Does HIV infection increase male sexual behavior?
| Autor: | Maxfield M. G. Kelsey, Philip T. Starks, David Rosania, Wayne M. Getz |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
medicine.medical_specialty Health Toxicology and Mutagenesis Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Medicine (miscellaneous) medicine.disease_cause Virus 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Risky sexual behavior Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) Medicine AcademicSubjects/MED00860 030212 general & internal medicine Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics business.industry Public health Disease progression AcademicSubjects/SCI01130 acute early stage medicine.disease AIDS 030104 developmental biology host Sexual behavior manipulation parasite Commentary business Viral load Clinical psychology |
| Zdroj: | Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health |
| ISSN: | 2050-6201 |
| Popis: | After 40 years of intense study on HIV/AIDS, scientists have identified, among other things, at risk populations, stages of disease progression and treatment strategies. What has received less attention is the possibility that infection might elicit an increase in sexual behavior in humans. In 2000, Starks and colleagues speculated that HIV infection could alter host behavior in a manner that facilitated the spread of the virus. Retrospective and self-report data from five studies now support this hypothesis. Individuals with acute—versus nonacute—stage infections report more sexual partners and more frequent risky sex. Additionally, male sexual behavior increases nonlinearly with HIV viral load, and data suggest a potential threshold viral level above which individuals are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior. Taken together, these data suggest that HIV infection influences male sexual behavior in a manner beneficial to the virus. Here, we present these findings, highlight their limitations and discuss alternative perspectives. We argue for increased testing of this hypothesis and advocate for increased public health measures to mitigate the putative impact on male sexual behavior. Lay Summary In 2000, Starks and colleagues speculated that HIV infection could alter host behavior in a manner that facilitated the spread of the virus. Retrospective and self-report data from five studies now support this hypothesis. We argue for increased testing of this hypothesis and advocate for increased public health measures to mitigate the putative impact on male sexual behavior. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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