Soliciting sex on the Internet - What are the risks for sexually transmitted diseases and HIV?

Background: Strategies to meet sex partners have been augmented by the Inte rnet. This medium is an environment of potential risk for acquiring or tran smitting sexually transmitted disease (STD), Goal: To document how the Internet is used to find sex partners and what ri sks such activity poses for STD infection. Study Design: Participant observations of 175 chat rooms targeting men who have sex with men (MSM), heterosexuals, and couples seeking sex partners. Results: Findings indicate evidence of past meetings (9% of MSM-room observ ations, 15% of couple-room observations) and solicitation of sex (9% of het erosexual-room observations, 17% of MSM-room observations, 36% of couple-ro om observations) by members of these groups. Safer sex or risk-reduction be haviors were not frequently mentioned, but were sometimes acknowledged thro ugh solicitation of drug-free and disease-free partners, Conclusions: Because people can use the Internet to solicit sex partners, i t is a risk environment for sexually transmitted diseases. The Internet off ers fast and efficient encounters resulting in sexual contact, which may tr anslate into more efficient disease transmission. However, the Internet als o offers many possibilities for innovative technologic approaches to promot e STD and HIV prevention.