Hit by HIV

THE DAILY GLOBE Thursday, February 23rd, 2017

HIT BY HIV ​

by MDS

Between the years 1981 and 1987 in the United States, more than 47,993 people were killed by human immunodeficiency virus, also known as HIV. HIV causes fever, loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue, coughing, ulcers, and sores or swelling in muscles and genitals. Due to the very high levels of heroin use and other injectable drugs, and because of lack of sex education that led to thousands of cases of unprotected sex, an outbreak of this deadly disease caused tens of thousands to die. Most often infecting men who had sex with other men from ages 19 to 40, this outbreak caused rampant homophobia, some people claiming that HIV was “god punishing gay people” (see Table 2) Rates of LGBT+ hate crimes increased greatly and many gay people were denied access to basic healthcare and were not allowed to donate blood.

After many years, HIV is still occurring, though at lower rates, and at almost a quarter of the death rate. This is because of clean needle programs, which provide disposal of used syringes and needles, drug education, rehabilitation, and clean needles and syringes. There has also been an increase of comprehensive sex education, stressing the importance of safe sex and covering not just heterosexual/cis intercourse. All blood is now tested for HIV before transfusions occur, and those who test positive are restricted from donating blood and organs. Though we still have not found a cure for HIV, there are many preventative medicines, called Zidovudines, which restrict the onset of AIDS and lower symptom risk.

The reproduction ratio or R-0 of HIV is 2 to 5. This means that on average one infected person will get 2 to 5 others infected. Because this rate is above 1, it is rising at an exponential rate, and is very dangerous. Though the R-0 now is lower than that of the 1980s, it is still above 1, meaning we are still in the midst of a hyperendemic. A

hyperendemic occurs when a high percentage of a certain population is infected and when the disease is permanently affecting that group. Though there will likely be a cure, or a vaccine in the future, we do not currently have one, so it is assumed that HIV will affect young drug users and men who have sex with men (MSM) until, or if, we find a cure.

Even today, homophobia is highly linked with HIV/AIDS. MSM are still not allowed to donate blood, even if they test negative for HIV. As you can see in Table 2, (left) there are also many people who still believe that HIV is a reason of god punishing gay people, even though HIV does not only affect homosexuals. We need to do everything we can to prevent another outbreak like that that happened in the 80s. I suggest increasing government funding for needle sharing programs, creating federal laws that require comprehensive sex education in all states, and increasing federal protections against LGBT hate crimes and discrimination.