HIV, AIDS cases rise in Baton Rouge

The number of new HIV and AIDS cases in the Baton Rouge area is on the rise. According to the Louisiana Office of Public Health, the seven-parish region had a 4 percent increase in new cases over the past year. The Baton Rouge region, which includes Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana parishes, diagnosed 256 people with HIV in 2004, said Beth Scalco, administrative director of the Louisiana Office of Public Health's HIV/AIDS program. She said that in 2005 the Baton Rouge area had 273 new HIV diagnoses, an increase of 7 percent. "In 2006 the Baton Rouge region had 254 diagnoses," Scalco said. "However, data for 2006 are incomplete, and we expect the number of new cases to equal or surpass the number in 2005." Hope McPhatter, Wellness Education coordinator at the Student Health Center, said this can be attributed to many reasons. "I feel that a lack of sufficient preventative education greatly contributes to the increase, but when new people relocate to Baton Rouge, they contribute to the numbers as well as Baton Rouge's tracking system," McPhatter said. McPhatter said Baton Rouge's tracking system allows the city to better find those who are infected. "It makes it seem as though the rates are rising quickly when those people have always been there undetected," she said. "There has been an increase in the population of Baton Rouge in recent years." She added that there has been an increased emphasis on getting tested for HIV. "It is possible that there has been an increase in testing in the Baton Rouge area, and more individuals are being identified due to this increase in testing," Scalco said. Scalco said it was difficult to come up with an estimate of HIV incidence in Baton Rouge. "New HIV diagnoses are not an accurate measure of HIV incidence since many persons who are newly diagnosed may have actually been infected several years ago," she said. Ashley Higgins, kinesiology senior, said she heard about the increase of HIV cases on the radio. "I think it's because of the increased population since Hurricane Katrina," Higgins said. "It means there are more people to contract the disease." Scalco said the burden of stopping the spread of HIV rests heavily on the individual. "Individuals need to be aware of their status," she said. "Individuals need to be aware of unsafe behaviors that may put them at risk of HIV infection and take appropriate steps to reduce and eliminate these risks." McPhatter said safe-sex education is the key to reducing the spread of HIV. "If we could educate people on the importance of safer sex and getting tested, we would be doing a great deal to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS," she said

----- Contact Caitlyn Scott at cscott@lsureveille.com