HIV prevalence, testing and treatment among men who have sex with men through engagement in virtual sexual networks in Kenya: a cross-sectional bio-behavioural study.

Introduction: In Kenya, men who have sex with men (MSM) are increasingly using virtual sites, including web-based apps, to meet sex partners. We examined HIV testing, HIV prevalence, awareness of HIV-positive status and linkage to antiretroviral therapy (ART), for HIV-positive MSM who solely met partners via physical sites (PMSM), compared with those who did so in virtual sites (either solely via virtual sites (VMSM), or via both virtual and physical sites (DMSM)).

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional bio-behavioural survey of 1200 MSM, 15 years and above, in three counties in Kenya between May and July 2019, using random sampling of physical and virtual sites.