|
Van Der Bij, A., Stolte, I., Coutinho, R., & Dukers, N. (2005). Sexually
Transmitted Infections, (81(1), 34-37.
Synopsis
At a Municipal Health Service clinic in Amsterdam, HIV and sexually transmitted
infection (STI) incidence increased among men who have sex with men (MSM).
While HIV increased mostly among MSM age 35 and older, rectal gonorrhea rates
increased mainly in younger MSM.
The current study investigated the divergence in STI and HIV trends among
HIV-negative MSM age 30 and younger from 1984 until 2002. The study involved
863 MSM enrolled in the Amsterdam Cohort Studies (ACS) from 1984 on who
attended at least one of six monthly follow-up ACS visits at which they
completed a questionnaire. The survey asked whether participants had
experienced episodes of gonorrhea and syphilis, and the men were tested for
syphilis and HIV. Annual HIV and STI incidence trends and risk factors were
analyzed using Poisson regression.
The mean age of participants was 25 years, and median follow-up time was four
years. Trends in HIV and STI incidence were concurrent until 1995, when there
was a significant increase in syphilis (0 to 1.4/100 person years) and
gonorrhea incidence (1.1 to 6.0/100 person years), but no change in HIV
incidence (1.1 and 1.3/100 person years).
"The incidence of syphilis and gonorrhoea has increased among young homosexual
men since 1995, while HIV incidence has remained stable," the study authors
concluded. "Increasing STI incidence underscores the potential for HIV spread
among young homosexual men. However, several years of increasing STIs without
HIV, makes the relation between STI incidence and HIV transmission a subject
for debate."
Source
http://sti.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/81/1/34
|