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U.S. reaches disappointing milestone in AIDS epidemic
Billings Gazette ^ | June 13, 2005 | Associated Press

Posted on 06/13/2005 9:24:57 PM PDT by Graybeard58

ATLANTA -- The United States has reached an AIDS milestone, but not the one the government intended.

This was to be the year that federal health officials slashed the country's annual rate of 40,000 new HIV infections in half. Instead, the government said Monday the infection rate has remained the same and that for the first time since the height of the epidemic in the 1980s there are 1 million Americans living with HIV.

In part, it's a testament to the powerful medicines keeping so many people alive. After nearly a quarter-century of battling AIDS, much more is known about the disease than ever before -- and how to treat it.

But U.S. health officials face problems similar to the early days of the epidemic, including a new generation of Americans who engage in risky, unprotected sex and the inability of a government to curb the spread of the virus.

"In the earlier days of the AIDS epidemic, we didn't know how to get AIDS under control. I think now we do, but we're watching a textbook case of not implementing a good plan," said Julie Davids, spokeswoman for the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project.

Advocacy groups like Davids' say there's not enough federal money behind public awareness campaigns and other prevention programs. They accuse the government of politically motivated efforts that emphasize abstinence over condom use.

Health officials say HIV and sexually transmitted diseases have recently spread through outbreaks in major cities as many gay and bisexual men have let down their guard after enduring years of safe-sex messages. The new estimates indicate that, as in recent years, blacks still account for a disproportionately high share of the cases -- about 47 percent.

"We have not halved the rates of new infections. But we do think we are making progress," said Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, deputy director of the CDC's National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention as the National HIV Prevention Conference got under way.

It was Dr. Robert Janssen of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who announced a campaign in 2001 to "break the back" of the epidemic by reducing the rate of new HIV infections to 20,000 a year by 2005.

Today experts believe the government's campaign was such a failure that instead of chopping in half the number of new HIV infections, it has increased to 60,000 new cases per year.

"The U.S. has had a clear failure in HIV prevention -- I think the increase in prevalence is a reflection of that, of the poor job we do in HIV prevention," said Dr. Carlos del Rio of Emory University.

But the government says what the country faces now is not failure but a challenge. Having more than 1 million Americans living with HIV means that more people are living longer.

To Valdiserri, that means working with those who have HIV to make sure they know not to pass the virus to others. The CDC also wants to focus on the nearly 300,000 people who have the virus but don't know it.

More than a quarter of the people living with HIV have not been diagnosed, the CDC estimated, and some apparently don't want to know. Valdiserri noted that nearly a third of those who tested positive at CDC-sponsored sites around the country did not return for the test results.

An upcoming scientific paper from CDC officials says the majority of new infections have been transmitted by those with HIV who don't know they are infected, Valdiserri said.

Estimating the number of Americans with HIV has always been a difficult task for health officials, but this year's figures are believed to be the most accurate ever thanks to wider case reporting.

In the 1990s, the CDC and other agencies generally agreed that between 600,000 and 900,000 people had the virus, according to the University of California-San Francisco's Center for HIV Information. The number in the mid-1980s was probably around 1.2 million, experts believe.

The latest numbers, from 2003, indicate gay and bisexual men make up 45 percent of those living with HIV. The racial breakdown indicates 58 per 100,000 in the black population, 10 per 100,000 Hispanics, 6 per 100,000 whites, 8 per 100,000 American Indian/Alaska native population, and 4 per 100,000 Asian/Pacific Islanders.

The CDC also warned those demographics may soon change because heterosexual blacks, women and others infected after having high-risk sex (such as with someone with HIV, an injection-drug user or a man who has sex with other men) now account for a larger proportion of those living with HIV than those who are living with full-blown AIDS.

"We're seeing more infections, that's the bad news. But the good news is many of us are living longer," said Terje Anderson, who was diagnosed with HIV eight years ago and AIDS four years ago. He now serves as executive director of the National Association of People Living with AIDS.

"It just points out how far we still have to go in really dealing effectively with this in this country. Maybe passing the million mark will drive home that this thing is getting bigger and it's not going away."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aids; gaydisease; grid; hiv; homosexual; homosexualagenda
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Yep, if the government would only throw some more money at it the problem would go away and then people could live any deviant life style they so choose.

It's their RIGHT to do so!

It's right there in the Constitution somewhere.

1 posted on 06/13/2005 9:24:57 PM PDT by Graybeard58
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To: Graybeard58

Gee, there are more HIV/AIDS cases than there are U.S. casualties in Iraq. How about that.

"Don't ask, don't tell."


2 posted on 06/13/2005 9:27:23 PM PDT by ReadyNow
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To: Graybeard58
In the earlier days of the AIDS epidemic, we didn't know how to get AIDS under control. I think now we do

We knew then too. Nothing's changed. The solution is the same now as it was then.

This crap has me talking to myself. I'd better go to bed.

3 posted on 06/13/2005 9:28:31 PM PDT by Graybeard58 (Remember and pray for Spec.4 Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
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To: Graybeard58

It's probably all that safe oral sex the liberals keep pushing on our kids. They don't tell the children the truth that the HIV virus goes right through the pores of a condom.


4 posted on 06/13/2005 9:30:34 PM PDT by Ron in Acreage (It's the borders stupid! (ours, not theirs!))
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To: Graybeard58

Was abstinence and/or monogamy mentioned as a viable solution? I doubt it. That's no fun. I guess they prefer AIDs.


5 posted on 06/13/2005 9:33:41 PM PDT by Ron in Acreage (It's the borders stupid! (ours, not theirs!))
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To: Graybeard58
"The U.S. has had a clear failure in HIV prevention -- I think the increase in prevalence is a reflection of that, of the poor job we do in HIV prevention"

There's plenty of info available. The only failures in prevention are the people who know the risks and still don't give a flying squirrel.

6 posted on 06/13/2005 9:34:46 PM PDT by dbwz (2A Sister)
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To: John Valentine; agere_contra; All

==In part, it's a testament to the powerful medicines keeping so many people alive.

If you want to know what the US government isn't telling you about the real cause of AIDS:

http://www.duesberg.com/papers/chemical-bases.html

How the generals in the War on AIDS duped Americans into believing HIV causes AIDS:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1414748/posts

To learn about the social engineering/socialized medicine goals behind "The War on AIDS" see the following:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1395003/posts


7 posted on 06/13/2005 9:41:02 PM PDT by BringBackMyHUAC
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To: Graybeard58
The high price of celebrating perversity.

The good news is that AIDS is gradually eliminating that dirty little sub-culture which enjoys special rights and status in our country. The bad news is that you and I pay the cost of AIDS research and medicines with our tax dollars.

8 posted on 06/13/2005 9:41:13 PM PDT by TheCrusader
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To: Graybeard58

Makes one wonder, If it wasn't a "protected disease/lifestyle" maybe it might be controlable, if not nearly totaly preventable.


9 posted on 06/13/2005 9:41:43 PM PDT by Not now, Not ever! (This tagline is temporarily closed for re-modeling)
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To: Graybeard58

====In part, it's a testament to the powerful medicines keeping so many people alive.

These so-called powerful medicines kill innocent children!

http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/data/pdazt.htm

And they are still being used in conjunction with other toxic drugs!:

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is the combination of several antiretroviral medications used to slow the rate at which HIV makes copies of itself (multiplies) in the body. A combination of three or more antiretroviral medications is more effective than using just one medication (monotherapy) in the treatment of HIV.

The use of three or more antiretroviral medications is currently the standard treatment for HIV infection, sometimes referred to as an anti-HIV "cocktail." So far, this treatment offers the best chance of preventing HIV from multiplying, which allows your immune system to stay healthy. The goal of antiretroviral therapy is to reduce the amount of virus in your body (viral load) to a level that can no longer be detected with current blood tests.

Antiretroviral medications that are often used to treat HIV include:

Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), also called nucleoside analogs, such as zidovudine (ZDV, formerly AZT) and stavudine (d4T). These medications are often combined for best results.

Nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), such as efavirenz, nevirapine, or delavirdine mesylate.
Nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors, such as tenofovir.

Protease inhibitors (PIs), such as saquinavir mesylate, ritonavir, indinavir sulfate, nelfinavir mesylate, amprenavir, or lopinavir/ritonavir.

Fusion inhibitors, such as enfuvirtide. This is a new class of drugs for treating HIV.

Link:

http://aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/hw/health_guide_atoz/tm6421.asp?navbar=hw151411


10 posted on 06/13/2005 9:45:53 PM PDT by BringBackMyHUAC
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To: Graybeard58
Skip Navigation Links
go to: C D C home page; logo: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Safer, Healthier, People
spacer image
spacer image spacer image go to: C D C Home Page go to: Search C D C go to: C D C Health Topics A to Z
go to: C D C - Divisions of H I V / AIDS Prevention Home Page; logo: H I V / AIDS Prevention National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention
Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention

2003 Surveillance Report  |   Home   |   Index   |   Search   |   Site Map   |   Subscribe

Table 17. Reported AIDS cases, by age category, transmission category, and sex, cumulative through 2003—United States

Males Females Total



Cumulative Cumulative Cumulative
2003 through 2003a 2003 through 2003a 2003 through 2003a






Transmission category No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

Adult or adolescent  
Male-to-male sexual contact 15,859 48 401,392 55 – – – – 15,859 35 401,392 45
Injection drug use 4,866 15 156,575 21 2,262 20 61,621 38 7,128 16 218,196 24
Male-to-male sexual contact
     and injection drug use
1,695 5 57,998 8 – – – – 1,695 4 57,998 6
Hemophilia/coagulation disorder 74 0 5,130 1 11 0 318 0 85 0 5,448 1
Heterosexual contact 3,371 10 40,947 6 5,234 45 70,200 43 8,605 19 111,147 12
  Sex with injection drug user 477 1 10,930 1 985 9 24,148 15 1,462 3 35,078 4
  Sex with bisexual male 0 0 0 0 223 2 4,402 3 223 0 4,402 0
  Sex with person with
     hemophilia
7 0 80 0 16 0 465 0 23 0 545 0
  Sex with HIV-infected
     transfusion recipient
24 0 505 0 37 0 705 0 61 0 1,210 0
  Sex with HIV-infected person,
     risk factor not specified
2,863 9 29,432 4 3,973 34 40,480 25 6,836 15 69,912 8
Receipt of blood transfusion,
     blood components, or
     tissueb
111 0 5,219 1 108 1 4,076 2 219 0 9,295 1
Other/risk factor not reported
     or identifiedc
7,274 22 62,217 9 3,946 34 27,181 17 11,220 25 89,399 10
Subtotal 33,250 100 729,478 100 11,561 100 163,396 100 44,811 100 892,875 100
Child <13 yrs at diagnosis)
Hemophilia/coagulation disorder 0 0 227 5 0 0 7 0 0 0 234 3
Mother with the following risk
     factor for, or documented,
     HIV infection:
61 87 4,232 88 70 85 4,317 95 131 86 8,549 91
  Injection drug use 6 9 1,643 34 11 13 1,645 36 17 11 3,288 35
  Sex with injection drug user 8 11 784 16 6 7 741 16 14 9 1,525 16
  Sex with bisexual male 0 0 95 2 2 2 102 2 2 1 197 2
  Sex with person with
     hemophilia
1 1 21 0 0 0 15 0 1 1 36 0
  Sex with HIV-infected
     transfusion recipient
0 0 11 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 27 0
  Sex with HIV-infected person,
     risk factor not specified
18 26 705 15 18 22 737 16 36 24 1,442 15
  Receipt of blood transfusion,
     blood components, or
     tissueb
0 0 73 2 0 0 83 2 0 0 156 2
  Has HIV infection, risk
     factor notspecified
28 40 900 19 33 40 978 21 61 40 1,878 20
Receipt of blood transfusion,
     blood components, or tissue
1 1 244 5 1 1 143 3 2 1 387 4
Other/risk factor not reported
     or identifiedd
8 11 80 2 11 13 98 2 19 13 178 2
Subtotal 70 100 4,783 100 82 100 4,565 100 152 100 9,348 100
Total 33,320 100 734,261 100 11,643 100 167,961 100 44,963 100 902,223 100

a Includes persons with a diagnosis of AIDS, reported from the beginning of the epidemic through 2003. Cumulative total includes 1 person of unknown sex.
b AIDS developed in 46 adults/adolescents and 3 children after they received blood that had tested negative for HIV antibodies. AIDS developed in 14 additional adults after they received tissue, organs, or artificial insemination from HIV-infected donors. Four of the 14 received tissue or organs from a donor who was negative for HIV antibody at the time of donation.
c Includes 36 adults/adolescents who were exposed to HIV-infected blood, body fluids, or concentrated virus in health care, laboratory, or household settings, as supported by seroconversion, epidemiologic, and/or laboratory evidence. One person was infected after intentional inoculation with HIV-infected blood. For an additional 361 persons who acquired HIV infection perinatally, AIDS was diagnosed after age 13. These 361 persons are tabulated under the adult/adolescent, not the pediatric, transmission category.
d Includes 5 children who were exposed to HIV-infected blood as supported by seroconversion, epidemiologic, and/or laboratory evidence: 1 child was infected after intentional inoculation with HIV-infected blood and 4 children were exposed to HIV-infected blood in a household setting. Of the 178 children, 23 had sexual contact with an adult with or at high risk for HIV infection.

2003 Surveillance Report  |   Home   |   Index   |   Search   |   Site Map   |   Subscribe

Last Updated : March 8, 2005
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention
Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention
Contact Us

11 posted on 06/13/2005 9:53:24 PM PDT by mdittmar (May God watch over those who serve,and have served, to keep us free.)
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To: dbwz
...and still don't give a flying squirrel.

Or gerbil, as the case may be.

Cheers!

12 posted on 06/13/2005 10:00:25 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: Not now, Not ever!

I might come out here saying it's all hollywood but you are hurting as am I.The answers you know complement the signs we've both seen.Being a woman you have invested much thought in little innocent ones who are supposed to reach future.
HIV today and something awaiting us tomorrow.
Closer to shore as if we don't know.Info is not the answer. The continual beat of sexuality on children is something we should be concerned with;On PBS/ Lions, Between the lions,with Dr, Ruthshimer talking to little kids about anything? Sirius prod-uctions.There's no end to this madness the kid shows are like entrees to someone else's career on SNL and they teach this to Kids?


13 posted on 06/13/2005 10:15:31 PM PDT by noodler
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To: Graybeard58
I still don't understand all the hype for something affecting only one million people. To top it off, it is totally preventable.

Maybe they will find a cure for AIDS in the stem cell research that Arnold pushed for.

14 posted on 06/13/2005 10:22:35 PM PDT by dc27
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To: Not now, Not ever!

I might come out here saying it's all hollywood but you are hurting as am I.The answers you know complement the signs we've both seen.Being a woman you have invested much thought in little innocent ones who are supposed to reach future.
HIV today and something awaiting us tomorrow.
Closer to shore as if we don't know.Info is not the answer. The continual beat of sexuality on children is something we should be concerned with;On PBS/ Lions, Between the lions,with Dr, Ruthshimer talking to little kids about anything? Sirius prod-uctions.There's no end to this madness the kid shows are like entrees to someone else's career on SNL and they teach this to Kids?


15 posted on 06/13/2005 10:25:32 PM PDT by noodler
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To: noodler

Early ,before they go to school,a nice parady of history,dumass puppet suits and sets for very young with dialogue quite mature.Certainly quotes from whatever they ridicule but mixed with a sketch they were supposed to do for edu' purpose.


16 posted on 06/13/2005 10:45:27 PM PDT by noodler
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To: Ron in Acreage

>>
They don't tell the children the truth that the HIV virus goes right through the pores of a condom.
<<

HOLY CRAP!?!

I gotta stop dating demoRATS.


17 posted on 06/13/2005 10:57:10 PM PDT by noblejones
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To: EdReform; backhoe; Yehuda; Clint N. Suhks; saradippity; stage left; Yakboy; I_Love_My_Husband; ...

Homosexual Agenda Ping.

I WASN'T going to ping another article out, but I will likely be very busy tomorrow and can't let this one slip by.

Amazing tripe. Very simpe solution - chastity until marriage, fidelity within marriage. Ta da! Look at Uganda, turned AIDS infections around.

As far as "men having sex with men" - AIDS isn't the only horrible illness they give each other. And no one is born "gay".

Freepmail me if you want on/off this pinglist.


18 posted on 06/14/2005 12:20:30 AM PDT by little jeremiah (Resisting evil is our duty or we are as responsible as those promoting it.)
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To: little jeremiah

SIT DOWN, KEEP YOUR MOUTH CLOSED AND DONT SHOOT UP.


19 posted on 06/14/2005 3:22:51 AM PDT by ncountylee
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To: Not now, Not ever!

Exactly. But, the gays persist in trying to ram their "normalcy" down the throats (now, there's an ugly thought) of "straight" America. They can't have it both ways, although it seems that's what the bisexual deviants want...


20 posted on 06/14/2005 4:41:37 AM PDT by astounded (We don't need no stinkin' rules of engagement...)
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