According to the latest studies, there is an alarming number of HIV-positive men in the south. It seems that approximately 3 in 10 homosexual individuals are suffering from the disease in a number of southern cities.
HIV Levels Are the Highest Among Bisexual and Gay Individuals
According to Dr. Jonathan Mermin at the CDC, it is the first time that the agency actually looked at the number and realized the proportions of the illness.
Furthermore, it seems that the number of people that tested HIV positive in the southern parts of the United States is comprised mainly out of bisexual and gay men.
The Most Affected Cities
There is an alarming number of HIV-positive men in the South. In the towns like Texas’ El Paso, Georgia’s Augusta, and Louisiana’s Baton Rouge, the CDC estimated that roughly three in ten gay individuals were infected.
The highest incidence of the disease was registered in Jackson, Mississippi where four out of ten gay or bisexual males tested positive.
At the time in which the study was conducted, eleven percent of bisexual and gay individuals in the United States were living with the HIV virus in their blood. The percentage does not include those who already advanced in the AIDS stage of the infection.
Obtaining the Numbers
These statistics were made by using the national HIV cases count that was realized in several states and communities. Due to the fact that the individuals were not asked to provide information on their sexual orientation when testing their blood, the researchers used data from other studies in order to extrapolate the approximate number of homosexual and bisexual individuals.
Unfortunately, in the case of the urban areas, the team of researchers that made the analyses only counted the confirmed cases of HIV. However, there may be more other individuals who were not tested and are unknowingly living with the disease.
This means that the numbers provided by the CDC are not a sure indicative of the real situation. Moreover, they cannot be used to establish the factors that lead to the occurrence of the disease.
The key point of the study that was published in the Medical Internet Research Journal is that there is an alarming number of HIV-positive men in the south, and protection measures should be issued by the local authorities.
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