life expectancy and life expectancy lost due to HIV-AIDS at exact age 20 years, and the probability of living from age 20 to 65 years. RESULTS: Estimates of the mid-period gay and biloveual population ranged from 5406 to 16,219 for the three scenarios, and total rests in these men from 953 to 1703. Age-specific mortality was significantly higher for gay and biloveual men than all men aged 30-44. Life expectancy at age 20 for gay and biloveual men ranged from 34.0 years to 46.3 years for the 3% and 9% scenarios respectively. These were all lower than the 54.3 year life expectancy at age 20 for all men. The probability of living from age 20 to 65 years for gay and biloveual men ranged from 32% for the 3% scenario, to 59% for the 9% scenario. These figures were considerably lower than for all men where the probability of living from 20 to 65 was 78%. CONCLUSION: In a major Canadian centre, life expectancy at age 20 years for gay and biloveual men is 8 to 20 years less than for all men. If the same pattern of mortality were to continue, we estimate that nearly half of gay and biloveual men currently aged 20 years will not reach their 65th birthday. Under even the most liberal buttumptions, gay and biloveual men in this urban centre are now experiencing a life expectancy similar to that experienced by all men in Canada in the year 1871. PMID: 9222793 PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE
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