Internet blamed in spread of syphilis among gays

Yahoo ^ | March 11th, 2004 | Jon Hurdle

[missyme]

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The Internet has played a significant role in the latest increase in cases of syphilis among gay men by introducing partners more likely to practice high-risk sex, according to a study released on Wednesday.

About 22 percent of homosexual men diagnosed with early stage syphilis reported meeting one or more of their sexual partners through the Internet around the time they were infected, said the study by the Los Angeles Health Department.

Researchers at a national conference in Philadelphia on the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases also said they found gays who used the Web to meet sex partners were almost four times as likely to have anonymous sex than non-Internet users. They were also more than twice as likely to use injected drugs as those who found partners more traditionally.

Of gay men who met their partners online, 67 percent were HIV positive, according to the study.

"The Internet is an important venue for conducting STD/HIV prevention and control," said Dr. Getahun Aynalem, an author of the Los Angeles Health Department study.

"Potential public health prevention and control efforts should include interventions like online outreach."

The Internet was one of a number of factors contributing to the rise in syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases among gay men, Aynalem said. Other contributors included the increasing use of the recreational drug crystal methamphetamine and the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra.

Nationally, the incidence of reported syphilis has increased by 18 percent in the last three years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For male homosexuals it has multiplied 12-fold.

Between 1999 and 2003, the proportion of all U.S. syphilis cases among gay men jumped to 60 percent from 5 percent.

The Los Angeles research found that men who went online to find sex partners were more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior than those who found partners elsewhere. For example, of those who said they were the dominant partner in anal sex, 91 percent were Internet users compared with 80 percent who were non-browsers.

The Web can also help control the spread of STDs, researchers said. Online, partners can be notified of a person's sexual history and chat rooms where health counselors can discuss STD prevention and control can be set up.

[missyme]

My keyboard gets pretty dirty sometimes as well as my mouse, I have spilled coffe on it, crums from a peice of toast, even some wine....It is hard to clean the keyboard, that is why I have to keep buying new ones..

[lilylangtree]

It doesn't take too many brain cells to understand that unprotected sex opens you to many diseases. AIDS wouldn't spread if queers would use protection or abstain. My sympathy is not with these jerkoffs.

[weegee]

Wait. I use the internet. I'm using the internet right now!

Do you scan for viruses?

[weegee]

Reading some of these threads has caused many a FReeper to spew coffee necessitating the purchase of a new keyboard.

[missyme]

I use to live in Palm Springs Ca. Every year they would have the White Party come through with hundreds and hundreds of Gays, they would sit in outside cafes and bars wearing speedos and boots nothing else howling for other gays, they are truly disgusting, but other men seem to like it...Heterosexual men could never be that brazen or agressive to attract a female to them, it would never work but men to men they love it..They are like a wild ox.

[GeronL]

I run Live Update.

But thats not funny.

I should be be using a latex keyboard protector.

[AD from SpringBay]

Dummy me - I always thought homosexual sex was leading reason for syphilis among the sodomite community.

[missyme]

They won't they are are skanky and I use to work in an Emergency Department and they would always come in with an object stuck in there rectum..

[missyme]

I guess all the homosexuals receive all STD's because they are pigs

[The Great RJ]

You can get syphilis on the Internet, but the position is difficult to maintain and may damage computer equipment.

[Delta 21]

Everyone knows who invented the internet. You need to pay more attention.

You probably dont know that John F*in Kerry was a hero in Veit Nam either!?!

[pax_et_bonum]

LOL!

[3catsanadog]

They won't they are are skanky and I use to work in an Emergency Department and they would always come in with an object stuck in there rectum..

True - my sister used to work in an emergency room and some young guy came in with a vibrator stuck there. She said they weren't able to turn it off till they got it out.

How do you keep a straight face? Just curious.

[pax_et_bonum]

LOL again!

This thread is very entertaining!

[missyme]

I guess you just become immune....What is funny is when you work on the graveyard shift in the ER you have Gay lovers that come in around 3:a.m (Drunk) the two love birds have been in a fist fight one has broke the other guys arm and the other has given one a bloody nose and a black eye and they tell the Doctor it was a little lover's spat...

[Desron13]

"The Internet has played a significant role in the latest increase in cases of syphilis among gay men by introducing partners more likely to practice high-risk sex, according to a study released on Wednesday."

This sentence is so wrong that I hardly know where to begin. Does the phrases common sense, personal reasonability, moral turpitude, sexual addiction or just plain old societal sanity ever occur to any of these so-called reporters?

[TheSpottedOwl]

"I've just about gone blind a few times"

Come on now, let's keep it clean here folks.

My eyes are blind but I can see...

[vpintheak]

Algore invented the internet! It's all his fault!

[Salamander]

That's why you should always practice Safe Surfing.

[Dustbunny]

Interesting but lacks logic.

Guess they have no control over their actions. Poor babies.