Interesting article

I saw that news in AM NY, and could not help think to myself that the neighborhoods compared are likely not the same size in terms of population.

"City neighborhoods with highest rates of new infections in 2014:

Bedford Stuyvesant - Crown Heights- 162

Chelsea - Hell’s Kitchen-140

Central Harlem - Morningside Heights-130

Crotona - Tremont-110

High Bridge - Morrisania-96"

Source: Health Department

http://www.amny.com/news/new-hiv-infections-in-nyc-highest-in-brooklyn-s-bed-stuy-and-crown-heights-1.11444342

Regardless, I do hope they target outreach and services to those who need it most.

Given the needs of Brownsville and ENY, I'm kind of surprised that neither was among the top 5 NYC neighborhoods.

I'm assuming that the transmission patterns in NYC are pretty consistent with those in this statement:

"HIV transmission patterns have shifted over time.  Most new HIV infections occur through male-to-male sexual contact (63% in 2010) – an additional 3% of infections occurred among men who have sex with men (MSM) with a history of injection drug use – a smaller share than earlier in the epidemic. However, new infections among

MSM increased between 2008 and 2010.⁴  Heterosexual sex has accounted for a growing share of transmissions over time, representing 25% of new infections in 2010.  New infections due to injection drug use have declined significantly over time and accounted for 8% of new infections in 2010.^4,5 "

Concretely, HIV infection seems mostly closely tied to using a condom and clean needles.  The AM NY article makes me optimistic.    Here's a section:

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, an assistant commissioner at the Health Department, said he thinks the city will hit its target of 600 infections by 2020. The greatest success has been in lowering the infection rate in New Yorkers who inject drugs.

The introduction of PrEP, a medication that helps prevent contracting HIV, is expected to significantly lower the number of New Yorkers diagnosed with HIV each year.

“Over the last three years, new technology has emerged that allows us to offer these same people who might not be able to adhere to condoms the option of doing something else that would prevent HIV,” said Daskalakis.

Warren said the interest in PrEP helps bring in people who may not have been insured and are at risk of HIV into the health care system.

“HIV testing is really the gateway into which we can deliver treatment and prevention,” he said.

ACRIA HIV counselor Mark Milano, 59, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1982, said while the virus is not a death sentence anymore due to new treatments available today, stigma and shame remains a major problem.

“The difference between 25 years ago is that people said I have HIV, and I’m going to die,” he said. “In the eighties and nineties, we were all kind of in this together, and now it’s divided into two camps. The gay men I speak with are terrified of getting HIV because of the stigma. It’s not about life span.”

yup.

I'm interested in how effectively PrEP reduces transmission among the subset of individuals who continue to engage in behaviors that put them at risk, yet are willing to take the pills..