Originally posted on Quora February 25, 2022
In 2014, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men accounted for 83% of primary and secondary syphilis cases where sex of sex partner was known in the United States.
On comparison with the data on the STD profiles of the heterosexual males who visited our clinic during the same 6 years period, it was seen that syphilis was four times more common in MSM (6.25% in heterosexual males vs. 27% in MSM) and gonorrhea was three times more common in MSM (4.1% in heterosexual males vs. 11% in MSM).
This is a point of contention in third world developing countries where HIV and STD rates in general are higher than in developed countries but they have less healthcare resources to respond to the epidemics. Hence, why countries like Uganda and Kenya are extremely intolerant of male homosexuality to the point of criminalization. While the method might be draconian it is not without a rationale. Anal sex/sodomy is much more dangerous than vaginal intercourse and several magnitudes more likely to cause HIV transmission.
“A meta-analysis exploring the risk of HIV transmission through unprotected anal sex was published in 2010.1 The analysis, based on the results of four studies, estimated the risk through receptive anal sex (receiving the penis into the anus, also known as bottoming) to be 1.4%. (This means that an average of one transmission occurred for every 71 exposures.)”
“A meta-analysis of 10 studies exploring the risk of transmission through vaginal sex was published in 2009.4 It is estimated the risk of HIV transmission through receptive vaginal sex (receiving the penis in the vagina) to be 0.08% (equivalent to 1 transmission per 1,250 exposures).”
“HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men (sometimes referred to as MSM) in Uganda was an estimated 13% in 2013, the most recent data available.”
Much higher compared to the general population
The epidemic is firmly established in the general population. As of 2018, the estimated HIV prevalence among adults (aged 15 to 49) stood at 5.7%