HIV/AIDS Numbers Reducing, Infected Living Longer

The Aging Face of HIV/AIDS by Claudia Del Castillo covers the many new faces of HIV/AIDS, older men and women. Most of these people are those who contracted HIV/AIDS in their younger years through drug abuse or unprotected sex. In the article Castillo states "Life expectancy in the first years of the AIDS epidemic was very low. A report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stated that the average age of death for HIV/AIDS in 1991 was between 25 and 44 for men and between 15 and 44 for women. In 1994, death tolls were the highest, topping at 8,339 in New York City alone." With advances in modern medicine doctors have been able to increase the life expectancy by about 15 years; some HIV/AIDS victims may even live well into their 60's.

Later in the article Castillo talks about the spread of HIV/AIDS among the older population, "Recently infected seniors are less common than people who got it at a younger age, accounting for about 16 percent of new infection cases, according to a 2007 CDC report.”

The spread of HIV/AIDS amongst seniors is caused by "risky sexual behaviors." Because many people in this age group do not have to be concerned with pregnancy, no contraceptive measures are taken, increasing the risk of HIV/AIDS.

I found this bit of information to be very intriguing because when one thinks of someone who contracted AIDS, they will usually think of a younger person who is using drugs, not an old man or woman living in a retirement home.

This article was chosen because there is a unit on HIV/AIDS coming up and I thought this would serve as a good prelude to it. AIDS awareness has gone down since the 80's and 90's, but it is always good to be reminded every once and a while that AIDS is still a real epidemic in America and until a cure is found the people who suffered from the disease 20 years ago will still suffer today.

"Edward Shaw has a broad and inviting smile, his glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. He doesn’t look like he’s 70. He talks about his life with ease, even when it comes to disclosing that he has lived with HIV/AIDS for the past 23 years."

For futher reading here is the link to the original article:
http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/01/18/40262-the-aging-face-of-hivaids/