Dates, Times, and Locations:

There is no need for registration, simply drop by. We look forward to seeing you!
If you have any questions, please contact Ky Coussey:
Email: KCoussey@mednet.ucla.edu
Telephone: 310-794-0448

Details:

Hosted by Los Angeles County HIV Prevention & Planning Committee: Dr. Larkins is the Project Director for "Sexual Acquisition and Transmission of HIV Cooperative Agreement Program (SATH-CAP), known locally as "Project F.L.O.W." Mr. Hucks-Ortiz is the Study Coordinator at the Project FLOW site. Together, Dr. Larkins & Mr. Hucks-Ortiz will be discussing some of the preliminary data from the study and their processes for community-based research in a cross-site cooperative.

Using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) we recruited individuals from a 'core group' of men who have sex with men (MSM) and/or drug users (DUs) in Los Angeles. From this core group, their sex partners were recruited, as well as the sex partners of their sex partners.

Between August 2005 and March 2006, RDS was used to recruit 404 individuals who were MSM and/or DUs (used methamphetamine, cocaine and/or heroin) in Los Angeles or their sex partners. All subjects provided informed consent, an anonymous interview, a urine sample for STI testing (Gonorrhea and Chlamydia) & drugs of abuse, and a venous blood sample for confirmatory HIV testing & Syphilis (RPR). Males were also asked to provide rectal mucosal samples for Rectal Gonorrhea.

The estimated population prevalence of HIV was significantly higher than previous reports however lower estimates were obtained when over sampling of MSM/DU was accounted for, demonstrating the sensitivity of RDS-based estimates to how personal networks are samples. We expect that findings will be useful in study of the sexual acquisition and transmission of HIV and other STIs within drug-using networks and from drug users to non-drug users