High HIV incidence epidemic among men who have sex with men in china: results from a multi-site cross-sectional study.

Background: Recent upsurge of new HIV infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) is a major concern in China. Paucity of national-level information regarding the burden and predictors of this progressive epidemic of new infections called for a multi-centric, timely and comprehensive investigation. Methods: Mixed methods were used to recruit MSM from seven cities in China between 2012 and 2013. Recent and established HIV infections were estimated by Western Blot and BED HIV-1 capture enzyme immunoassay. Syphilis and herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) were also tested. Results: A total of 4496 eligible MSM were recruited. The majority was aged =35 years (77.5%), migrants (60.3%), never married (69.8%), and played receptive role in anal sex (70.5%). The HIV prevalence was 9.9%, and 41.9% were recently infected, with sensitivity/specificity adjusted HIV incidence of 8.9 (95% CI: 7.6-10.2)/ 100 Person-Years. The prevalence of history HSV-2 and syphilis were 12.5% and 8.5%, respectively. Recent HIV infection was associated with having multiple male partners (aOR = 1.4, 95% CI 1.1-1.9), recreational drug use (aOR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.6-3.0), anal bleeding (aOR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.4-3.0), syphilis infection (aOR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.9-4.3) and history HSV-2 infection (aOR = 2.3, 95% CI 1.5-3.3). Conclusion: High rate of recent HIV infection is potentially resulting in progressive deterioration of the overall HIV epidemic among MSM in China. Targeted interventions to address high-risk MSM including those having multiple partners, history of recreational drug use and syphilis or HSV-2 infection seemed to be the need of the hour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]