Shocker: Half Of People Who Test Poz In Atlanta Already Have Aids!

[rawTOP]

This is just incredibly sad…

 

http://wabe.org/post/half-atlantas-newly-diagnosed-hiv-patients-have-aids-grady-testing-finds

 

Basically 1/3rd of the people who test positive in Atlanta are catching it so late they've already progressed to AIDS. And the number goes up to half when the tests are truly random / the person didn't go looking specifically to get tested (e.g. in an emergency room when they're there for some other reason).

 

That's HORRIBLE. HIV isn't all that scary IF you catch it quickly, but once you let it progress to AIDS your prognosis is far worse.

 

Never ever go more than two years without an HIV test, and try to do it more frequently than that.

 

And if you think the Republicans aren't killing people – think again. Georgia is a pretty red state. This is what happens when conservative values take over.

[breedme420]

Wow...these figures are just surprising to me! As you said RawTOP...sad!  And you are absolutely right about conservative states and their values! Its damned frightening!

[evilqueerpig]

I was initially diagnosed as full blown on Friday, August 13th 1999 and as of my last labs a few weeks ago, I'm undetectable with a T-cell count of 1011.....so there is hope

[BiAggieGuy]

It would be interesting to see a breakdown of the people by age, race, gender, income level, and sexual orientation to see if a certain group(s) is more affected than others. Also, how many of them are also IV drug users? With a breakdown, it might explain the numbers to some degree.

And is this specific to Atlanta, or are the stats similar in other large cities?

[seaguy]

HIV/AIDS is more prevalent in communities of color and Atalanta has a large African American population I wonder if that has anything to do with it?  And with it being the bible belt that probably does not help.  Lots of closet cases or down low types maybe.

[nekofox]

HIV/AIDS is more prevalent in communities of color and Atalanta has a large African American population I wonder if that has anything to do with it?  And with it being the bible belt that probably does not help.  Lots of closet cases or down low types maybe.

 

 

You basically hit the nail on the head.  Unfortunately, when you're dealing with the black community in the south, especially in areas like the bible belt, they prefer to keep it "hush hush" overall, making sure that, even if in a area like Atlanta, people are still paranoid of running into someone, at different places.   

 

Even if you can afford to get something like the Oraquick, you still have to be careful about the package itself and who's delivering it since there's still that one that may "talk".  That's basically the overall issue that's in the mindset.  

[whtbbcumhole4blk]

It should be pointed out that the story referenced looked at the number of reported cases at Grady Hospital, which is the only Atlanta hospital that follows recent CDC recommendations to test all ER patients for HIV.

I feel it's important to point out the following: "Since starting a routine testing program in 2013, Grady Hospital has diagnosed an average of two or three patients with HIV every single day" (WABE.COM).

Read that again if you need to: 2 to 3 new cases daily. Thus is important because Grady is the taxpayer-supported public hospital, serving mainly low income patients.

Grady is the hospital the low income community goes to when they're suffering from the flu.

That means doctors there treat hundreds, if not a couple thousand patients every day - each of whom is getting tested. And out of that number (which isn't included in the story, by the way) there are, on average, 2 - 3 positive diagnoses...with roughly a third to one half of *those* (1 - 1.5 out of 3) having clinical signs of AIDS.

I'm not faulting WABE's report, nor trying to downplay the significance of the findings. However, statisically, this is a very small number.

But, why report these facts when the media can have fun with statistics and scare everyone into thinking "ZOMG, there are AIDS zombies walking around Atlanta right now!!!"

[BiAggieGuy]

HIV/AIDS is more prevalent in communities of color and Atalanta has a large African American population I wonder if that has anything to do with it?  And with it being the bible belt that probably does not help.  Lots of closet cases or down low types maybe.

 

I was going to say that, but I didn't want it to come across the wrong way.  Regardless of where it is, homosexuality tends to be less accepted among African Americans than the popuation as a whole.  Just remember, Prop. 8 passed in California in 2008 for one reason, the extremely large turnout in the AA community to vote for Obama.  They voted for Prop. 8 in overwhelming numbers.  California isn't known for being a conservative state.

 

It should be pointed out that the story referenced looked at the number of reported cases at Grady Hospital, which is the only Atlanta hospital that follows recent CDC recommendations to test all ER patients for HIV.

But, why report these facts when the media can have fun with statistics and scare everyone into thinking "ZOMG, there are AIDS zombies walking around Atlanta right now!!!"

 

Well, Grady is still in use in The Walking Dead.

[whtbbcumhole4blk]

I found some additional info while googling today that actually paints a more disturbing picture than I originally thought.

According to Grady's 2013 annual report (available online), they saw 126,000 ER visits that year. In the first 6 months of 2014 (according to data compiled by us news & world report), they saw 110,000 for a cumulative 18 mo total of 236,000 ER visits.

(Grady began testing every er patient in 2013 according to WABEs report.)

Now there's no way for sure to know how many are repeat visits, but a 2012 Annals of Emergency Medicine report finds that roughly 8% of all ER visits are repeat patients. So let's subtract that out of the Grady numbers, because (theoretically) they would have already been tested for HIV on their first visit.

That leaves 217,000 unique ER patients tested & treated, or about 397 patients every day (217,000/547 days).

If they are finding, on average, 2-3 new HIV cases daily, that's a infection rate of between 0.50% & 0.75%.

Or, roughly, between 1085 and 1627 new cases during that 18 month period.

That's a damned significant number, and one officials are right to be concerned about.

[wood]

It would be interesting to see a breakdown of the people by age, race, gender, income level, and sexual orientation to see if a certain group(s) is more affected than others. Also, how many of them are also IV drug users? With a breakdown, it might explain the numbers to some degree. And is this specific to Atlanta, or are the stats similar in other large cities?

 

I doubt its a caused by IV drug use.  IV drug use by african americans is actually quite low.  

You basically hit the nail on the head.  Unfortunately, when you're dealing with the black community in the south, especially in areas like the bible belt, they prefer to keep it "hush hush" overall, making sure that, even if in a area like Atlanta, people are still paranoid of running into someone, at different places.   

 

Even if you can afford to get something like the Oraquick, you still have to be careful about the package itself and who's delivering it since there's still that one that may "talk".  That's basically the overall issue that's in the mindset.  

And this is the primary issue.  I have some friends who are black and work in outreach, and the statistics are just awful.  Go on any hookup site in atlanta, and search based on "black" and HIV status's of "positive then negative".  Whats crazy is that it will say that over 90% of people are "HIV negative" yet we know the percentage that are HIV+ among gay black is closer to 40%.  Even within the gay balck community there is a lot of stigma attached to being HIV+ so many people don't tell others, and its thought that many just avoid getting tested all together.   

 

Its been talked about on here before but there are many issues as to why the HIV rate among black MSM is so high, and obviously much needs to be done to curb the infection rate, but it is possible to make meaningful progress.  DC is a good example of this.  Over the course of the last 10 years DC has halfed its new infection rate among black MSM, and that was pre-PrEP for the most part, so it is possible.  The unfortunate part in Atlanta is that public money for health services is almost impossible to come by in a red state.  Without money and targeted outreach efforts its going to be very hard to stem the tide of new infections.  

[BiAggieGuy]

I doubt its a caused by IV drug use.  IV drug use by african americans is actually quite low.

True, my only point was to break down the numbers as much as possible to get a full understanding.  Out of that many people, some have to have gotten HIV by some other method.

[nekofox]

I doubt its a caused by IV drug use.  IV drug use by african americans is actually quite low.  

And this is the primary issue.  I have some friends who are black and work in outreach, and the statistics are just awful.  Go on any hookup site in atlanta, and search based on "black" and HIV status's of "positive then negative".  Whats crazy is that it will say that over 90% of people are "HIV negative" yet we know the percentage that are HIV+ among gay black is closer to 40%.  Even within the gay balck community there is a lot of stigma attached to being HIV+ so many people don't tell others, and its thought that many just avoid getting tested all together.   

 

Its been talked about on here before but there are many issues as to why the HIV rate among black MSM is so high, and obviously much needs to be done to curb the infection rate, but it is possible to make meaningful progress.  DC is a good example of this.  Over the course of the last 10 years DC has halfed its new infection rate among black MSM, and that was pre-PrEP for the most part, so it is possible.  The unfortunate part in Atlanta is that public money for health services is almost impossible to come by in a red state.  Without money and targeted outreach efforts its going to be very hard to stem the tide of new infections.  

That's the other nail hitting point that's been happening.  There's a graph that showed on my "normal"  Facebook account that talked about how the "redder the state/ the more money they needed".  For situations like this, GA is especially getting to be in much trouble for stuff like this, but most of the state (NOT ALL) are still behind the times for thinking for the future of the overall state.  Only major areas like Atlanta has a chance if they can look within, instead of looking at the idiocy of the state government.

 

Hell, even in FL, we're still fighting the fight with other issues.  :/

[wood]

That's the other nail hitting point that's been happening.  There's a graph that showed on my "normal"  Facebook account that talked about how the "redder the state/ the more money they needed".  For situations like this, GA is especially getting to be in much trouble for stuff like this, but most of the state (NOT ALL) are still behind the times for thinking for the future of the overall state.  Only major areas like Atlanta has a chance if they can look within, instead of looking at the idiocy of the state government.

 

Hell, even in FL, we're still fighting the fight with other issues.  :/

fully agree, but its not just a government problem either.  The stats on testing and treatment are awful.  Point blank people just are not getting tested, and if positive treated in a timely fashion.  

 

Atlanta (the city) is roughly 55% black, higher than any other major city in the country.  They also have the third highest identified LGBT populations in the country at 12.8%.  This is what combines to form the perfect infection storm.  Black people in general tend to have more sex with other black people, and yet when you compare their absolute number of sexual partners, in terms of gay men its actually lower than white or latino men.  Additionally their self reported rate of condom usage is actually higher as well.  The problem with this lies in the fact that there is a feeling of safety that happens in situations like this.  While in theory they are being safer by having fewer sexual partners, and using condoms more, their risk pool is dramatically higher than other populations.  

 

As far as the AIDS diagnosis in the article is concerned, this gets back to testing and treatment.  There is still a huge level of mistrust in the black community agaisnt the medical establishment and in many cases rightfully so.  Because of this you see people who may be at a higher risk than they thought not seeking testing thinking they are okay.  Its really a sad situation and there needs to be a comprehensive multifaceted approach to turning the infection rate around.  Despite what some may think racism is still alive and well in this country and that is one of the reasons black people are disproportionally affected in this epidemic.  I do hope that the state steps in and offers more testing options and things like free PrEP.  In the long run, providing PrEP is a MUCH cheaper alternative than dealing with lifetime HIV care.  

Edited March 31, 2015 by wood