Both sex gay bar near 30021

However, the risk of HIV infection may also depend on characteristics of sexual partnerships. Here we study how place-based selection of partners change transmission and the overall efficiency of PrEP.

The Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Alliance Club

We used information about venues visited to meet casual sexual partners clubs, backrooms or saunas to define sexual networks. In simulations, we found similar differences in HIV incidence when the choice of venues visited was not random. However, with the same amount of PrEP, the number of infections adverted could almost double depending on network structure and venues visited by PrEP users.

This study shows that characteristics of the sexual network structure can strongly impact the effectiveness of PrEP interventions. These should be considered further to refine individual risk assessment and maximize the effect of individual-based prevention policies. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licensewhich permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: For the simulation part of this work, 30021 relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Variable used to perform logistic regression and correlation analysis both venue visited are included in a Supporting Information files.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Differences in risk factors for HIV infection [ 2 ] contribute to the variability in the reported ranges [ 3 — 5 ]. In addition to differences in individual risk factors, the network of sexual contacts may change the probability of infection by HIV [ 910 ].

A better understanding of how sexual network structure changes HIV incidence is all the more required as new prevention approaches target all individuals whose personal characteristics put them at high risk. For example, in Western countries, the highly effective pre-exposure prophylaxis PrEP [ 11 — 13 ] is prescribed to MSM with a HIV-positive sexual partner or near bacterial STI or a high number of sex partners or a history of inconsistent condom use or in commercial sex workers [ 1415 ].

Individual risk factors are sex already common in this population, making sexual network characteristics increasingly relevant to explain variation in impact. Place-based social mixing are of importance for communicable disease spread [ 16 ]. The type of venues attended by MSM structures the sexual contact network, determining the pool of possible partners and the type of sexual practice [ 1718 ].

Indeed, large variation in the prevalence of HIV has been reported according to venues attended [ 19 — 22 ]. Here, we aimed at evaluating how the venues visited may affect HIV spread and prevention through differences in the network structure. Then, we used simulations to determine the effect of assortativity in venues attended on HIV dissemination.

Sexual networks were simulated based on these data see Dynamic sexual network modelling and under different assumptions for network characteristics that might be of interest in the epidemic spread see Allocating bar to venues and Effect gay correlation between venues visited. MSM were eligible for the survey if they were at least 18 years old, had had sex with men in the previous 12 months, and could read and speak French quite well.

Eight hundred eighty-six MSM reported socio-demographic data and sexual behavior. For each participant, a blood sample was obtained concomitantly to test for HIV infection. A P-value less than 0. Analyses were conducted with the R software [ 23 ]. S1 Appendix is a data file including variables used in this analysis.