At AIDS' 30th anniversary, many still live with the disease
It's been 30 years, but John Chism still remembers how his long nights tending bar in Chicago always ended with a walk to the waterfront. It would be well after 4 a.m. when he stood on the edge of Lake Michigan, alone, forlorn and worn out from witnessing an emerging tragedy.
It was 1981, and the bar's patrons, nearly all gay men, spent each night spilling their sorrowful tales. Another friend had been diagnosed with AIDS. That guy who was here just a few weeks ago? He's developed disfiguring lesions. A pal who was healthy six months ago? Now dead.
A disease that seemed to come from nowhere was killing thousands of Americans faster than science could identify its source. Every night, John released his anger at the mysterious disease, screaming into the great lake's vast darkness.
By 1989, the disease had infected Chism and his longtime partner. Like many of the millions with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, the couple didn't plan to live long.
But Chism is here. He's 61, and a witness to a new world for people living with HIV and AIDS. Asthma ravaged the voice that used to scream into the Chicago night, but he's a living example of the extraordinary pharmaceutical advancements that have turned a diagnosis that at one time was deemed a death sentence into a manageable chronic illness.
Still, he and others living with HIV and AIDS say there's no time for celebration. All the research and miracle drugs haven't snuffed out the lingering stigma of AIDS and its link to the gay community, nor have they stopped a steady stream of new infections that number about 56,000 each year in the United States.
"People just do not understand this disease," said Chism, who has lived in the Tampa Bay area for 15 years. "They think it's God's punishment when it's not."
In 2011, an estimated 11,500 residents of Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties are living with HIV or AIDS, which is when an HIV-infected body is so damaged it struggles to fight off other infections and diseases. Many of those being treated have been living with the diagnosis for years, if not decades.
"It's manageable, said Jo Cordy, nurse supervisor at the Hillsborough County Health Department's HIV and AIDS clinic. "They have to incorporate it into their lives, because it is not going away."
While about half of those infected continue to be gay men, heterosexuals are just as at risk, said Teresa Poppas, a mental heath counselor at Tampa's Francis House.
New Viruses Released Last Six Months - News
He's developed disfiguring lesions. A pal who was healthy six months ago? Now dead. A disease that seemed to come from nowhere was killing thousands of Americans faster than science could identify its source. Every night, John released his anger at the
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This new testing, which avoided using lab products derived from mice, found no evidence XMRV, further supporting the lab-contamination explanation. In any case, substances in human blood are able to kill the mouse-related virus, said lead researcher
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Matt also will be confined to his room for six to nine months when he gets home. The family has a three-bedroom home and has set up one bedroom with a television and a bed just for Matt to sleep in. He is set up for a long period of isolation in the
Pediatric Group Issues New Flu Shot Guidelines – Health OMG!
MONDAY, Aug. 30 (HealthDay News) — All children and adolescents 6 months of age and older should receive the annual trivalent influenza vaccine this flu season, according to updated recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The AAP also says special efforts should be made to immunize anyone who falls into the following categories: all family members, household contacts and out-of-home care providers of children younger than 5 years of age; children with high-risk conditions such as asthma, diabetes and neurological disorders; health care workers; and pregnant women.
These groups are most vulnerable to flu-related complications, the academy pointed out in a news release.
Two influenza vaccines were recommended last year but only one trivalent vaccine is being made for the 2010-11 seasonal influenza vaccine schedule. In this year’s trivalent vaccine, the 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) strain has replaced last year’s influenza A (H1N1) strain. The new vaccine also includes two other strains of flu virus.
The seasonal flu vaccine policy statement was released online Monday and will be published in the October print issue of the journal Pediatrics .
Other recommendations included in the policy statement are as follows:
Children younger than 6 months of age should not receive influenza vaccine because they are too young. For children 9 years of age and older, only one dose is needed. For children younger than 9 years but older than 6 months, a minimum of two doses of 2009 pandemic H1N1 vaccine is needed. If they already received the H1N1 vaccine during last year’s flu season, one dose of vaccine is needed this year, otherwise they will need two doses of seasonal influenza vaccine this year. Those under 9 years of age who have never received the seasonal flu vaccine before will need two doses this year. Children younger than 9 years who received seasonal flu vaccine last year for the first time, but only received one dose, should receive two doses this year. Also, those under 9 years who received a flu vaccine last year, but for whom it is unclear whether it was a seasonal flu vaccine or the H1N1 flu vaccine, should receive two doses this year. All children who are recommended to get two doses this year should receive the second dose at least four weeks after the first dose.More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about seasonal flu and vaccination .
New Viruses Released Last Six Months - Bookshelf
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