Rising Rates of STIs Present Opportunities for Intervention

Data have shown that the presence of a sexually transmitted infection (STI) increases the chance of HIV acquisition when those individuals engage in unsafe sex practices and have contact with people with HIV who have a detectable viral load. The proposed mechanism is damage to epithelial tissue from genital ulcers or a break in the skin increasing the risk for HIV transmission during sex with a person whose HIV is not well controlled. Individuals with