HIV infections, HEALTH of gay men, BISEXUAL men, MEN'S sexual behavior, and YOUNG men -- United States

Objectives. Recent studies suggest very high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection rates in some populations of younger homosexual men, but these studies may represent only particularly high-risk populations. The current study obtained population-based data on the HIV epidemic in young homosexual/bisexual men. Methods. A household survey of unmarried men 18 through 29 years of age involved a multistage probability sample of addresses in San Francisco. A follow-up interview and HIV test for men who were HIV negative at baseline were completed; the median follow-up was 8.9 months. Results. Sixty-eighty of 380 homosexual/bisexual men (17.9%) tested HIV seropositive. Sixty-three percent of men reported one or more receptive anal intercourse partners in the previous 12 months, and 41% of those men did not sue condoms consistently. The HIV seroincidence rate among those seronegative at first study was 2.6% per year. Conclusions. HIV infection rates in young homosexual men in San Francisco are lower those in the early 1930; however, the rate of infection in these men, most of whom became sexually active after awareness of AIDS had become wide-spread, threatens to continue the epidemic in the younger generation at a level not far below that of a decade ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LETTERS to the editor and HIV infections

A letter to the editor is presented in response to two articles on the epidemiology of AIDS without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the February 11, 1993 issue.