The meningitis outbreak in New York City has taken a more serious turn as health officials release new recommendations for sexually active gay men—regardless of HIV status—living in Brooklyn. Details follow. 

As harbingers of trends that are often adopted by the mainstream, gays might really be onto something with the community-accepted but society-taboo practice of open relationships. At least according to a small scienc-y study by the University of Michigan. Details follow. 

Updated Tuesday, March 20, 2:45 p.m. (PST)

Jeanne White Ginder, mother of the late Ryan White, will speak out today against the discrimination in Hershey Trust’s Milton Hershey School’s denial of a student based on his HIV positive status.  Why is this incident hitting too close to home for Ginder? More after the jump.

A new study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases reveals that Gardasil, the HPV vaccine, might also prevent anal cancer in gay men, a group at high risk of developing the disease. 

If you aren't one of the many gays who fetishize taking in a whiff of a partner's armpits, you might want to get into it: a Russian study finds that our noses can tell when a man is infected with an STD. 

Because of treatment options, testing and awareness, the number of deaths attributed to AIDS has fallen below deaths because of chronic Hepatitis C infection. Details follow.

HPV is once again in the news, this time thanks to a study published in this week's Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study, lead by an oncologist at Ohio State University, finds that 72 percent of throat cancer in men can be attributed to the STD. Details follow.

A new study lead by Peter Freeman of Northwestern University unveils the assumed tie between methamphetamine use and an increased risk of HIV infection in young gay and bisexual men. 

As if there weren't already enough reasons to practice safe-sex, yet another arrives courtesy of this week's Morbidity and Mortality Report from the CDC. Details follow. 

New research from the Family Acceptance Project reveals that bullied LGBT youth don't only face a higher risk of depression and suicidal thoughts...they also face higher rates of STD infection. 

Swingers!

From Reuters:

Scientists studying swingers -- straight couples who regularly swap sexual partners and indulge in group sex at organized meeting -- say they have higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) than prostitutes.

Dutch researchers publishing their work in the British Medical Journal showed that older swingers -- those over the age of 45 -- are particularly vulnerable and yet are a group largely ignored by healthcare services.

With estimates that the swinger population could be many millions across the world, the scientists said there was a risk this untreated group could act as an STI "transmission bridge to the entire population.

There’s always been a fringe on the outskirts of gay culture, but a recent Swedish study confirms that a significant portion of men experience pride in catching STDs. The study finds that plenty of young men believe contracting Chlamydia or genital warts is a “badge of honor.”

I guess my belief that STDs are worth concern makes me behind the times.

(via Tressugar)