Highest HIV level in western Europe, well done Ireland.

boredatwork82 wrote: »

It's grand lads. It's just like chicken pox, you can only get it once.

Oh dear...stop being bored at work and consult doctor google.

No wonder AIDS is spreading in Ireland.

Natural selection.

QuintusFabius wrote: »

So it's mainly the MSM community?

That's the fake news alright.

I dont know if it mainly is but it undoubtedly disproportionately affects the gay community, its because HIV is passed much easier through anal sex than vaginal sex.

El_Bee wrote: »

I've had this argument before, I think Prep is a huge step in the wrong direction. As good the intentions were of the people who created the drug, it is grossly misused and is essentially a party drug, allowing people to have unprotected sex with less consequences, however, the issues caused by this are

1)Prep reduces the chances of HIV infection, it does not protect against any other STI, meaning greater transmission rates (gonorrhea and chlamydia especially)

but worse

2)HIV, like all viruses, has stronger and weaker strains, Prep reduces the infection rate, but does not fully prevent transmission, the stronger version of HIV get through and propagate, and the weaker ones are prevented and die off, it doesn't take an evolutionary biologist to realize how dangerous that is.

The original article in the OP is dangerously stupid, HIV rates were dropping because of education, condom uses massively reduced infection rates, these rates are rising again partly due to Prep, but also a resurgence in hookup culture, with apps like Grindr being hugely responsible, but I guess there's not much to be done about that.

I'd rather get the other STI's you mentioned than HIV.

dav3 wrote: »

There are many ways to reduce the risks:

• Practice safer sex – use condoms consistently when having vaginal, anal and oral sex. Check out our guide to using condoms.
• Try to avoid contact with body fluids such as semen during sexual contact, and don’t share fingers, hands or sex toys.
• Remember that some sexual practices which may be described as ‘safer’ in terms of HIV transmission might still be risky for transmission of other STIs like syphilis or Hepatitis A.
• Get tested regularly. Keep in mind that it is possible to have an STI and show no signs or symptoms. Testing is available free of charge in many public hospitals.
• Vaccinations are available for Hepatitis A and B free of charge from your STI/GUM clinic.
• There is a post-exposure treatment available for HIV and Hepatitis B. Details of this are in the section on PEP.
• If using drugs, do not share any drug using paraphernalia.
• Educate yourself, know the risks, and take responsibility for your sexual health.

I have a problem with lists like this.

It's politically correct, and it's also inaccurate.

Let's go through the items one by one.

Practice safer sex – use condoms consistently when having vaginal, anal and oral sex. Check out our guide to using condoms.

HIV is primarily transmitted via receptive anal sex. This is the reason HIV disproportionately affects gay men and women.

Oral sex has virtually no HIV risk.

Receptive vaginal sex is low risk - roughly 1 in 1000 risk from a one night stand if the male is HIV+ and he doesn't use a condom.

What are the odds the heterosexual male you're with is HIV+? Absolutely tiny.

Hence why vaginal sex one night stands are low risk.

So while the advice is fine (use condoms), it's dancing around the issue somewhat.

It would be better if it focussed more on never having unprotected receptive anal sex with someone unless you know their status.

It also doesn't deal with who you have sex with. If you look at HIV infection statistics, it skews heavily towards people from Africa or African descent.

Again, I understand these are politically incorrect facts, but if we really want to reduce transmission, we need to start being honest about how it is most commonly transmitted.

Saying "it affects everyone" ignores the fact that risk varies by sex act and by race.

To summarise:

Let's say 1 in 10,000 Irish (white) heterosexual men have HIV.

Let's say 1 in 20 South African heterosexual men have HIV.

You are a female who has unprotected sex with both men.

Your risk with the Irish man is 1000 * 10000 = 1 in 10,000,000.

Your risk with the South African man is 1000 * 20 = 1 in 20,000.

Big difference.

It should also be noted HIV almost always requires repeat exposure and exposure to a high viral load. That means there is a huge difference between a one night stand compared to sleeping with the guy every day for one year. (This is why almost all HIV transmission happens between partners rather than one night stands - one night stands are statistically lower risk).

HIV medication, when used correctly, make the viral load undetectable, which makes it almost impossible to pass on the virus. That means it's safer to have 100 one night stands with a HIV+ man on his medication, versus a one night stand with a HIV+ man not on medication.

Try to avoid contact with body fluids such as semen during sexual contact, and don’t share fingers, hands or sex toys.

You won't get HIV from any of this. Theoretically, maybe, but the risk is virtually zero.

Remember that some sexual practices which may be described as ‘safer’ in terms of HIV transmission might still be risky for transmission of other STIs like syphilis or Hepatitis A.

Why not tell people which sexual practices are safer instead of being too scared to offend gay people.

Get tested regularly. Keep in mind that it is possible to have an STI and show no signs or symptoms. Testing is available free of charge in many public hospitals.

Fair.

Vaccinations are available for Hepatitis A and B free of charge from your STI/GUM clinic.

This has nothing to do with HIV.

There is a post-exposure treatment available for HIV and Hepatitis B. Details of this are in the section on PEP.

If using drugs, do not share any drug using paraphernalia.

Educate yourself, know the risks, and take responsibility for your sexual health.

Fair.

In summary:

Be more cautious if you have sex with someone of African descent.

By avoiding anal sex, you drastically reduce your risk.

If you're heterosexual, especially a heterosexual male, you don't really need to worry too much about HIV, as the risk is quite low, but you do need to worry about things like chlamydia and gonorrhoea, as they are everywhere. So it makes sense to use a condom until you know your partner's status.