The number of young homosexual men being newly diagnosed with HIV
infection is rising by 12 percent a year, with the steepest upward
trend in young black men, according to a new report.
The double-digit increase in young gay men is roughly 10 times
higher than in the homosexual community overall, where the number
of new infections is going up about 1.5 percent a year.
The report, released Thursday by the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, appears to confirm impressions that a
"second-wave" AIDS epidemic is under way in gay America.
"These men represent a new generation that has not been
personally affected by AIDS in the same way that their older peers
were," said Richard Wolitski, acting director of HIV/AIDS prevention
at CDC.
The study found that homosexual men were the only "risk group" in
which the number of new infections rose annually from 2001 through
2006. In contrast, injecting drug-users and heterosexuals each
showed declines in new infections.
-- The Washington Post
(C) 2008 Roanoke Times & World News. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved