Risky sexual behavior still a growing trend among gay men

Risky sexual behavior continues to be a major concern among certain parts of gay community, according to findings published in the journal BMC Infectious Diseases.

While national health campaigns have been launched to educate people about the dangers of unprotected sex, white homosexual men are still one of the largest at risk populations for contracting HIV.

In an effort to find more methods of preventing the increasing number of gay men contracting this sexually transmitted disease (STD), researchers enrolled more than 500 individuals in a recent study. The participants had been diagnosed with HIV between 2001 and 2009, and included men, women, gay, straight, Caucasian and non-Caucasian individuals.

The team then examined factors that might cause the spread of this virus among the different groups, in hopes of discovering preventative methods specific to these individuals.

Chris Verhofstede, lead author of the study, stated that the results of the trial showed that "a significant number of new HIV infections in the [group] occur as a result of high-risk behavior between young white homosexual men." His team concluded that further research will be needed to "allow the design of more targeted prevention programs focused on this group."

In 2005, an estimated 68 percent of men who tested positive for HIV were those who had sex with other men, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.