title: HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men in Istanbul.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The re-emergence of the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) represents a serious health issue. This study aimed to assess the HIV prevalence among MSM in a very low prevalence population of a large city.
  
  
  METHODS
  A public campaign to raise awareness of HIV infection and to provide access to anonymous testing was conducted in places frequented by MSM and through a mobile phone application. No identity information was requested from individuals contacting the call centre, and anonymous and free HIV testing was offered proactively. Those who agreed to have a test were provided a code number, which was used in blood sampling procedures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 1200 subjects who contacted the call centre, 197 consented to undergo HIV testing and visited the laboratory to give a blood sample. Twenty-five subjects were found to have a reactive ELISA result on two different occasions plus a positive Western blot test result. Thus, the HIV prevalence in this group of MSM was 12.7%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MSM remain a high risk group for HIV infection in a low prevalence setting, and thus represent a key target population for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Goztepe Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: fatmasargin2002@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Fatma
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sargin
authors.affiliation: Private Gelisim Laboratories, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Safak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goktas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D015995:Prevalence; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Demographics; Epidemiology; HIV (human immunodeficiency virus); MSM (men who have sex with men); Prevalence