No Decrease in HIV Infections Among Gay Men per CDC Data; More PrEP Coverage Needed

Stable and even increasing HIV infection incidence in some groups in the era of high treatment access in high-income settings shows that business as usual for HIV prevention is not enough to radically reduce new HIV infections. -- Jared Baeten, M.D., Ph.D.

This month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the annual HIV Surveillance Report -- a detailed report that serves as our primary source of who's getting HIV in the U.S. year by year.

There were a few notable highlights from this year's report. Overall, the number of HIV infections that happen every year in the U.S. is going down. In 2015, there were 39,513 new infections -- a 19% decrease from 2005 to 2014.

But among men who have sex with men, the number of new HIV infections has remained surprisingly stable. In 2015, there were 26,376 HIV infections attributed to male-male sexual contact, compared with 26,338 in 2010. (The intervening years also saw about 26,000 HIV infections every year.) Since PrEP was approved in 2012, its uptake has been highest among men who have sex with men. What's going on, and why doesn't the number of HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men seem to be declining as PrEP use is increasing?

This excerpt was cross-posted with the permission of BETAblog.org. Read the full article.