Results from a recent test in North Carolina have revealed the first recorded outbreak of AIDS in a college-student demographic. The test results were reported last week in San Francisco at the 11th annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.
The test, instituted in November 2002, is reportedly a new and faster way to find out if someone is HIV positive. It takes six to eight weeks for antibodies to show up in the bloodstream and up to three months for the antibodies to test as HIV positive.
“What we do with this new test is take blood that has tested negative for antibodies and pull 100 samples, then test for viral RNA. In this way we are able to test a large number of samples quickly and cheaply,” said Peter Leone, medical director of the North Carolina Sexually Transmitted Disease Program. “If any one sample comes back positive, then we test each sample individually.”
Although some believe this new test is a faster way to get results, not everyone is entirely convinced the test is an improvement.
“It may identify someone 10 days earlier than an antibody test, but in my view that’s not significantly earlier,” said Jim Vergeront, M.D., director of the Wisconsin AIDS Program and the Wisconsin Division of Public Health. “About 37 percent of new HIV reports in state are from individuals who have AIDS at that time or who will develop it in 10 months and who have been infected for 10 years or more. The real push is to diagnose people who don’t realize that they are HIV positive.”
Vergeront added that there are an estimated 8,000 HIV positive people in Wisconsin, about 6,000 of whom have been identified. This in turn leaves approximately 2,000 people who do not know they are HIV positive.
“The important point is to find the people who are infected, but not aware, so that they can get tested and get the proper referrals. People engaging in high-risk behavior should get tested,” Vergeront said.
Many people think the epidemic discovered in North Carolina could be representative of the United States as a whole.
“I would think that if you conducted the same test at the University of Wisconsin, you would find similar results, although I would hope not,” Leone said.
Students agree that this is not an isolated problem.
“The epidemic is not unique to the University of North Carolina, but the study was based here,” said Adam Rodman, a UNC student and staff writer for the student newspaper The Daily Tar Heel who has been covering the epidemic in recent articles.
The test results showed that an overwhelming proportion of those who tested positive for HIV were gay black men, but many students seem oblivious to the epidemic, according to Rodman.
Many experts say it is difficult to make students engage in safer sexual activity because they often see themselves as invincible. In addition, many students do not identify themselves as gay or bisexual and may ignore messages directed at these groups.
“Anyone who is sexually active is at risk for diseases,” Leone said, adding that many young adults are still trying to figure out who they are sexually, which is not always easy, depending on individual backgrounds. “There are people who don’t respond to messages directed at gays or bisexuals because they don’t perceive themselves as such.”
Although the only absolute method of protection is abstinence, a college demographic will typically contain sexually active students.
“Clearly, abstinence is the safest way of protecting yourself from disease, but if you’re 21 or 22, abstinence might not be something you’re willing to live by,” Leone said. “The reason that universities are at high risk for epidemics is that an individual’s pool of sex partners is right there, defined by the campus. Once the disease has been transmitted, everyone on campus is at a higher risk.”
