Gay and bisexual adolescent males and men — are referred to in CDC surveillance systems as Men who have Sex with Men (MSM).2

HIV Testing and Risk Behaviors Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men — United States

  • MSM accounted for 71% of all HIV infections among male adults and adolescents in 2005.1
  • MSM is the only risk group in the U.S. in which new HIV infections are increasing. While new infections have declined among both heterosexuals and injection drug users, the annual number of new HIV infections among MSM (those aged 13 – 24) increased by 22 percent from 2008 – 2010.2
  • MSM account for approximately two-thirds of all new HIV infections in the U.S. each year (66%, or an estimated 31,400 infections2)
  •  7.2% of young (aged 15-22 years) MSM had HIV/AIDS.3
  • 21% of White and 46% African American MSM had HIV/AIDS.1
  • The rate of new HIV diagnoses among MSM in the U.S. is more than 44 times that of other men (range: 522–989 per 100,000 MSM vs. 12 per 100,000 other men).4  The CDC estimates that MSM account for just 2 percent of the U.S. population aged 13 and older.4

…..“While the heavy toll of HIV and syphilis among gay and bisexual men has been long recognized, this analysis shows just how stark the health disparities are between this and other populations,” said Kevin Fenton, M.D., director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention.”4

March 2010 – CDC Analysis Provides New Look at Disproportionate Impact of HIV and Syphilis Among U.S. Gay and Bisexual Men.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a fact sheet showing that the only group in the U.S. in which HIV infection rates are dramatically rising is in the population of men who have sex with men, even though homosexual sex is legal in the U.S. and is increasingly being “destigmatized.”

Definitons

CDC – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Agency of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mission is centered on preventing and controlling disease and promoting health education in the United States

MSM – Gay and bisexual men — referred to in CDC surveillance systems as men who have sex with men (MSM)

 

References

1http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/MSM/overview_partner.htm

2http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/CDC-MSM-508.pdf

3HIV Incidence Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men — Seven U.S. Cities, 1994—2000    http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5021a4.htm

4http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/Newsroom/msmpressrelease.html

Click here to print a PDF print-ready copy of these CDC statistics.