Sex parties in which HIV-positive homosexual men see for non-safe sex may help decrease the scatter of HIV, but could incorporate a risk of intimately sent problems and superinfection with resilient pressures of HIV, in accordance with a pilot learn performed in New York and printed when you look at the Oct edition of Sexually sent Infections.

Even though the study is introduced in measured language, and is also mindful to emphasize both the probably negative and positive fitness ramifications of sex functions concerning HIV-positive homosexual men, or a€?POZ partiesa€? just like the writers refer to them as, a news launch from publishers in the log made use of much more sensational words and generated alarmist statements such as for instance a€?POZ activities dispersed extremely strain of HIVa€? in popular push.

Occasions such as POZ activities may portray an effort by HIV-positive homosexual boys purchase sexual lovers of the same HIV status, alleged a€?serosortinga€?. Though there has been comprehensive studies to the sexual behavior of gay males nowadays, very little is known about gay intercourse functions. Therefore scientists attempted to describe the characteristics of males who sign up for POZ events, their own reasons behind doing so, the types of intercourse they involved with at this type of people, her medicine usage at these happenings and their intimate habits beyond functions which involved some other HIV-positive males.

Glossary

serosorting

Selecting intimate partners of the identical HIV position, or limiting condomless intercourse to couples of the same HIV updates. As a threat reduction technique, the disadvantage for HIV-negative folks is that they can only just be certain of the HIV standing when they last got a test, whereas HIV-positive visitors is generally self-confident they are aware her reputation

pilot learn

Small-scale, initial research, performed to guage feasibility, energy, cost, harmful happenings, and augment upon the appearance of a future full-scale research project.

superinfection

Whenever a person already contaminated with HIV was exposed to a separate stress of HIV and gets contaminated along with it in addition to their particular current trojan.

stress

A variant characterised by a particular genotype.

poppers

Amyl, butyl or isobutyl nitrite, are leisurely medications sniffed during intercourse to both escalate the knowledge and unwind sphincter muscle groups.

Detectives interviewed all in all, 115 males at ten POZ party happenings in New York into the last half of 2003. Many guys had been white (70per cent) and 97percent mentioned that they had intercourse solely with other guys. The average duration of HIV disease was actually 10 years, even though this varied between 2 months and 2 decades. Antiretroviral therapy had been taken by 69per cent of men while the typical get older ended up being 42 decades. A sexually transmitted issues in the year just before participating in the sex celebration ended up being reported by a third of men.

Over a third of men mentioned that their unique main reason behind participating in a POZ celebration had been either a€?dona€™t need to worry about revealing my HIV statusa€ mature women hookup? (35%) or a€?like creating uninhibited or unrestricted sexa€? (35percent). In addition, 15per cent of men reported a€?dona€™t need to worry about infecting othersa€? as their main basis for attending the big event.

a previous intercourse party regarding HIV-positive people were went to by 75percent of men, almost all of whom asserted that they went to their own very first this type of event between 2000-03, suggesting that such happenings got achieved in recognition in recent times. Boys reported attending happenings in a great many united states metropolitan areas plus in Europe.

All of the men (88%) mentioned that they’d oral sex with one person at a POZ celebration, with 60per cent stating that that they had unprotected receptive rectal intercourse (with more than three quarters of these people receiving ejaculate) and 72per cent stating that they’d got unprotected insertive rectal intercourse at these a conference (with 69per cent of these people saying that they ejaculated within lover).

There was clearly little evidence of medicine utilize at POZ party happenings. Despite current focus in the United States about methamphetamine and male impotence medicines fuelling intimate possibilities using, the investigators found that only 11per cent of males reported the usage of any amphetamine and simply 1percent of men mentioned that they made use of Viagra before or throughout the party. Besides, the detectives seen small proof of drug utilize other than poppers.

The detectives bring numerous inferences from their study. First of all, the people they examined appear to be an endeavor at a€?serosortinga€?. Furthermore, medication incorporate just isn’t a principal element of the happenings; and, finally, intercourse functions involving HIV-positive homosexual boys may provide an as but unrealised chance for health publicity.

a€?POZ functions have the potential to donate to decrease inside the spread of HIV issues through self-selection of HIV-positive intimate partnersa€?, deduce the detectives. However, some great benefits of this type of a€?serosortinga€? maybe compromised by scatter of intimately carried bacterial infections plus the a€?diffusion of HIV superinfection, both among HIV-positive guys at POZ events in addition to their HIV-negative sex couples in other locations.a€?

Clatts MC et al. a surfacing HIV danger environment: a preliminary epidemiological visibility of an MSM POZ party in nyc. Intercourse Transm Infect 81: 373 a€“ 376, 2005.