HIV Infections Soar Among Gay, Bisexual Men in the South

New research from Emory University breaks down HIV transmission in the U.S. by geography, and the results for gay and bisexual men are pretty shocking.

The study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research found that, in 2012, six Southern states had rates higher than 15 percent of men who have sex with men (MSM) who had been infected with HIV.

In the same year, at least one in four MSM were diagnosed with HIV in the five major Southern cities: Jackson, Mississippi; Columbia, South Carolina; El Paso, Texas; Augusta, Georgia; Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Jackson had a rate as high as 40 percent.

“By pinpointing where HIV strikes the hardest, we have a key piece of the puzzle highlighting the largest disparities within states and the South,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control.