At AIDS 2012, I heard an interesting talk about the use of at home HIV tests, the ones recently approved by the FDA. The study examined test use by high-risk gay men who, as a rule, did not use condoms for anal intercourse. It found that, similar to earlier research on the subject, many of the men were enthusiastic about using the test with casual partners before they had sex. However, it also found out something else...
Several times, potential new partners disclosed the fact that they knew they were infected with HIV as soon as the study participants asked if they'd agree to a test.
In other words, they didn't disclose their status in advance.
This is an interesting wrinkle. I admittedly have worries about people relying on tests that may produce false positives and aren't always accurate during acute infection. However, it hadn't occurred to me that asking a partner to test might help them disclose an infection.
In retrospect, it makes perfect sense. It's easier for someone to disclose if the question of STD status is brought up, rather than being expected to just talk about their status out of the blue. The test provides a clear context for that discussion, and also a potential method of verifying the results.
Hearing that makes me a lot more enthusiastic about a decidedly less than perfect test.
Source: http://std.about.com/b/2012/08/06/ask-cause-they-dont-tell.htm
herpes research 2010 hpv virus symptoms genital herpes dmso cream herpes herpes zoster vaccine
No comments:
Post a Comment