Health News
2005-09-22
HIV rate
relatively unchanged in West Virginia
In West Virginia,
65 new HIV cases were reported in the first six months
of 2005, compared with 139 cases for all of last yea
In West Virginia,
65 new HIV cases were reported in the first six months
of 2005, compared with 139 cases for all of last year, said
Loretta Haddy, the state's epidemiologist. Ten of the
27 West Virginians diagnosed with HIV so far this year
are ages 20 to 29. According to the state's HIV and
sexually transmitted disease program's Web site, the
number of new cases peaked in 2003 at 158.
West Virginia
University, which treats HIV patients in Morgantown and
Wheeling, saw 30 new cases during the first six months of
this year, compared with 41 new cases in all of
2004—though those figures may not reflect the
number of cases already reported to the state and likely
include people from neighboring states.
"Clearly,
something needs to be done beyond education," said Arif
Sarwari, an infectious disease specialist and director of
WVU's Positive Health Clinic. "We're now dealing with
a generation that hasn't seen people die of HIV and
AIDS the way people did in the last two decades," said
Sarwari. "The impact of the message decreases when you
don't have a direct exposure to the effects of HIV."
Haddy called for
strong education about risky behaviors like unprotected
sex, indiscriminate sex, and injection drug use. (AP)
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