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Choice of Partner, Sex Act Key in HIV RiskNEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Choosing a sex partner who has tested negative for HIV (news - web sites) is one of the most effective ways of protecting against contracting AIDS (news - web sites), but other measures can also substantially reduce HIV transmission, according to researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) (CDC).
The investigators used past research data and mathematical models to quantify the risks associated with different sex acts and disease prevention tactics. They found that well-known measures, including using a condom or having lower-risk types of sex, slashed HIV risk on their own. But combining prevention efforts worked even better, particularly for gay and bisexual men.
The risk of HIV infection appears lowest when a person chooses a partner who has tested negative for HIV and has oral sex using a condom, according to Dr. Beena Varghese and colleagues at the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia. In contrast, the risk of HIV is highest when a person receives anal sex from an HIV-positive partner without using a condom. In this scenario, the chances of contracting HIV are 5 in 1,000, according to findings published in a recent issue of the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases. The researchers note that while this risk might seem low, it reflects the risk each time a person performs the act, leading to a high risk over time. As expected, condom use alone cut HIV risk for heterosexual and homosexual men and women--by 20 times overall, the report indicates. As for individual, unprotected sex acts, being on the receiving end of oral sex carried the lowest risk, while receiving vaginal sex was high-risk, and anal sex was even more risky. Logically, having sex with an HIV-positive partner substantially raised a person's HIV risk, but so did having sex with someone whose HIV status was unknown, as opposed to being verified as negative. Taking just one preventive measure significantly cuts HIV risk for heterosexual men and women--to between 2 and 10 in 10 million per sex act, according to the researchers' estimates. But for gay and bisexual men, who face an increased HIV risk, two safe-sex tactics may be necessary to see such a drop in transmission risk, the investigators found. Varghese and colleagues add that while their findings may be "intuitively obvious," it is important to understand the different HIV risks associated with different behaviors. "We hope that people use this information to choose a combination of risk-reduction behaviors they will be able to sustain," the authors conclude. SOURCE: Sexually Transmitted Diseases 2002;29:38-43. |
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