Correspondence on 'HIV transmission and previous PrEP awareness and use in men who have sex with men in Brighton, UK

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective HIV prevention strategy for people at-risk of HIV, including men who have sex with men (MSM). Studies from the USA/Australia describe MSM who had recently seroconverted had used PrEP inconsistently or had faced barriers to accessing and taking PrEP.1 2 We aimed to assess prior PrEP awareness and access in MSM with newly diagnosed HIV between 2017 and 2020. We identified 59 MSM, including 1 transgender man, who were newly diagnosed with HIV. The median age was 42 years (IQR: 31–50), the majority were of white ethnicity (54/59, 91.5%) and most were UK born (55/59, 93.2%). Twenty-four out of 59 (41%) had a concurrent bacterial STI and 23/59 (39%) reported recreational drug use (4/59 (7%) reporting intravenous drug use). Thirty-five out of 59 (59%) had not attended our sexual health service prior to their HIV diagnosis. Of the...

Source: Sexually Transmitted Infections - August 22, 2022 Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Norcross, C., Fitzpatrick, C., Richardson, D. Tags: PostScript Source Type: research