HIV hits new Highs in Tennessee

My home state is getting hit hard with HIV cases at record speed.

Thirty years after the nation’s first reported cases of AIDS, Tennessee is seeing a surge of infections among its young people. Medical successes mean the fear factor isn’t what it used to be. But people having unprotected sex are spreading mutations of the HIV virus that resist life-prolonging drugs.

“We here at the clinic are seeing an influx of college-age patients coming through our doors,” said Victoria Harris, director of education for the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Center, which specializes in HIV treatment. “That has us all very concerned.”

Between 2005 and 2009, the number of Tennesseans 15 to 24 years old newly diagnosed with HIV jumped 32 percent, state health department figures show, while other age groups as a whole declined slightly.

And here's more hard news:

In Tennessee, 645 black people were diagnosed with HIV in 2009,more than double the 300 white people newly diagnosed.

Black men on the “down low,” who keep secret about having sex with other men, and the higher incarceration rate for black men are factors for the spread of the disease among African-American women, said Alcendor and Sanders.

“There are certain things that happen in prison that men won’t talk about,” Alcendor said.
The HIV incidence rate for black women was nearly 15 times as high as that for white women and nearly four times as high as Hispanic women’s, according to a CDC report.

There are actions being taken to prevent further infections in Tennessee. Many health officials are stunned by the numbers. I have to say I'm shocked as well. The people who are getting infected are so young. There has to be better education to slow this madness down. And there has to be a stronger outreach to the communities of color. If not, things won't get better at all... I can't believe this is happening at home. I really can't.

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