Incidence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Among Male-to-Female Transgendered Persons in San Francisco

OBJECTIVE: To estimate HIV incidence among male-to-female transgendered persons (MtF transgendered persons) who repeatedly tested for HIV antibodies at public San Francisco counseling and testing sites between July 1997 and June 2000. METHODS: HIV seroconversions were identified and person-time of observation were estimated using the date and result of the current test and the self-reported date and result of the previous test. Factors independently associated with HIV seroconversion were determined using multivariable proportional hazard analysis. RESULTS: HIV incidence was 7.8 per 100 person-years (95% confidence intervals CI, 4.6-12.3) based on 13 seroconversions among 155 repeat testers with 167.7 person-years of observation. African-American race/ethnicity (adjusted relative hazard ratio HR, 5.0; 95% CI, 1.5-16.2) and unprotected receptive anal intercourse (HR, 3.9; 95% CI, 1.2-13.1) were independent predictors of HIV seroconversion. CONCLUSIONS: HIV is currently spreading at an extremely high rate among MtF transgendered persons in San Francisco, especially those who are African Americans.