Emory University researchers unveiled a map documenting HIV rates for gay and bisexual men, revealing those individuals are most at risk for becoming infected in various Southern cities.
The cities with the highest rates included Columbia, South Carolina; El Paso, Texas; Augusta, Georgia; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Jackson, Mississippi. In these cities, more than 25 percent of men who have sex with men (MSM) had been diagnosed with HIV.
According to the report, of the 25 MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) with the highest diagnosed prevalence rates in the United States, 21 were in the South.
Overall, gay and bisexual men are more than 57 times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than other men in the United States, the study authors said.
The report, ” Rates of Prevalent HIV Infection, Prevalent Diagnoses, and New Diagnoses Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in US States, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and Counties, 2012-2013,” is at publichealth.jmir.org/.