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Most HIV infections attributed to MSM in major metropolitan areas
The CDC has reported that male-to-male sexual contact was the most common transmission mode for newly diagnosed HIV infections among people in major metropolitan areas.
Male-to-male sexual contact accounted for 62.1% of new infections in metropolitan statistical areas.
A total of 28,851 infections were attributed to male-to-male sexual contact in 2010, and of these, 81.7% were in metropolitan statistical areas. Among those, 48.4% were in the following seven metropolitan statistical areas: New York City, New Jersey and Pennsylvania; Los Angeles; Miami; Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia; Chicago, Indiana and Wisconsin; Dallas; and Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, Texas.
In comparison, 26.7% of infections in metropolitan statistical areas were attributed to heterosexual contact and 8.1% had infections attributed to injection drug use.
“The geographic concentration of HIV infection reflects the higher risk for HIV transmission in areas with larger populations, greater prevalence of HIV infection attributed to male-to-male contact and possibly a greater prevalence of men who have sex with men living in the community,” the researchers wrote in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. “Effective interventions that could reduce the number of HIV infections in metropolitan statistical areas include HIV testing, HIV care and treatment and risk-reduction counseling.”