Free Republic

ATLANTA (Reuters) - A growing number of gay and bisexual men in the United States are engaging in risky sex with partners they meet on the Internet, raising fears that the AIDS virus could be poised for a major comeback in the group hardest hit by the epidemic. Online chatrooms and Web sites are replacing gay bathhouses and sex clubs as the most popular meeting point to arrange high-risk sex, according to two new studies presented on Tuesday at the 2003 National HIV (news - web sites) Prevention Conference. The findings come amid growing evidence of an apparent resurgence of...

The prestigious Journal of the American Public Health Association has devoted a substantial portion of its latest edition (AJPH -- Table of Contents (June 1 2003, 93 [6]).) to the risks associated with homosexual practices. The following statement is one of several that glare at readers from the journal's cover: "I gave my lover everything including HIV. I didn't mean to. We made a mistake. Maybe deep down we felt it would be better if we both had it..."The journal contents read like a litany of bad news, one article following another. Consider the following: Mary E. Northbridge, Ph.D., MPH,...

<p>The number of homosexual and bisexual men in the United States diagnosed with the AIDS virus has risen for a third year, raising concerns about a revival of the epidemic, a federal health agency said yesterday.</p> <p>According to preliminary data from 25 states, new HIV cases among men who have sex with men rose 7.1 percent between 2001 and 2002, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).</p>

The number of gay and bisexual men diagnosed with HIV (news - web sites), the virus that causes AIDS (news - web sites), climbed for the third consecutive year in the United States in 2002, fueling fears that the disease might be poised for a major comeback in this high-risk group. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites), which reported the finding on Monday at the 2003 National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta, also revealed that AIDS diagnoses overall had risen 2.2 percent to 42,136 last year. "The AIDS epidemic in the United States is far...

CDC's New HIV Prevention Plan Faces Mounting Criticism From AIDS Groups The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO July 28 — Workshops on safe sex in San Francisco's Mission District. HIV-prevention skits developed by teenagers in Chicago. A ministry that counsels black women in Baltimore, where syphilis rates are shockingly high. All are among the programs that could lose funding under the new HIV prevention strategy from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which calls for increased attention to people who already carry the virus that causes AIDS. CDC officials say they intend to pay for the new initiative by diverting...

TUEBINGEN, June 16, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A study by researchers at the University of Tuebingen in Germany has found that anal sex, both homosexual and heterosexual, is the second largest cause of HIV transmission in Africa. Transmission in medical settings, such as through dirty needles, is listed as the primary cause, says the study published in the current edition of The Journal of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Aids. In a finding which has HIV/AIDS activists on edge, the researchers, say vaginal transmission of HIV is a very distant third compared to medical transmission and transmission through anal sex. The report's...

Syphilis Cases On The Rise In Bay Area Dr. Klausner: 'It's Absolutely An Epidemic' Marianne Favro POSTED: 4:35 p.m. PDT June 17, 2003 UPDATED: 5:46 p.m. PDT June 17, 2003 SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Doctors are calling it an epidemic. The number of people with syphilis in the Bay Area is skyrocketing. NBC11's Marianne Favro reported on why there has been an increase in this sexually transmitted disease. Doctors attribute the increases in syphilis patients to several factors, including more effective treatments for AIDS and the popularity of Viagra. In San Francisco, syphilis is spreading at an alarming rate....

Most HIV-positive people tell their sexual partners about their infection, but new research shows a disturbing number of people don't ask and don't tell when it comes to HIV status. The study found 13% of HIV-positive adults fail to disclose their status before engaging in unprotected vaginal or anal intercourse. Researchers say the study shows that sexual contact without disclosure of HIV status is relatively common among persons living with HIV, and the rates of non-disclosure vary greatly among different groups. For example, 42% of gay or bisexual men said they had sexual contact without disclosure, compared with 19% of...

<p>WASHINGTON - An unusual coalition of lawmakers is pressing President Bush to increase global spending on AIDS by hundreds of millions of dollars this year alone.</p> <p>The Bush administration has budgeted $780 million for the global AIDS fight this year. Thursday, however, Republicans in the House Appropriations Committee voted to add $200 million in global AIDS money to an emergency measure for homeland security and military spending. The White House had not asked for the money.</p>