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"HIV Cases in Minnesota Rise in 2002" CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update
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Wednesday, April 16, 2003;
Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul)
Josephine Marcotty
New infections among African immigrants in Minnesota drove up the
state's HIV rate by 6 percent, according state Department of Health data
released Tuesday. Health officials said there were 65 new cases of HIV among
African-born immigrants in 2002, compared to 46 new cases in 2001. This is
particularly alarming because African immigrants comprise less than 1
percent of Minnesota's population but accounted for one-fifth of new HIV
infections last year, officials said. Also of concern to health experts is
that more than half of the new cases were among women.
Health officials believe that many HIV-positive African immigrants
suffer from stigma about the disease in their home countries, and this leads
them to fear admitting they have the virus. "Unlike the rest of Minnesota... they have not been exposed to educational and prevention messages for the past 20 years," said Tracy Sides, an AIDS epidemiologist at the health department.
As a result, the health department in December began sending
African-born educators out into the community to provide prevention
information and offer HIV testing. "We go everywhere and do presentations," said Elizabeth Namarra, a health department liaison to
African community organizations. "People open up and ask questions. It used
to be a high stigma, but now everyone wants to learn," she noted.
More reassuring were the 2002 HIV data among white gay men in the state,
officials said. New cases dropped 7 percent last year, after a spike of 130
new cases in 2001. However, health experts fear that decline could be temporary, since a syphilis outbreak in the gay community last year could forecast an increase in HIV. Health officials said half of the new syphilis
patients were also HIV-positive. Minnesota had 82 new cases of syphilis in
2002, up from 49 the previous year. The outbreak has continued for the first
three months of 2003, with officials reporting 20 new cases.
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