World AIDS Day: Light To Unite

[ladygreek]

Another statistic: Every hour 2 youths/teens contract HIV.

[1savvydiva]

Originally posted by ladygreek
Another statistic: Every hour 2 youths/teens contract HIV.

WHOOOOAAAA!

I must say, I watched the MTV special over the weekend, and it kinda made me depressed. I'm like dag...you are NEVER safe, even when you are married! *SMH*

[MaMaBuddha]

my prayers go out to all my friends that have unfortunately died of this dreaded disease.

[CrimsonTide4]

Michael Carter

African-Americans, Latinos and gay men bear the brunt of new US HIV infections

HIV continued to spread in the US in 2002, according to figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in advance of World AIDS Day.

Data gathered from 29 US states with confidential name-based HIV case reporting revealed that new diagnoses rose by over 5% between 1999 and 2002, a total of 102,590 new cases, with African Americans, Latinos, and gay men being the communities most affected by increases.

It is not possible to say exactly how many people in the US are HIV-positive as not all US states collect appropriate data (unlike the United Kingdom), but it is estimated that between 950,000 and 850,00 people in the US are HIV-positive.

African Americans
In 2002 the rate of HIV cases for African Americans (58.7 per 100,000) was the times greater than that seen in whites (5.9 per 100,000), and three times greater than that seen in Latinos (19.2 per 100,000).

Figures from the CDC also revealed that HIV was the third leading cause of death amongst African Americans aged 24 – 44, and although African Americans comprise only 12% of the total US population, they accounted for 55% of new HIV diagnoses seen in 2002.

Latinos
Latinos provided just under 12% of new HIV diagnoses between 1999 and 2002. However, the CDC believe that the extent to which Latinos are affected by HIV is underestimated as several states with large Latino populations were not included in the current analysis.

Late diagnosis of HIV was more common amongst Latinos than either African Americans or whites, with studies suggesting that Latinos are the group most likely to have an AIDS defining condition at the time of their diagnosis or to develop one within a year of their HIV infection being detected.

Gay men
Between 1999 and 2002, over 43,000 new HIV infections were diagnosed in gay men in the 29 states contributing data. These new data support findings from 25 states issued earlier this year which showed an increase in syphilis amongst gay men. The investigators believe the rise in syphilis cases signals an increase in the amount of unprotected anal sex gay men are having. “Such increases in risky behavior may be the result of complex prevention challenges such as treatment efficacy – the belief that HIV is no longer a deadly disease because of improvements in treatment – and prevention burnout – the difficulty of maintaining safer sex behaviors for a lifetime” comments the CDC.

”Even with this still-incomplete picture of HIV infection in America, it’s clear that we still face enormous challenges in continuing to confront the AIDS epidemic” said Harold Jaffe, director of the CDC’s HIV prevention programmes. He added that greater efforts must be made to encourage people who were unaware of their HIV infection to test and receive appropriate treatment. It’s estimated that of the 850,000 – 950,000 Americans living with HIV, approximately 180,000 – 280,000 don’t know that they are infected.

Reference
Source. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly. Volume 52, November 28th, 2003.

[CrimsonTide4]

AIDS Infection Upsurge Seen in Black Male College Students
Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Author: DANIEL Q. HANEY, AP Medical Editor

SAN FRANCISCO (February 10, 2004 6:08 p.m. EST) - A sudden, surprising increase in HIV infections has been discovered among male black college students in North Carolina, and officials fear the same is probably happening across the South.


The upsurge is driven by young men having risky sexual encounters with other men. Typically they do not consider themselves to be gay or bisexual and may even have girlfriends, as well.

"It's a public health emergency. I don't know any other way to put it," said Dr. Peter Leone, HIV medical director at the state Health Department.

The increase was first noticed in late 2002, and officials now believe it began in mid-2001 and is still continuing.

The high rate of AIDS infection among U.S. blacks has been one of the most striking difficulties of AIDS prevention.

Blacks are 11 times more likely than white Americans to get AIDS. Even though they make up 12 percent of the population, they account for 39 percent of AIDS cases and 54 percent of new HIV infections.

Among black men, like whites, the leading cause of infection is sex with other men. Experts have long lamented the high rate of risky sex among gay black men. Poverty is often listed as a strong contributor, so the new findings among relatively well-off college students were unexpected.

"We are very concerned about it," said Dr. Ron Valdiserri, deputy HIV chief at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Most Americans would not think about college students as a high-risk group."

Indeed, a CDC study on 10 campuses in the 1990s found a very low infection rate.

The North Carolina data were presented Tuesday in San Francisco at the 11th Annual Retrovirus Conference.

Also at the conference, officials presented newly gathered data on HIV infections in New York City. Overall, 1 percent of the city's population carries the virus, including 4 percent of men in their 40s.

Nationwide, an estimated 900,000 people have HIV. The CDC says that in recent years infections have risen somewhat among gay men of all races and fallen slightly among women.

The North Carolina researchers found 84 newly infected male college students over the past three years, 73 of them black. Only one black student admitted using injected drugs, and just two said they had sex only with women. The rest apparently were infected through sex with men.

"The concern is this is our best and brightest within the minority population who are coming down with a lifelong and potentially lethal infection," Leone said.

The researchers said they suspect a similar upsurge may be occurring among black male college students across the South.

"We have no reason to think this is limited to North Carolina," said the CDC's Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick.

Leone said HIV appears to have been recently introduced among black college students. People are much more likely than usual to pass on the virus through sex during their first weeks of infection, and this might explain why so many students have caught it.

When the students were questioned, three-quarters said they thought they were not at high risk of HIV, despite frequent anal intercourse without condoms with different male partners.

"Part of it is message fatigue," Leone said. "They've grown up hearing this thing. It's old stuff to them. They just ignore it."

Another possible factor may be an especially intense stigma against HIV and homosexuality in the South, making the students less likely to discuss their sexual identity or consider themselves gay.

"We have a very marginalized group," he said. "They don't identify with the messages targeted to gay white men."

Medical Editor Daniel Q. Haney is a special correspondent for The Associated Press.


Copyright © 2004 AP Online

[SummerChild]

I'd like to add to the statistics that HIV/AIDS is seriously on the rise AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. We have one high school here in Chicago that has a significant population of HIV/AIDS students. These students are not just getting it from adults; they are getting it from other teenagers too.

SC

[SummerChild]

<<After receiving the vaccine, black volunteers had 78 percent fewer infections, and non-Hispanic minorities had 67 percent fewer infections, than a control group, the study found.>>

Can someone explain to me how you can have a group get 78 % fewer infections? How are these tests being done? Surely the "volunteers" are not people w/out HIV/AIDS that are being exposed to see if they become HIV positive.

I can't understand. Can someone help me out on how these tests are done?

SC

[Sistermadly]

Originally posted by SummerChild
Can someone explain to me how you can have a group get 78 % fewer infections? How are these tests being done? Surely the "volunteers" are not people w/out HIV/AIDS that are being exposed to see if they become HIV positive.

I'm not a scientist, but I saw a documentary on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) about gay men and AIDS activists who volunteered to test the vaccine, and this is exactly what they did. Some received the vaccine, some received a placebo, and they all went "out to play". At the time the documentary was done, only something like 30% of those tested - placebo AND vaccine - remained HIV negative.

These people were brave and deeply committed to seeing an end to this pandemic. Talk about a truly heroic and selfless gesture.

[CrimsonTide4]

CROI: HIV RNA Screening Uncovers HIV Outbreak Among Black College Students
By Charlene Laino

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- February 12, 2004 -- A North Carolina HIV RNA screening program is credited with uncovering an outbreak of HIV among black male college students -- and the researchers say they fear the same may be happening elsewhere.

Lisa B. Hightow, MD, MPH, an infectious diseases fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented the findings here on February 10th at the 11th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI).

Beginning in November 2002, North Carolina's Screening and Tracing Active Transmission (STAT) Program added HIV RNA screening of blood samples from STD and HIV clinics and to all public voluntary counseling and testing for detection of HIV antibody-negative acute HIV infections, Dr. Hightow said.

In December 2002 and January 2003, five acute infections were detected -- two in male students at the same college. Their initial antibody tests were negative, but both students were found to be positive using the HIV RNA test, she reported.

Further RNA testing led to the detection of a total of 84 cases in male college students ages 18 to 30 years, she said. Of the total, 88% of the students were black, and 91% were men who have sex with men or men who have sex with both men and women.

Most of the 84 students had initially tested negative on the HIV antibody test, according to Dr. Hightow.

Compared with other newly HIV-infected individuals, college men were three times more likely to be actively bisexual, nearly twice as likely to meet sex partners at gay clubs, four times as likely to meet partners over the Internet, and nearly six times more likely to use ecstasy or other club drugs, the study showed. But they were about 80% less likely to have exchanged sex for drugs or money.

While the study involved only males, women are probably at risk too, Dr. Hightow said. The findings "are a wake-up call" to step-up preventive efforts among young people, she added.


[Study title: Transmission on Campus: Insights From Tracking HIV Incidence in North Carolina. Abstract 84]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@Summer Child, AIDS is definitely a big factor in high schools. Those kids sleep around a lot. In the next 5 years, I can see the age demographic dipping drastically down into the junior high and middle school groups.

[CrimsonTide4]

Half of Young Americans to Get Sex Diseases -Study
Tue Feb 24, 2:53 PM ET Add U.S. National - Reuters to My Yahoo!


By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Half of all young Americans will get a sexually transmitted disease by the age of 25, perhaps because they are ignorant about protection or embarrassed to ask for it, according to several reports issued on Tuesday.



The reports, publicized by two nonprofit sexual and youth health groups, said there were 9 million new cases of STD among teens and young adults aged 15 to 24 in 2000.


They said the U.S. government's policy of preferring abstinence-only education would only increase those rates.


"For the 27 million young Americans under the age of 25 who have had sex, the stakes are simply too high to talk only about abstinence," James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, said in a statement.


"Given the prevalence of STDs, young people need all the facts -- including medically accurate information on condoms."


The reports, released jointly by Advocates for Youth -- a nonprofit group advocating for sex education, and the sexual health-oriented Alan Guttmacher Institute, pull together information from several different publications.


They include a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) report in the latest issue of the journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, and a University of North Carolina report based on interviews with teens and young adults.


"Approximately 18.9 million new cases of STD occurred in 2000, of which 9.1 million (48 percent) were among persons aged 15 to 24," the CDC report reads.


It said three diseases -- human papillomavirus or genital wart virus, a parasitic infection called trichomoniasis and chlamydia -- accounted for 88 percent of all new cases of STDs in 15- to 24-year-olds. Wart virus is the major cause of cervical cancer while chlamydia can cause infertility.


POTENTIAL CAUSES


The CDC report did not comment on potential causes, but the Guttmacher Institute did.


"It is not surprising that teens and young adults contract a disproportionate number of infections," said Guttmacher's Sharon Camp. "Most young people are sexually active, and many are ill equipped to prevent STDs or seek testing and treatment."


She said sex education that includes information on condoms is vital to preventing STDs.


"Although abstaining from sexual activity is guaranteed to prevent STDs, some adolescents and virtually all young adults will eventually choose to have sex," Camp said.


"Before they do, they need realistic sex education that teaches them how to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancies. It is essential to have medically accurate information about condoms and other contraceptive methods, and guidance on how to access appropriate prevention, testing and treatment services."


Teens 15 and older who have had sex have the highest STD rates of any age group in the country, and the United States has the highest STD rate of any industrialized country, according to CDC and World Health Organization (news - web sites) figures.


The University of North Carolina report attacked federal policies that encourage abstinence-only education.





"Abstinence is, of course, the only 100 percent effective prevention strategy," Shawn Carney, a 17-year-old member of the UNC youth panel, said in a statement.

"But with 70 percent of young people having sex by the age of 18, we need to hear about more than abstinence. We need to know how to prevent STDs when we do have sex later in life."

[9dstpm]

There was a very good Lifetime movie that came on Sunday called "She's Too Young." It was about a 14 year old girl and her two friends who experiment with sex with older guys and they all wind up contracting syphillis (I don't know if I spelled that right) from these guys. It was kinda shocking to see how cavalier their attitudes were. One girl was like, "Oh, I had it but I got a shot so I'm all cured." But she goes right on having unprotected sex. I wanted to scream, "YOU IDIOT!!"

I read that same article in the paper about the infection rates of STD's of young people. It was scary. Even the kids I work with have this same cavalier attitude. "Oh, if I get it, I can get a shot or take some pills and I'll be OK." I wish I could take some of those kids to the AIDS hospice here and let them see firsthand that there are some things that Ajax can't get rid of, to borrow a phrase from Grandmama.

[CrimsonTide4]

Top Story:Inaccurate Claim of High HIV/AIDS in Black Girls
Date: Thursday, March 04, 2004
By: CHRISTINA ROYSTER-HEMBY BlackAmericaWeb.com

An article in the Flint, Mich. Journal last week caused a stir in the HIV/AIDS community when it reported that "the group with the highest rate of new [HIV] infections is African-American girls between 11-14."

But in fact, the only thing that may be true about this article is that it is fictitious.

The article, published on Sunday, Feb. 29, also reported that these girls are mostly infected by boys ages 14 to 19. But according to a White House spokesman, the White House, which was cited as the source for the article, "has no record of these new stats."

Extensive efforts on the part of BlackAmericaWeb.com to corroborate the statistics through other sources proved fruitless.

The reporter who broke the story said that the information came from a press release dated December that was found online. When pressed, however, he could not produce the document.

Another health care insider, who did not wish to be quoted, said that typically the White House does not send out press releases. Such statements generally are issued from specific agencies and departments.

"I don't know where this information came from," Tony Jewell, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

In fact, "We [HHS] would like to know," said Jewell. "But the Centers for Disease Control and Information does indicate that HIV/AIDS is serious concern for the African-American community, at all age levels.

"It is a concern that we at the department and Centers for Disease Control take seriously."

Karlie Stanton, spokeswoman for the CDC, said most children under 13 with HIV would have contracted it immediately before or after birth.

While the CDC does not report HIV cases, this information can be examined from the number of AIDS diagnoses reported in all children in two categories: children less than age 13 and children between the ages of 13 and 14.

"In children less than 13 years old, there were 92 people diagnosed with AIDS in 2002. And that number has gone down for the last five years," Stanton said. It is down from 238 cases in 1998.

Furthermore, according to the CDC, of the 92 new diagnoses in 2002, 58 were black. But, of the total, no diagnosis is attributed to contracting the disease through sexual activity.

Among children ages 13-14, AIDS diagnoses did, in fact, increase from 54 in 1998 to 76 in 2002. However, those statistics include all children, male and female, of all races and ethnicities, not just black girls ages 11-14. The CDC does have statistics on that particular group.

According to Stanton, the total number of AIDS cases reported in 2002 for black females was 7,353, with less than half of that number attributed to infection through heterosexual sex.

CDC records show that the overall number of female adult and adolescent AIDS diagnoses due to heterosexual contact has increased from 6,300 cases in 1998 to 7,476 cases in 2002.

But if the CDC does not track new HIV infections, and the Flint Journal article lists a rising rate of HIV infections among black girls ages 11 to 14, where did this information come from?

Further inquiry uncovered that the Flint Journal reporter's source is YOUR Center, a Flint, Mich. agency focused on HIV prevention. A YOUR Center employee sent Flint Journal reporter Marlon Vaughn an e-mail asking Vaughn to cover the center's basketball tournament held to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in Flint and Genesee County, Mich.

The e-mail included the tournament's press release, which began with the alleged White House statistic. The employee said the release was an article published by the CPSA Courier, a small, community-based publication in Flint.

But according to Barbara Richmond, an advertising saleswoman for the CPSA Courier, the article was not published in the CPSA Courier. She said the information came from YOUR Center.

Betina Campbell, the executive director of YOUR Center, said that the statistics given to the Flint Journal were based on information she received from the White House Faith- Based and Community Initiative Conference that was held in Memphis last October.

Campbell also said that she verified these facts with the CDC, although she could not remember who she spoke to there.

A representative for the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives said the information in the article is incorrect.

Vaughn later explained that the YOUR Center employee who sent the e-mail to the Flint Journal might have reported incorrect information.

"It appears that there was a big mix-up with YOUR Center -- the AIDS resource group -- about those stats," Vaughn said. "The spokesman who sent me the e-mail might not have had his information correct."

Danielle Perry, an Outreach Specialist for Women's Collective in Washington, D.C., said the statistics recorded in the Flint Journal article didn't quite add up.

"[It] could be right, I'm not sure. But to me, [the increase in HIV cases] would be that age and up: 14 to 40,” Perry said. “There are a few girls here who are infected, but not that many.

"The youngest client that we have with HIV contracted the disease perinatally."

Debbie Rock, executive director of the Baltimore Pediatric HIV Program and member of the President's Advisory Council for HIV and AIDS, said frightening misinformation about HIV and AIDS can be detrimental to efforts to educate people and ultimately slow the epidemic.

"I would hope folks would really check their sources before they put information out," said Rock. "Stigma still exists in 2004. It's the reason why people are not getting tested. We're just now getting to the point where we're having dialogue about good choices.

"All 11- to 14-year-olds are not having sex or are infected with HIV. That's a fragile age group -- they don't deserve that. We're trying so hard to get people to feel comfortable. We just don't want to scare people."

[ykimber]

Want free tickets for Beyonce? Alicia? Just take this HIV test . . .
Program focuses on high-risk groups like young blacks

Lynette Clemetson, New York Times

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Nicole and Chalome Bergan had given up any hope of attending the hottest concert around, a show featuring Grammy winners Beyonce, Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott. But five hours before the concert began on Friday night, the sisters learned that they were getting in. Free.

All they had to do was brush a salty cotton swab around in their mouths and answer some very personal questions about sex.

The sisters were winners in a program called Rhythms for Health, which doles out concert tickets to fans willing to be tested for HIV. The testing, being conducted along with the Ladies First tour in 14 cities in the next month, is one of several programs nationwide that are taking HIV testing to places like amusement parks, church parking lots and neighborhood fairs to reach people who might not otherwise be tested.

"We're strongly encouraging people to think very creatively about outreach," said Dr. Robert Janssen, the director of the Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "It's a real opportunity to get to people who may be at high risk and not know they are infected."

Organizers of the promotion believe that linking testing to the Ladies First concerts -- shows that are heavy on girl power and that draw young, predominantly black hip-hop fans -- is a sure way to reach a few major at- risk groups.

Though blacks make up only 12 percent of the U.S. population, they make up roughly 54 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases, a recent study by the disease centers showed. And blacks account for 72 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases among women. In a separate agency study of teenagers infected with AIDS, roughly 51 percent were black.

To reduce the numbers, the Black AIDS Institute, a national education organization and sponsor of Rhythms for Health, in the last year has offered HIV screening at Six Flags amusement park in Dallas and conducted HIV testing at the annual conventions of the National Urban League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

"What this is about is integrating HIV awareness into the fabric of our social, cultural and political lives," said Phill Wilson, director of the Black AIDS Institute. "It's about reaching black people where they are, as opposed to asking them to go somewhere else."

For most of those who trickled in to the Rev. Samuel Delevoe Community Center on Friday, it was all about seeing the performers.

"I like Beyonce, she likes Alicia," said Nicole Bergan, 23, pointing to her sister, who is 22. "We wanted to get the tickets."

As for the HIV testing, the sisters, who were being tested for the first time, were somewhat blase. "I didn't think I had it," said Nicole, a preschool teacher. "So I figured why not. Everyone should get tested. And I knew all the information anyway."

But when the sisters sat for a chat with Wilson and he started rattling off statistics -- such as the fact that AIDS is now the No. 1 killer of black women between the ages of 24 and 44 -- they conceded that they might not know as much as they had thought.

"I thought it was breast cancer," Nicole said, perplexed.

"No, it's AIDS," Wilson answered.

The testing session also attracted others who assumed they had nothing to worry about. Bryant Germain, 18, of Fort Lauderdale, who agreed to let a reporter sit in during his confidential testing session, looked a little embarrassed at some of the questions a counselor asked him, but he said he felt good about his answers.

"How much have you engaged in unprotected sex in the past year?"

None.

"Have you ever used a needle to take drugs?"

No.

"Are you bisexual?"

No.

Having gotten all that out of the way, Germain had a question of his own. "Can you get it from mosquitoes?"

Though the 15-minute testing session was painless, Germain left without a ticket. Because winners were selected by lottery, not all of the roughly 50 people who showed up for testing by midafternoon got tickets.

Those tested here on Friday are to pick up their test results on April 2. In other cities, tests that can provide results in as little as 20 minutes will be given. The tests are all conducted by local health officials, and those tested must give their names, addresses and telephone numbers so the health workers can follow up if the result is positive.

Rhythms for Health is modeled after a program started in 2001 called Fighting HIV Through R&B. Tony Wafford, a community activist based in Los Angeles who started the program, estimates that he has helped as many as 12, 000 blacks get tested.

Of those, roughly 400 tested positive for HIV. The youngest was a 14-year- old girl in Seattle, the oldest a 68-year-old woman in Philadelphia, said Wafford, who turned to the Black AIDS Institute to help expand the program.

"I'm no doctor or epidemiologist," Wafford said. "I'm not a homosexual, I don't have a brother or anyone who has died of AIDS. I'm not making quilts or burning candles. I'm just someone who gives a damn."

[CrimsonTide4]

I am glad they did this and will continue to do this. . .

We're strongly encouraging people to think very creatively about outreach," said Dr. Robert Janssen, the director of the Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "It's a real opportunity to get to people who may be at high risk and not know they are infected."

Organizers of the promotion believe that linking testing to the Ladies First concerts -- shows that are heavy on girl power and that draw young, predominantly black hip-hop fans -- is a sure way to reach a few major at- risk groups.

"I'm no doctor or epidemiologist," Wafford said. "I'm not a homosexual, I don't have a brother or anyone who has died of AIDS. I'm not making quilts or burning candles. I'm just someone who gives a damn."

Thanks Kim for passing this story on.

[preciousjeni]

Originally posted by CrimsonTide4
1st AIDS Vaccine in Large Test Found to Be Mostly Ineffective
By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 24, 2003; Page A02

The vaccine appeared to be effective, however, in a subgroup of recipients, notably African Americans. Among them, 2 percent who received the vaccine became infected with HIV, compared with 8.1 percent who were given the placebo -- a statistically significant difference. When Asians and mixed-race volunteers were added to the group of blacks -- totaling, in all, about 500 of the 5,000 volunteers -- the protective effect was nearly as strong.

I'm sorry but, WTH?? People in the study were given a placebo (which is normal) but they were subjected to the virus???? How much did they get paid for THAT??