Survey shows HIV infection is on the rise in WI

There has been a recent rise in HIV infections in the Fox Valley area, according to a study conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services AIDS/HIV program.

The study looked at three counties in northeastern Wisconsin: Winnebago, Calumet and Outagamie. There were 28 HIV infections identified between Dec. 1, 2008 and Sep. 30, 2009. In comparison, 11 cases were identified in the previous 10-month period.

Jim Vergeront, director of the Wisconsin AIDS/HIV Program, said that nationally there is a rise in HIV infections, especially in young gay men.

Vergeront thinks that the cause for the rise is due to abstinence-only sex education and ignorance on how HIV is spread.

"There is an attitude that it is a chronic manageable disease," he said. "A lot of people don't do long-term health thinking."

Over the last decade, the number of HIV cases of young men who have had sex with men, ages 19-29, has increased 162 percent. However, the number of cases of older men who have had sex with men ages 30 and up, has remained level.

In 2009, there were 443 cases of HIV infections reported in Wisconsin, the study said. The majority of those cases, 68 percent, were men who had sex with men.

Liz Cannon, director of the LGBTQ resource center on campus, said she doesn't understand why there has been a sudden surge in cases in the last 10 months.

"One could speculate that people are becoming more lax, thinking the big scare is over," she said.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Web site, HIV can be transmitted through infected body fluids, by sharing needles and very rarely through blood transfusions.

The Web site also states that HIV cannot be transmitted by mosquitoes or through casual contact, such as shaking hands, coughing, sneezing, kissing, hugging or by sharing eating utensils or food.

Out of the 28 cases identified, the study investigated 26 cases, which included 23 males and three females. When the study looked at risk, 22 of the cases were men who had sex with men, two were heterosexuals and two were injected drug users.

The study also looked at where the respondents said they met partners.

Nearly half (48 percent) said they met partners on the Internet, 45 percent said they met partners at bars or clubs, and 45 percent said they met partners through friends.

Vergeront said people need to use condoms and communicate with partners about their background in order to protect themselves from HIV infection.