By: Dr. Réjean Thomas, CEO and Founder of Montreal’s Clinique l’Actuel
For this column, Gay Globe sent reader questions to Doctor Thomas and here are our expert’s answers:
According to Wikipedia, 15% of gay men in Western countries are HIV positive. Do you think this is a realistic number or is it an exaggeration?
That was the reality back then, but I haven’t seen any recent stats. In addition, we do not really know yet the impact of PrEP on gay men.
An interesting source of statistics for Canada is the Catie Network which mentions that “According to national HIV estimates, 62,050 Canadians were living with HIV at the end of 2018. This means that 167 out of 100,000 people in Canada were HIV positive (prevalence rate). 8,300 people were living with HIV without knowing it (undiagnosed cases) at the end of 2018. This represents 13% of the estimated number of people living with HIV. 1,169 new HIV infections in Canada were among gbMSM in 2018.
This represents 52.2% of all new HIV infections. This estimate included 1,109 new HIV infections among men who had sex with men, and 60 new infections among men who had injected drugs and had sex with other men. other men.
gbMSM are disproportionately affected by new HIV infections in Canada. They represent 52.2% of all new HIV infections, yet they represent only 3-4% of the adult male population in Canada.
We often talk about getting tested for HIV, as well as for other STBBIs, but how does a complete screening examination actually go?
A complete screening examination goes far beyond the simple search for sexually transmitted diseases. We start with a blood test to look for HIV, hepatitis or syphilis. PCR samples for gonorrhea or chlamydia follow, it is important to sample from all sites such as the throat, anus, urethra and cervix in women.
A physical examination is sometimes necessary in the presence of certain symptoms such as herpes, condyloma or the presence of swollen glands. It is also necessary to exclude testicular cancer, which is most common in young men between 15 and 29 years old.
The number of men diagnosed with testicular cancer is low before puberty, but increases significantly after age 14. It peaks around age 30 and slowly declines until about age 60. It is very important to include these examinations on a routine basis.