In preliminary data from a study of 162 newly diagnosed HIV-positive men who have sex with men, the Chicago Department of Public Health said that 49 of the men (30 percent) reported crystal meth use in the six months preceding their diagnosis. Meth users were almost twice as likely as non-users (32 percent versus 17 percent) to have been recently infected (within 170 days of the survey). In the six months prior to their diagnosis, the recently infected meth users engaged in unprotected anal intercourse with five times as many partners as did non-users. The CDPH Office of HIV/AIDS Surveillance, which conducted the study with funding from CDC, expects to release the full report by year's end.

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