Author Archives: administrator

Black Gay Men and Trans Women Are Well Protected by Injectable PrEP

Posted on by

From POZ.com…

Long-acting injectable cabotegravir (Apretude) offered greater protection than daily pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) pills for Black gay and bisexual cisgender men and transgender women, but Black people still had higher HIV incidence rates compared with their white peers regardless of which type of PrEP they used, researchers reported at the 30th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI).

Adherence was higher with the every-other-month injections than with daily pills in both groups, suggesting long-acting PrEP could help close the racial gap in HIV rates. “[Apretude] is a powerful HIV prevention tool to increase access to PrEP and address continued racial disparities in HIV incidence in the United States,” Hyman Scott, MD, MPH, of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and colleagues concluded.

Although African Americans make up about 13% of the U.S. population, they account for more than 40% of all new HIV diagnoses, so effective and acceptable prevention interventions are urgently needed. While white gay and bi men have readily adopted oral PrEP using tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine (Truvada and TDF/FTC generic equivalents) or tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine (Descovy), uptake has been lower among Black men.

Read the full article on POZ.

February 7th is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Posted on by

February 7th is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. CDC data shows that Black/African American are at a higher risk for HIV infection as compared to other races and ethnicities. Why? Because these communities are impacted by demographic factors such as discrimination, stigma, and institutionalized health disparities—all of which affect their risk for HIV.

If you reside in Pennsylvania, you can get a free HIV self-test kit delivered through the mail. Go to www.getmyHIVtest.com to order your kit today.

If you live outside of PA, you can go to the CDC’s testing locator website at https://gettested.cdc.gov/.

Knowing your status will protect you and your partner’s health.

U = U reminder: If you’re HIV undetectable, you can’t pass on the virus

Posted on by

From thebody.com…

Three recent studies — HPTN 052, PARTNER and Opposites Attract — followed male couples and heterosexual couples in which one partner was HIV-positive and the other HIV-negative. During these studies, not one HIV-positive person who was taking antiretroviral medicines and was virally suppressed passed HIV to their negative partner. In the PARTNER and Opposites Attract studies, male couples had anal sex without condoms more than 34,000 times and heterosexual couples had vaginal or anal sex without condoms more than 36,000 times without a virally suppressed partner ever passing HIV to the negative partner. This is strong evidence that people do not sexually transmit HIV if they have an undetectable viral load.

To find testing and other HIV services near you, you can go to https://locator.hiv.gov/map/. If you want to recieve a free HIV in-home test kit through the mail, go to our website www.getmyHIVtest.com.

Research shows HIV still a prime concern for gay and bi men

Posted on by

From Infectious Disease Special Addition online…

“HIV continues to disproportionately affect gay and bisexual men, even though new HIV infections declined among this population during the last decade,” said Stephen M. Perez, PhD, a nurse epidemiologist in the CDC‘s Division of HIV Prevention and lead author of the MMWR article. 

“Also, progress in reducing new HIV infections among gay and bisexual men has not been equal—with factors like stigma, racism, discrimination, homophobia and others contributing to an unequal reach of HIV prevention and treatment and continued disparities.”

During 2018-2019, the CDC identified a number of concerning HIV clusters among MSM. By December 2021, 38 clusters that had been initially identified during 2018-2019 grew to include more than 25 people.

“The presence of a cluster suggests that HIV prevention and treatment have failed to reach a particular community, and that HIV is transmitting rapidly within that community,” Dr. Perez told Infectious Disease Special Edition. 

Read the full article.

Health Alert: Doctors Haven’t Seen So Many Cases of This STD in 72 Years

Posted on by

From hivplusmag.com…

Syphilis, a bacterial disease that shows up as genital sores and can lead to other diseases and even death, showed a huge increase last year. The rate of syphilis cases reached its highest level since 1991, while the total number of cases rose to its highest level since 1948, just three years after World War II. HIV cases also rose 16 percent from 2020 to 2021.

Syphilis bottomed out in the U.S. in the late 1990s, with the CDC hoping to fully eradicate the disease. Only years later, syphilis rates would start rising; by 2021, more than 52,000 cases were reported.

Many factors could be at play, but officials believe the COVID pandemic is mostly at fault. Testing and treatment took a backseat during the worst days of the crisis in 2020, while many people now feel sexually unshackled with COVID vaccines available, lockdowns over, and mask mandates lifted. Some health officials are calling for public messaging about condoms. Monkeypox, which exploded this year and last, is also complicating efforts and eating up health funding from the government.

Read the full article.

PA Dept of Health: What You Need to Know About Monkeypox

Posted on by

From the PA Department of Health…

Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted disease and does not spread easilyOpens In A New Window between people. However, anyone who has extremely close personal contact — mostly skin-to-skin — including direct contact with monkeypox rash, scabs, or body fluid from a person with monkeypox, can get it and should take steps to protect themselvesOpens In A New Window.  

Take the following steps to prevent getting monkeypox: 

  • Avoid close, skin-to-skin contact with people who have a rash that looks like pimples or blisters. 
  • Do not touch the rash or scabs of a person with monkeypox. 
  • Do not kiss, hug, cuddle or have sex with someone with monkeypox. 
  • Do not handle or touch the unwashed bedding, towels, or clothing of a person with monkeypox. 
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, especially before eating or touching your face and after you use the bathroom. 
  • Do not share eating utensils or cups with a person with monkeypox. 
  • If you have symptoms or test positive, isolate yourself until the rash heals to avoid transmitting monkeypox to others.

If you think you have developed monkeypox (if you have symptoms), please talk to your healthcare provider or contact 877-PA-HEALTH. Providers can help ensure you are tested if appropriate, and if necessary, receive treatment for monkeypox. If you test positive you will need to isolate (avoid contact with others) until the rash heals. 

If you have been exposed to someone who has monkeypox, you may need to receive the vaccine, although not everyone will need a monkeypox vaccine.

Read the full article.

For more information on monkeypox, the Pennsylvania Department of Health also provides a monkeypox FAQ sheet.

PA Universities provide free HIV self test kits to communities most at risk

Posted on by

According to a 2020 CDC report, out of more than 30,000 new cases of HIV infection in the United States, Black and Latinx populations bear the brunt of being most at risk, accounting for two-thirds (20,000) of the new infections. The reason (the CDC also reports) is due to institutionalized health disparities among those groups. In other words, Black and Latinx people face higher levels of discrimination when seeking health care.

To help address the issue, the HIV Prevention and Care Project at the University of Pittsburgh, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Expanded HIV Testing Initiative at Penn State University created a state-wide program that allows residents of Pennsylvania to obtain a free HIV self-test kit through the mail.

Knowing your HIV status is the first step in preventing the spread of the virus. People who test positive can obtain treatment that keeps the virus in check, and therefore makes it next to impossible to spread to others.

To obtain a free HIV self-test kit, go to www.getmyHIVtest.com. Taking care of your health is part of taking care of your community.

To find out more about the free HIV test kit program, and find other HIV/STI testing resources, you can go to the HIV Prevention and Care Project Website at https://hivpreventionandcareproject.com/resources/. If you still have questions, send an email to info@getmyHIVtest.com.

As monkeypox spreads, know the difference between warning and stigmatizing people

Posted on by

From NPR…

The global monkeypox outbreak appears to mostly affect men who have sex with other men. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 98% of people diagnosed with the virus between April and June in more than a dozen countries identify as gay or bisexual men, and the WHO says that 99% of U.S. cases are related to male-to-male sexual contact.

That means that the public health systems can target their messaging and interventions to the specific communities most at risk. But it also carries the risk of stigmatizing those populations, while sowing complacency in others that could still be vulnerable.

Public health experts stress that monkeypox is relevant to everyone, since it can spread through skin-to-skin contact and potentially contaminated objects like clothing or towels. And viruses can infect anyone. The U.S. has already documented two cases of monkeypox in children, for example. “While we may be seeing clusters primarily in certain groups of people, viruses do not discriminate by race, by religion, or by sexual orientation,” infectious disease researcher Dr. Boghuma Titanji told NPR.

Read the full article on NPR.

Health Alert – Cases of Monkeypox Reported in U.S. 

Posted on by

Cases of monkeypox have been identified in travelers from countries where the disease is considered an endemic. As a result, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Health Advisory in the United States.  

As of June 3rd, 21 cases in the U.S. have been confirmed or suspected, including one case in Pennsylvania. As per the State Department of Health, there is a possibility the disease may spread.  Monkeypox symptoms involve a characteristic rash, preceded by a fever, swelling of the lymph nodes, and other non-specific symptoms such as malaise, headache, and muscle aches. In the most recent reported cases, symptoms included lesions in the genital and anal regions. Note that the disease may be confused with more commonly seen infections like syphilis, chancroid, and herpes. The average incubation period for symptom to develop is 5 to 21 days.

Human-to-human transmission occurs through large respiratory droplets and by bodily fluids (like saliva and semen that can be transmission during sex) or coming in direct contact with a lesion. Respiratory droplets generally cannot travel more than a few feet, so prolonged face-to-face contact (like kissing) is more likely to spread the disease.  

There is no specific treatment for monkeypox virus infection. However, the CDC reports that antivirals used to treat smallpox may prove beneficial. Monkeypox is generally mild and patients recover in a few weeks. The mortality rate is less than 1 percent in developed countries. There have been no deaths related to the monkeypox cases in the US so far.

There are FDA approved vaccines available to prevent monkeypox but these are not commercially available but are being made available to close contacts of known cases.

If you think you may be infected, contact your doctor’s office or local hospital first, for instructions. Going into your doctor’s office, or an emergency room, risks spreading the disease.  

For more information about monkeypox, you can go to the CDC’s Health Advisory page. (https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/alert/monkeypox) 

May 19th is National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Posted on by

From HIV.gov…

May 19th is National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. This observance, led by the San Francisco Community Health Center, raises awareness of the impact of HIV and AIDS, risk, and stigma surrounding HIV in the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community. 

In recent years, annual HIV diagnoses have increased among some in the API community, such as API young adults and men who have sex with men. Knowing your status gives you powerful information so that you can take steps to lower your HIV risk and take charge of your health. Use the HIV Testing Sites & Care Services Locator to find a clinic near you or select from the self-testing options available.
In addition, the CDC Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign offers resources that promote testing and treatment for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders.

Read the full article on HIV.gov.

Yes, Black men who have sex with men are at higher risk for getting HIV

Posted on by

m4m sometimes gets a fair amount of flak when we report that Black men who have sex with men have higher rates of new HIV infection as compared to other communities.

But the research is clear:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/factsheets/cdc-hiv-aa-508.pdf

The reason for it, in short, is due to issues like institutionalized racism in our health care system. So when we say Black men need to get tested for HIV, we’re not trying to stigmatize any particular group of people, we’re trying to get the word out so Black men can get tested and protect their health. Two Black men in an embrace

To address the problem, m4m (as part of the HIV Prevention and Care Project) is helping to provide free HIV self-test kits to anyone who resides in Pennsylvania. Kits are sent in the mail, in an unmarked package. Testing is easy and you get results in twenty minutes. Go to www.getmyHIVtest.com to order your kit. Knowing your status will protect you and your community, Black or white.

Is this natural hormone making gay men super horny?

Posted on by

From queerty.com…

Are you permanently horny or constantly scrolling your phone in search of sex? Sex is great. Gay sex is even better. But perhaps all that scrolling is having a detrimental effect on your life?

A new study has found that men who display hypersexual behavior, often have elevated levels of the hormone oxytocin.

Researchers at Umeå University in Sweden looked at 64 men with a clinical diagnosis of hypersexual disorder. The results were recently published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Hypersexual disorder is when you have an excessive preoccupation with sexual fantasies, urges or behaviors to the extent it has a negative impact on your life.

Around half of the hypersexual participants were enrolled in a seven-week cognitive behavior therapy program to help them address their behavior. They also gave routine blood samples for the study.

The study discovered that men with hypersexuality had almost twice the levels of oxytocin as the control group.

Read the full article on queerty.com.

CDC urging gay and bisexual men to get the meningococcal vaccine after an outbreak in Florida

Posted on by

From USA Today…

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging gay and bisexual men to get the meningococcal vaccine after an outbreak in Florida has led to an increase in cases. 

Multiple meningitis cases have been reported across the state in the past few months, and some involved college students and those living with HIV, according to a news release from the CDC. 

“Anyone who has been exposed or develops symptoms should be evaluated by a health care provider right away,” the release from the Florida Department of Health of Leon County said. “This is a rare but potentially devastating infection.”‘

Read the article on USA today.

What Puts Black People at Risk for HIV?

Posted on by

From poz.com…

Despite making up just 13% of the population, Black people account for more than 40% of new HIV diagnoses in the United States. But what makes some Black folks more vulnerable to HIV than others?

Social vulnerability may play a role, according to new data published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. “Social vulnerability” is government jargon for the factors that make it hard for a community to bounce back from a natural disaster or public health threat—for example, low income, limited transportation and overcrowded or inadequate housing.

Researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) looked at where the 13,807 Black folks diagnosed with HIV in 2018 lived. Using the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index, they found that 75% of the Black people who acquired HIV lived in communities with the highest or second highest social vulnerability. Only 8% came from the least vulnerable communities.

Read more.

Building Healthy Online Communities (BHOC) works with dating aps to reduce online stigma and hate from within

Posted on by

From the BHOC report…

While gay, bi, and trans people have long been subjected to discrimination, stigma and hate speech from outside our communities, the way we treat one another can also cause harm. Too often, people within the queer community hurt others because of their race, gender identity, age, body size, disability, or because they’re living with HIV. This was true long before the internet, social networks, and apps provided the means to fuel harmful behavior. People take advantage of the anonymity the internet provides to say things they would never say in person. Too often, dating app and site users do the same. “No fats,” “No femmes,” “Clean only” – these words and their derogatory implications are all too prevalent on sites.

two men walking while looking at their cell phones

This kind of hate speech can cause not only psychological harm but can also facilitate HIV risk.Yale Researchers, John Pachankis and Charles Burton, found that for some gay and bi men,being repeatedly rejected by other gay and bi men online, and having a lower ‘status’ in thesexual marketplace–like not having a gym-toned body or masculine gender expression–isassociated with greater risk taking and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Building HealthyOnline Communities (BHOC), a consortium of national and local HIV and STD preventionagencies working with the owners of dating sites and app owners to support their users’ sexualhealth, decided to take action to reduce stigma for gay, bi, and trans app and site users.

BHOC reached out to app and site owners and found that there was widespread support among them to look for ways to make the experience better for everyone. Adam4Adam, Daddyhunt,dudesnude, Grindr, GROWLr, Jack’d, Manhunt, POZ Personals, and SCRUFF all joined in, andthrough advertising and messaging recruited more than 5,500 users to share ideas on whatapps and sites could do to help reduce online stigma. This was the first time that apps and siteshave come together to address an industry-wide issue.  

Read the full report

Study: Combining PrEP with U=U yields incredible results

Posted on by

From HIVplusmag.com…

When people use a combination of HIV prevention methods, researchers found there was a significant drop in HIV transmission.

Published in the academic journal HIV Medicine, the study found that using several methods such as taking PrEP, early HIV diagnosis from frequent testing, and proper antiretroviral treatment decreased transmission by 80 percent.

The research was evaluated at 56 Dean Street, which is a sexual health clinic and part of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London.

“We witnessed an 80% reduction in the number of HIV diagnoses between 2012 and 2017, following the introduction of a number of HIV prevention measures (PrEP introduction, early HIV diagnosis through frequent and facilitated access to HIV testing and timely ART used as treatment-as-prevention) were key to the success of this model,” lead author Nicolo Girometti, told Contagion. Girometti is also a consultant in HIV medicine at 56 Dean Street.

Read the full article.

Penn State and Pitt team up to create getmyHIVtest.com—free HIV test kits to anyone who resides in Pennsylvania, with a focus on minority/ethnic communities most at risk.

Posted on by

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that some racial/ethnic groups are at higher risk for getting HIV than others.  

CDC data shows that Black/African American communities account for a higher proportion of new HIV infections as compared to other races and ethnicities. In 2018, Black/African Americans accounted for 13% of the US population but 42% of new HIV diagnoses.

Similarly, in the same 2018 report, the CDC notes adult and adolescent Hispanics/Latinos made up 27% of the 37,968 new HIV diagnoses in the United States.

Why? Because these communities are impacted by demographic factors such as discrimination, stigma, and institutionalized health disparities—all of which affect their risk for HIV.

So what can we do?  

People who know they’re infected can get into treatment and become HIV undetectable—which means the level of virus in the body is so low that it can’t be passed on to a sex partner. And people who know they’re not infected can take steps to prevent future infection by practicing safer sex (like using condoms) and taking the HIV prevention medication known as PrEP.

The first step, then, to preventing HIV is to get tested.

Men sitting together and smiling

The good news is that anyone who resides in Pennsylvania can now get a free HIV self-test kit delivered in the mail.

In early 2021, the Pennsylvania Expanded HIV Testing Initiative (at Penn State University) and the HIV Prevention and Care Project (at the University of Pittsburgh) began a joint program called getmyHIVtest.com.

“We created getmyHIVtest.com to make test kits available to anyone in the state who might be at risk for HIV,” explains Raymond Yeo, one of the project’s coordinators at the University of Pittsburgh. “Knowing your HIV status is key in the preventing HIV in our communities—especially those most at risk for new infections.” 

The website, www.getmyHIVtest.com, provides easy-to-follow instructions and online form where PA residents can order their free kit, which typically arrives—in an unmarked package—within five to ten business days. Recipients of the kit are asked to provide basic demographic information and to take a follow up survey as a means to improve the program in the months ahead.  

“This is a big development in the fight against HIV in Pennsylvania and we need all the input we can get,” added Yeo. “It’s unrealistic to think we can test everyone in the state so it’s important that we find ways to get our test kits into the hands of the people who need them the most.”  

Questions and comments about the getmyHIVtest.com program can be sent to info@getmyHIVtest.com. To order your HIV self-test kit, go to www.getmyHIVtest.com.

CDC releases new STI stats and they aren’t looking good

Posted on by

From EdgeMediaNetwork.com…

On April 13, the Centers for Disease Control released their latest national survey for Sexually Transmitted Infections (aka Sexually Transmitted Diseases) and the data isn’t looking good. The 2019 STD Surveillance Report concludes “that reported annual cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States continued to climb in 2019, reaching an all-time high for the sixth consecutive year.”

Amongst the findings are:2.5 million reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis, the three most commonly reported STDs in 2019.

A nearly 30% increase in these reportable STDs between 2015 and 2019. The sharpest increase was in cases of syphilis among newborns (i.e., congenital syphilis), which nearly quadrupled between 2015 and 2019.

“Less than 20 years ago, gonorrhea rates in the U.S. were at historic lows, syphilis was close to elimination, and advances in chlamydia diagnostics made it easier to detect infections,” said Raul Romaguera, DMD, MPH, acting director for CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, in the report. “That progress has since unraveled, and our STD defenses are down. We must prioritize and focus our efforts to regain this lost ground and control the spread of STDs.”

Read the full article.

Are Straight Men Having Gay Sex Closeted? This Prof Thinks Not in Provocative New Book

Posted on by

From Edge Media Network…

…University of British Columbia sociology professor Tony Silva offers new insight on sexual attraction, behavior and their implications in his book “Still Straight: Sexual Flexibility Among White Men in Rural America.”

“Drawing upon interviews with 60 white men from rural areas in the United States over three years, Silva delves into the sex lives of straight men who have hookups, sexual friendships, and secretive loving relationships with other men, but remain mostly attracted to women and strongly identify with straight culture,” writes the website Straight in an interview with Silva.

In his book Silva asserts “that the men he focuses on in his book aren’t closeted, bisexual, or experimenting, and that they aren’t a version of the tortured love story in ‘Brokeback Mountain’,” writes Straight.

In his findings, Silva says that the men he interviewed were primarily married and attracted to women, but for reasons such as boredom and fears of attachment with a female partner, turn to sex with men. “These men think that sex with men is a lot less complicated with no attachment. I find it particularly interesting and ironic that their conservative beliefs about gender actually encourage them to have sex with men.”

Read the full article.

PrEP for beginners: What to know about the HIV-preventive drugs

Posted on by

From mensvariety.com…

Truvada was the original PrEP drug. All of the trials and data about PrEP that you can find right now are about Truvada. It’s the tried and true option. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration approved a second drug in 2019 from Gilead Sciences. As clinic trials showed, this second drug, called Descovy, is less toxic to the kidneys and bones than Truvada. That’s not to say that Truvada is toxic, but that the drug can possibly cause kidney problems or bone mineral density problems later on. As such, PrEP users have celebrated the arrival of Descovy. On top of that, it is MORE effective in preventing HIV. But, of course, it’s more expensive too.

Are you considering getting PrEP but need to know more basic info before you take the plunge? Are you concerned about your safe sex measures and want to know your options in protecting yourself from STIs like HIV? We decided it would be a good idea to write up a “basics” post and general guide for anyone wanting to know more about the HIV-preventive drug. If that sounds interesting to you, keep reading…