Posts Tagged ‘condom use’

HIV rates soar among young gays

Posted in HIV in homosexual men on October 10th, 2009 by hiv_test – Comments Off

More, younger gay men are being diagnosed with HIV than ever before.  The number of men in the  20-29 age group being infected is likely to double 2007 levels by the end of this year.  Already, in the first quarter of the year, 21 men have been infected  in Victoria, just half of the number infected, 43, from two years ago.  Last  year the number infected was 56.  In the past, the group with the most new cases of HIV has been the 30-39 age group, but in just the first quarter, the 20-29 age group has 2 more new cases than the 30-39 age group.

This may suggest that Victoria’s safe-sex campaigns may not be succeeding.  It has been suggested that the State Government has waited too long to respond to growing infection rates, and also that it should invest more money in prevention programs.  Researchers in the field are concerned because this is the  first time in a very long  time that they have seen the 20-29 age group show an increase in infection rate.

Some people think that this recent surge is due to advertisements not sending the right message.  The advertisements were developed using explicit imagery for pornographic videos, but it did not encourage condom use among gays men.  Although the advertisements used explicit imagery, many gay men feel that their sexuality is about who they fall in love with and not about the fact that they have sex with men.  This means that more gay men were having unprotected sex, which means that the ad campaigns were  not fulfilling their purpose.

This may indicate that the need for testing is higher, as  there is a higher rate of HIV infection among young gay men.  Testing for HIV is a necessary component to everybody’s sexual health and well-being.

For the original article, please refer to http://www.hivtestingblog.com/original-articles/.

County Sued over Porn Industry STDs

Posted in adult film industry on July 20th, 2009 by hiv_test – Be the first to comment

One month after an adult-film actress tested HIV-positive the AIDS Healthcare Foundation pushed for more enforcement on the use of condoms during filming of adult movies. Since 2004, 18 HIV cases and more than 3,700 chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis cases have been reported by the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation (AIM). AIM is a clinic that tests adult-video performers, and has been criticized for not cooperating with health officials in the past. Adult-video performers are 10 times more likely than other people to contract an STD, and many performers acquire multiple infections each year. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is concerned that the adult-film industry is not doing all that it can to protect it’s employees during the production of these videos. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health in California is looking into the most recent case of HIV, and has requested all of AIM’s medical records as part of the investigation.

* For the complete article, please visit http://hivtestingblog.com/original-articles/

Porn actress tests positive for HIV

Posted in adult film industry on June 15th, 2009 by hiv_test – Be the first to comment

An actress who works in Southern California’s pornography industry has tested positive for HIV, renewing county and state health officials’ concerns that the adult entertainment industry lacks sufficient safety measures to prevent the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Dr. Jonathan Fielding, health officer for Los Angeles County, said Wednesday that his office was launching an investigation.

Los Angeles County has been receiving reports from the clinic of 60 to 80 new cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea a month among adult performers, Fielding said.

As the clinic downplayed the positive test, public health officials cited their ongoing battle with the porn industry over the use of condoms during filming. The two sides have been at odds for years, and despite the intense scrutiny, Fielding said he is concerned that condoms are still not being used.

For the complete article, please refer to http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-porn-hiv11-2009jun11,0,2783528.story.

Porn Industry Hit With 16 Confirmed HIV Cases

Posted in adult film industry on June 12th, 2009 by hiv_test – 2 Comments

Los Angeles County health officials say there have been 16 previously unpublicized confirmed cases of HIV in adult film industry performers since 2004 when an outbreak shut down porn production for a month.

The newly released data brings the number of known HIV cases in adult film performers to 22 since 2004, including a porn actress who tested positive late last week.

For the full article, see http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,525929,00.html.