Most HIVers Do Not Put Others at Risk

The vast majority of HIV-positive adults do not put others at risk of HIV infection, mostly by choosing to have unprotected sex only with HIV-positive partners, according to a study in the August 15 edition of Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. Only about 15% of gay HIV-positive men, 19% of HIV-positive heterosexual women, and 13% of HIV-positive heterosexual men studied reported having unprotected anal or vaginal sex with an uninfected partner or a partner whose HIV status was unknown in the three months prior to being surveyed. Unprotected sex, however, was relatively common among all the study subjects, with 45% of gay men, 36.5% of straight women, and 34% of heterosexual men reporting having condomless sex. But the researchers say the study subjects seemed to be 'serosorting''deliberately choosing only other HIV-positive partners for unprotected intercourse. 'These findings are heartening because they indicate that most persons aware of their own HIV infection refrain from sexual activities likely to transmit the virus to others,' the researchers write.