The Allegany County Health Department (ACHD) recently reported a spike in new HIV positive cases in Western Maryland. Health care workers in the Communicable Disease Department at ACHD said the majority of new cases are 19 year old females. Also, according to the 2008 Maryland HIV/AIDS Epidemiological Profile, "Maryland had the third highest annual AIDS case report rate of any state in 2006." The majority of Maryland HIV/AIDS cases are concentrated in the Towson/Baltimore area.
Hector Gomez, a social service worker out of Hagerstown, picks patients up for appointments. Gomez explains the drastic difference between HIV cases in Western Maryland versus the cases in Baltimore: "The I-95 corridor really throws Maryland statistics off. Baltimore City accounts for the majority of HIV because of the prison system and IV drug use. Western Maryland mirrors the rest of the nation when it comes to HIV growth," said Gomez.
The face of AIDS has changed - globally, nationally and locally here in Maryland. Once a disease linked solely to homosexual men, the AIDS epidemic is now main stream. In Maryland's 2006 profile, heterosexual sex accounted for half the HIV transmissions.
John Gerwig, PA-C, AAHIVS, physician assistant and HIV specialist, works with HIV/AIDS patients everyday as the AIDS Service County Program Manager at John Hopkins University. "Our patients are housewives, truck drivers, students," said Gerwig. College students put themselves in jeopardy of contracting HIV when involving themselves in risky behaviors. Gerwig said that these behaviors include sexual activity combined with alcohol and drug use that reduces inhibitions. IV drug use and nasal drug use are also some of the highest risk behaviors. "Through December 2007, among 20-29 year olds in the Western Region, 77% of cases were through sexual transmission," said Gerwig.
Gerwig works with two nurses, Tina Tindal and Maureen Blanco, from the Communicable Disease Department at the Allegany County Health Department and has set up a two day clinic every month for the HIV/AIDS patients in Allegany and Garrett counties, who would otherwise have to travel downstate to see a specialist. The clinic, funded by the Infectious Disease and Environmental Health Administration, or IDEHA since 1997, treats 62 of the 78 HIV/AIDS positive people living in Garrett and Allegany Counties. The clinic is set up every month at the Allegheny County Health Department and administers free HIV tests as well.
Gerwig, Gomez, Tindal, and Blanco work together to get patients on a regiment of medicines to help their immune systems slow the HIV process. The goal of each patient is to control the amount of HIV in the body and maintain a T-cell count of over 200. The higher the T-cell count, the lower the amount of HIV present in the body. A lower amount of HIV in the body means the person is less likely to transfer HIV to another person.
Blanco has worked with HIV/AIDS patients since ACHD had their first case. She remembers the time when HIV was a death sentence for people infected. "People just came home to die then, now we help them live longer, fuller lives," said Blanco.
Gerwig believes the key to preventing further HIV spread is education. "The more we talk about it the less stigma there will be. Remove the mystery through education and don't let social or academic censorship provide barriers to this happening," said Gerwig. Students can educate themselves and discuss their concerns with their partners. ACHD provides free and confidential HIV testing. Students can contact the health department at (301) 759-5085 or Brady Health for more information on HIV and prevention methods.
