Data concerning HIV/ AIDS has been released today by the state Department of Public Health carrying good and bad news.
The report reveals a steady decrease in the number of new cases of people diagnosed with HIV in Connecticut over an eight year period (2002-2009). The bad news: there is a consistent pattern of people living with HIV in Connecticut’s low-income cities such as Hartford and Bridgeport.
The HIV epidemic has had a significant effect on the economically deprived in certain urban neighborhoods. Reports by the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) have shown that people in low-income neighborhoods are more likely to be infected because they live among more people who are infected. In these cases, the CDC reports that it’s possible that people living in such impoverished areas have experienced illegal drugs or had other encounters, putting them at higher risk.
The recent report from the Department of Public Health confirms that towns which are financially fragile hold the highest numbers of people living with HIV. Over the 2002-2009 period, the city of Bridgeport had a total of 592 new cases of HIV, which ranks second highest in Connecticut.
The town with the highest numbers of new HIV cases is Hartford with an astounding total of 747 cases in the past eight years; the percentage of people living with HIV in Hartford compared to all other cities in Conn. is 17%; over the past few years, Hartford has been the poorest municipality in Connecticut.
“In the United States, we haven’t had a history of looking in depth at the association between poverty and HIV,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of HIV/AIDS Prevention for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a recent interview conducted by AP Medical Reporter, Mike Stobbe.
There is still a stigma that exists around HIV/AIDS which prevents some people who live in low socio-economic areas from seeking testing, prevention and treatment services. They either don’t take advantage of the resources because of lack of education, or their towns simply don’t offer these types of service to the public.
A Bridgeport woman says she and her husband have found peace, but it wasn’t easy. She lives in a small two-bedroom apartment in a low-income complex with her four children and husband, who was diagnosed with HIV while in his mid-twenties. Perez is not their real name. In the interest of their children, they did not want to divulge this information.
When she first met her husband, she had no idea he had the disease.
“He looked normal, like a healthy guy,” Mrs. Perez said. “When he told me, I wanted to slap him. I had no idea what this meant for me and for our future,” Mrs. Perez said.
After taking months to think about it, they got married and decided to have their own family.
“The disease is always on the back of my mind, but my love for my husband is stronger,” Mrs. Perez said. “It hasn’t always been easy, but our doctors have been helpful.”
Her husband contracted HIV from a previous sexual experience. Mrs. Perez explained that her husband only has low levels of the HIV virus in his blood, which has allowed her and the children to stay clear of contracting the virus. Mr. Perez is on a daily regimen and seeks counseling frequently. Their family gets tested for the disease every few months.
Health experts conducted a study in Africa in 2000 which suggested that people with very low levels of H.I.V. in their blood are unlikely to spread the virus to others. The results of this study have not been confirmed, but Mrs. Perez and her family are a living example.
The recently released information from the Public Department of Health shows that out of all Connecticut towns, New Haven, which happens to be one of the lowest socio-economic cities, actually had a significant decrease of 23 new HIV cases compared to last year.
Despite an unknown future of the health of her family, Mrs. Perez tries to look on the bright side.
“We’re not a rich family, that’s for sure,” Mrs. Perez said. “But God is good.”
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