HIV rates continue to soar among young gay and bisexual men
New data has revealed that HIV infections in young gay and bisexual men has soared, as rates drop overall.
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that the number of people contracting HIV fell from 45,700 in 1998 to 37,600 in 2014 – an 18 percent drop.
Among straight people, this decline is around 36 percent (56 percent in drug users) but in gay and bisexual men aged 25 to 34 diagnoses are up from 7,200 to 9,700 – about 35 percent.
In gay and bisexual men overall figures remained about the same with only a one percent increase reported.
Experts have said greater public education, testing, needle exchange programmes and PrEP have accounted for the overall drop.
However, they added that the figures among young gay and bisexual men were worrying.
In a breakdown of the stats, half of new infections were in Southern States.
African American men who had sex with men (MSM) witnessed infection rates climb 22 percent in six years.
The rate in Latino MSM was up by 20 percent.
The CDC has said that if trends don’t improve then one in two black gay or bisexual men will be infected at some point in their life, Latino men one in four and white men one in 11.
In contrast, HIV rates in the UK among the same group have plummeted.
New infections fell by a third over the last two years in England alone.
