Next Time Somebody Gives You Crap About HIV In Porn

No (hetero) talent infections since 2004

How many times have you heard, "The government ought to crack down on that porn industry, because they're one of the major spreaders of HIV"?

Well, guess which city's got HIV in epidemic proportions? Hints: It ain't L.A., it ain't San Francisco, it ain't New York City and it ain't Detroit.

"The US capital is being ravaged by an epidemic of HIV/AIDS, with African-American men and people aged 40-49 the hardest hit by the deadly virus, a report showed Monday," reported a story on Google News. "At the end of last year, three percent of all Washington residents over the age of 12 had the HIV virus that causes AIDS or the full-blown disease itself, a report by the city's department of health said."

While HIV infection in the U.S. is difficult to track, because citizens are not required to undergo HIV testing, nor are they required to self-report infections, Centers for Disease Control-funded studies done by the George Washington University School of Health and Health Services have revealed of the approximately 600,000 D.C. residents, about 18,000 — 3% — are infected with the HIV virus. The CDC considers an infection rate above 1% for any disease to be an "epidemic," and the District's rate is "higher than West Africa" and "on par with Uganda and some parts of Kenya," reported Shannon L. Hader, director of the District's HIV/AIDS Administration.

"Our rates are twice as high as New York City and five times as high as Detroit,” Hader compared, adding she wasn’t aware of a city with a higher infection rate. 

According to the report, 10% of the city's residents aged 40-49 are infected; 70% of those infected are males, while white and Hispanic women account for just under 1% of the total infectees. Nearly 40% acquired their infections through homosexual contact, 28% through heterosexual transmission, and 18% through intravenous drug use.

By contrast:

 "As far as any adult industry performers through our offices, there have been no documented cases in several years," reported Brooke Hunter of Adult Industry Medical healthcare Foundation. "The last outbreak we had was Darren James in '04."

She noted that AIM mostly tests performers from the hetero side of the industry.