Serosorting
Serosorting (pronunciation: /ˈsɪəroʊˌsɔːrtɪŋ/) is a practice often used in the context of HIV prevention, where individuals select sexual partners or engage in specific sexual activities based on their HIV status. The term is derived from the word 'sero-', referring to blood serum, and 'sorting', meaning to arrange or classify.
Etymology
The term 'serosorting' is a combination of 'sero-', from the Latin word 'serum', referring to the clear portion of the blood that separates out after clotting, and 'sorting', from the Old Norse 'sort', meaning type or kind. The term was first used in the context of HIV prevention in the late 1990s.
Practice
Serosorting is a strategy used by some individuals, particularly men who have sex with men (MSM), to reduce their risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV. It involves choosing sexual partners who share the same HIV status, or modifying sexual behavior based on a partner's status. For example, an HIV-positive individual might choose to have sex only with other HIV-positive individuals, or an HIV-negative individual might choose to have sex only with other HIV-negative individuals.
Effectiveness
The effectiveness of serosorting as a strategy for preventing HIV transmission is a topic of ongoing research. Some studies suggest that it can reduce the risk of HIV transmission, but it is not a foolproof method. The effectiveness of serosorting can be compromised by factors such as inaccurate knowledge of one's own HIV status, the timing of HIV testing, and the possibility of other sexually transmitted infections.
Related Terms
- Seroconversion: The period of time during which HIV antibodies develop and become detectable.
- Serodiscordant: A term used to describe a couple in which one partner is HIV-positive and the other is HIV-negative.
- Seroprevalence: The number of persons in a population who test positive for a specific disease based on blood serum (serology) specimens; often presented as a percentage of the total specimens tested or as a rate per 1,000 persons tested.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Serosorting
- Wikipedia's article - Serosorting
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