Connecting crystal-meth and public perception to Minnesota's rising HIV cases

[MINNPOST, January 29, 2010] Earlier this week, the Minnesota Department of Health announced that the number of people with newly diagnosed HIV in 2009 had increased by 13 percent, marking a 17-year high. The increase was driven primarily by an uptick in the number of cases involving males 15 to 24 years old, 88 percent of whom reported male-to-male sex as the primary risk factor.

Dr. Frank Rhame, an HIV specialist with Allina Medical Clinic, says the new numbers didn't come as a surprise to him.