Health Buzz: HIV Rate Among Gay Men Is 1 in 5

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JB of TX.. Great point, but go one step further and factor in the myriad of conditions that trigger false positives. There are 66 proven scientific reasons for false positive test results (just google it) and the facts very well could be 1 out of 100 or 1% maybe 2 % at best.. and so much for a grand epidemic wouldn't you say?

Brian Carter of CA 1:35AM September 30, 2010

where is my comment?

nicole of WA 4:56AM September 28, 2010

That was exactly my concern...I'm afraid this might cause a huge backlash of xenophobia against the gay community.
The CDC report is here: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5937a2.htm?s_cid=mm5937a2_w
On pg. 6, It admits their numbers could be off, and especially important is their fourth factor: "Finally, these findings are limited to men who frequented MSM-identified venues (most of which were bars [45%] and dance clubs [22%]) during the survey period in 21 MSAs with high AIDS prevalence; the results are not representative of all MSM. A lower HIV prevalence (11.8%) has been reported among MSM in the general U.S. population." So yes indeed, these numbers have been purposefully inflated, and to my knowledge, I haven't seen a single headline to accurately reflect the statistical data.

Wes of GA 3:23PM September 27, 2010

Please don't take my comments as saying that people shouldn't be safe and get tested, i agree completely... be safe EVERY TIME! Get tested regularly.
But... you have to admit, when news outlets use inflamatory headlines that don't bother delving into the details or researching the facts... these are often used for political purposes by some groups to demonize others.

jb of TX 2:49PM September 27, 2010

the real story is the need for people to get tested.
don't squash the message, to harp on some perception in math.
PEOPLE KNOW YOUR STATUS>

me of NY 1:02PM September 27, 2010

thought the same thing when i read this.... in my experience, most gay men don't get tested, huge numbers don't even go to bars but once in a blue moon, and even more aren't out at all... so a more correct headline would be "20% of bar frequenting gay men who were tested for HIV (perhaps because they had a worrisome reason to do so), were found to be HIV positive"... which is a world of difference from "20% of Gay Men are HIV Positive".
So if only 50% of gay men go to bars... and of that 50%, 5% were tested... and 20% of that 5% were found to be HIV positive... that number is orders of magnitude different than 20% of all gay men.

JB of TX 12:47PM September 27, 2010