Research out of the University Of Toronto indicates the rate of HIV transmission among gay men in Ontario has more than doubled.
Most of the increase was in gay men between 35 and 45 years of age; the study looks at 1996 through 1999.
The researcher, Dr Liviana Calzavara has suggested that safer sex fatigue is one possible reason for the increase.
“These people have been practicing safe sex for over a decade and every once and awhile they’re going to slip, or else because they have been with a regular partner they no longer feel condoms are necessary,” she told the University of Toronto Bulletin. (She is in Australia and can’t be reached.)
Most of the increase is in Toronto and Ottawa.
The U of T report was presented at the recent 13th International AIDS Conference in South Africa.
On the national level, there were more than 4,200 new cases of HIV infection reported last year.
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