Researchers
Predict HIV Infections in Germany Will Stabilize

New HIV cases may be leveling off for the first time since 2000, reports Bloomberg news.

Researchers in the HIV surveillance unit at Berlin's Robert Koch Institute say they expect about 3,000 new infections of HIV in Germany this year, which is on a par with last year's rates. Gay and bisexual men are expected to account for about 72% of those new cases.

According to Bloomberg, public health officials in Australia, Germany, and the U.S. have all predicted that HIV infection rates would continue to rise among gay males, and the new figures from Germany would run counter to that analysis.

Researchers could not pinpoint the reasons for the new trend, but the data follows stabilized infection rates for other sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis. New syphilis cases have remained consistent in Germany every year since 2004.

Ulrich Marcus, an epidemiologist with the institute, said he thought the STD infection rates were linked to each other. "In my opinion, it's a consequence of the stabilization of other infections," Marcus told Bloomberg. (The Advocate)