Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, aka AIM, (http://www.aim-med.org) is the central agency which tests and keeps track of every performer. I spoke to the director, Sharon Mitchell, just recently for a Village Voice column I wrote on the subject (see http://www.villagevoice.com/people/0737,taormino,77775,24.html). HIV rates are drastically lower in the porn population than in the general population. Mitchell says porn stars have a lot more sexual partners yet get fewer STDs compared to others in the same age group. According to her, AIM tests about 2000 people each month, and only 2.8% test positive for an STD. That’s well below comparable national rates: in the U.S., about 22% of people aged 15-24 get an STD each year. (The CDC groups 15-19 year olds and 20-24 year olds. The majority of porn stars are 18-24, which overlaps two age categories.) Mitchell says AIM has treated about 25-30% of performers for HPV and now vaccinates both women and men with the HPV vaccine. Probably the biggest issue is herpes. 90% of Americans have been exposed to HSV-1 (the virus that causes most cases of oral herpes) and more than one in five Americans are infected with genital herpes (most often caused by HSV-2). Mitchell estimates that about 50% of performers have either HSV-1 or HSV-2. Other industry insiders say it's more like 90% (just based on their experience.) Because one can transmit the virus without having any symptoms, it's difficult for even the most scrupulous performers to detect. Lots and lots of them are on Valtrex, which is supposed to suppress the virus, but that doesn't necessarily prevent transmission.

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