New HIV cases may
be leveling off for the first time since 2000, reports
Bloomberg news. Researchers in the HIV surveillance unit at
Berlin's Robert Koch Institute say they expect about
3,000 new infections of HIV in Germany this year,
which is on a par with last year's rates. Gay and
bisexual men are expected to account for about 72% of those
new cases.
New HIV cases may
be leveling off for the first time since 2000, reports
Bloomberg news.
Researchers in
the HIV surveillance unit at Berlin's Robert Koch
Institute say they expect about 3,000 new infections of HIV
in Germany this year, which is on a par with last
year's rates. Gay and bisexual men are expected to
account for about 72% of those new cases.
According to
Bloomberg, public health officials in Australia, Germany,
and the U.S. have all predicted that HIV infection rates
would continue to rise among gay males, and the new
figures from Germany would run counter to that
analysis.
Researchers could
not pinpoint the reasons for the new trend, but the
data follows stabilized infection rates for other sexually
transmitted diseases such as syphilis. New syphilis
cases have remained consistent in Germany
every year since 2004.
Ulrich Marcus, an
epidemiologist with the institute, said he thought
the STD infection rates were linked to each other.
“In my opinion, it’s a consequence of
the stabilization of other infections,” Marcus told
Bloomberg. (The Advocate)
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