Miriam study offers new insights on HIV risks

PROVIDENCE – A researcher from The Miriam Hospital presented findings from a study this month at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City that suggest programs to prevent the spread of HIV between men should focus on younger, more recently diagnosed men, as well as binge drinkers and those who use drugs such as methamphetamine.
About half of new HIV infections in the United States are linked to risky sex between men. The Miriam study, led by Dr. Kenneth H. Mayer, an infectious disease physician at The Miriam Hospital and a professor of medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, focused on how to prevent those infections, which are rising after years of decline.
The study included about 200 HIV-infected men who have sex who completed a computerized psychosocial assessment. About half were deemed to be high-risk HIV transmitters; nearly a quarter said they consumed five or more alcoholic drinks daily at least once in the previous three months, and 65 percent used other drugs; 30 percent used methamphetamine. •