By Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Palm Beach Post, Wednesday, November 26, 2008 — The number of new HIV infections reported in Palm Beach County leaped 50 percent this year, ending years of drops.
Since January 2008, the Palm Beach County Health Department reports 393 new HIV infections have been reported, up from 224 cases in 2007.
The trend reversal began last year, when cases increased over 2006, but this 50 percent jump is more dramatic and reflects a change statewide, according to health department records.
Part of that leap can be attributed to advances in how the public is tested for the disease, and part of it is a new mind set that shrugs in the face of a lethal disease, said Health Department spokesman Tim O'Connor.
Testing is the most tangible of those factors.
Where once a doctor had to get a patient's permission to administer an HIV test, doctors can now order a new test that can be done along with a standard panel of blood and does not require patient permission.
"Of course, they still must discuss any results with the patients," O'Connor said. And both doctor and lab are required to report any positive results to the department.
Also, people have come to realize that becoming infected is no longer an immediate death sentence.
"You can live a longer and healthier life, so it doesn't seem as daunting, but it doesn't go away and AIDS is still not curable," O'Connor said. And the regimen to remain healthy is rigorous and no simple matter.
With these new diagnosed cases, the total number of people living with the disease in this county comes to 7,568.
And even with this spike in diagnosed cases, health department officials believe that number may fall short by as much as 20 percent. More people need to be tested.
There do remain some bright points among the statistics.
It's been 26 years since Dr. Jean Malecki made the first pediatric AIDS diagnosis in Palm Beach County after examining a dying 9-month-old.
These days, less than 1 percent of those living with AIDS or HIV are younger than 5 years old, but the adult population afflicted continues to grow, according to the Palm Beach County Health Department, now under Malecki's direction.
The biggest increases in diagnosis is now among heterosexual women — primarily black women, O'Connor said.
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