“Silence is truly deafening in this instance. ![]() Lightsey said the stigma some people still associate with the virus is the number one reason they don’t get tested or seek treatment when they test positive. However, there may be more people who don’t know they have HIV because they’ve never been tested.Īccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 13% of those living with HIV/AIDS in the United States do not know they are infected. “And so that tends to contribute to some of the increase.” “In some cases of COVID, we have people that weren't going to their medical appointments, for example, we've had some rising cases of infection within certain populations because people were in the house,” said Lightsey. Lightsey said that even though DOH-Pinellas and their community partners were providing services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, they still saw some effect on HIV transmission. Cases are also higher for those who use injectable drugs.The highest rate is in men who have sex with men.Rates among Latinx people were also higher at 29.2%.A 53.2% rate in new diagnoses in the county’s Black population.“So while we're doing good in some respects, there's more targeted outreach and education that needs to be done,” said Lightsey.Īccording to a DOH-Pinellas press release, 2019 figures showed: That number of new diagnoses is down from 4,558 in 2019.ĭarius Lightsey, HIV/AIDS Program Coordinator at DOH-Pinellas, said while the overall number of new cases was down in Pinellas County as well, there is still an increase within some sub-populations. ![]() The latest Florida Health data shows that a total of 117,477 people were living with the virus by the end of 2020, an increase of 3,504 from a year earlier.
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