One in 10 and 1 in 50 syphilis or gonorrhea diagnoses were followed by an human immunodeficiency virus diagnosis within 2 years among men who have sex with men and non–men who have sex with men males, respectively, in Baltimore City.
Baltimore, Maryland ranks among U.S. cities with the highest incidence of HIV infection among men who have sex with men (MSM). HIV screening at sex partner meeting places or venues frequented by MSM with new diagnoses and/or high HIV viral load may reduce transmission by identifying and linking infected individuals to care. We investigated venue-based clustering of newly diagnosed MSM to identify high HIV transmission venues. HIV surveillance data from MSM diagnosed between October 2012-June 2014 and reporting ≥1 sex partner meeting place were examined. Venue viral load was defined according to the geometric mean viral load of the cluster of cases that reported the venue and classified as high (>50,000 copies/mL), moderate (1500-50,000 copies/mL), and low (<1500 copies/mL). 143 MSM provided information on ≥1 sex partner meeting place, accounting for 132 unique venues. Twenty-six venues were reported by > 1 MSM; of these, a tightly connected cluster of six moderate viral load sex partner meeting places emerged, representing 66% of reports. Small, dense networks of moderate to high viral load venues may be important for targeted HIV control among MSM.
To determine effectiveness of alternate venue testing (AVT), social network strategy (SNS) and provider referral (PR) for identifying previously undiagnosed HIV-infected 18-64-year-old African American men who have sex with men (AA MSM) by a health department. For AVT, staff used a mobile clinic to conduct HIV testing. For PR, staff solicited contact information from HIV-infected AA MSM, located contacts and offered HIV testing. For SNS, HIV-positive AA MSM recruited network associates for HIV testing. Two hundred and eighteen self-identified AA MSM were tested through AVT (25.2% HIV positivity) of whom 20 were newly identified HIV-positive. Fourteen HIV-positive men participated in SNS; 22 AA MSM contacts were recruited through SNS, eight (36.4%) were HIV positive and none were new positives. Two HIV-infected men participated in the PR strategy, yielding two AA MSM sex partners (one previously positive). The results suggest the need for health departments to consider using several complimentary strategies for identifying previously undiagnosed HIV infections in AA MSM in urban environments such as Baltimore.
Background
Sex partner meeting places may be important locales to access men who have sex with men (MSM) and implement targeted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) control strategies. These locales may change over time, but temporal evaluations have not been performed.
Methods
The objectives of this study were to describe the frequency of report of MSM sex partner meeting places over time, and to compare frequently reported meeting places in the past five years and past year among newly HIV diagnosed MSM in Baltimore City, Maryland. Public health HIV surveillance data including partner services information was obtained for this study from the Baltimore City Health Department from May 2009 to June 2014.
Results
869 sex partner meeting places were reported, including 306 unique places. Bars/clubs (31%) and internet-based sites (38%) were the most frequently reported meeting place types. Over the five year period, the percentage of bars/clubs decreased over time and the percentage of internet-based sites increased over time. Among bars/clubs, 4/5 of those most frequently reported in the past five years were also most frequently reported in the most recent year. Among internet-based sites, 3/5 of those most frequently reported in the past five years were also in the top five most frequently reported in the past year.
Conclusion
This study provides a richer understanding of sex partner meeting places reported by MSM over time and information to health departments on types of places to access a population at high risk for HIV transmission.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.