The Outbreak Of HIV

 In this class called Disease we learned some of the vital positions of the CDC, Interviewed two people from the CDC that had those vital positions to give us more insight on the roles of their job and their experience working for the CDC. We also learned the formula of R0 to see the aspect of math that the CDC does and we played the game Pandemic to find connections on how the CDC can stop a disease in real life. This gave us the foundation to give us some insight on how to go about this project. We were asked to read about an outbreak and basically attack the situation like a person from the CDC would. So that would be things like find out how and why this outbreak happened. How it could be resolved as fast as possible. And how we can prevent an outbreak from ever happening. 


There was an HIV spread throughout Charleston, WV by IV drug users from needle sharing mostly. The County already had a syringe service program (basically where they provide clean needles to use). According to the CDC it needed to be bigger in order for it to have any effect in preventing the spread of HIV. HIV is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. It originated from a type of chimpanzee in Central Africa, and if not treated it can transform into AIDS which is a more deadly version of HIV. HIV can be transmitted through needles, anal sex, oral sex, vaginal sex, and perinatal transmission (perinatal transmission is when HIV is transferred from mother to child). The symptoms you may experience if you catch HIV are chills, rash, fever, night sweats, mouth ulcers, and all other flu-like symptoms. Everyone is at risk equally for this disease, but the most affected group of people are gay and bisexual Men. According to the CDC gay and bisexual men accounted for 66% of new HIV infections in 2019.


Charleston is a capital city in West Virginia. It has many recreational places like museums, centers, and theaters. But the problems with the city are that the income inequality average is -25 compared to an average of all cities of -9, and 16.9% of adults reported frequent mental distress. Constant mental stress and being in a poor environment can lead someone into doing dangerous drugs. Which is the affected population. Charleston already had a program in place where they would provide clean needles, but they needed support from the CDC due to it not having much effect since it didn’t have much reach. 47% of the affected population that dealt with the HIV outbreak experienced unstable housing which could have been caused by the income inequality problem in Charleston. The outbreak happened due to sharing/reusing needles because of limited access to sterile syringes. 






Personal Behaviors:


  • To prevent HIV if you’re with a partner that has HIV take PreP (daily medicine that prevents HIV) 


  • If you have HIV make sure to get at least one of these medications listed to prevent transmitting HIV: Reyataz, Prezista, Lexiva, Crixivan, Kaletra, Viracept, and Norvir.  


  • You can also practice abstinence or use condoms in order to not contract HIV.  


Social Expectations 

  • If you have HIV you are expected to share that information with somebody 


Municipal Policies 

  • Mandate that all HIV infected people should take medication to prevent spreading HIV that will be provided by the city if needed 


  • Some sort of penalization should be involved if you know you have HIV and you still spread it due to not taking the needed precautions in order to not spread it. 



For Future HIV Outbreaks my suggestions into stopping it is interviewing that were apart of the outbreak to figure out how they’re getting HIV. So you can see if it’s through reusing syringes or sex. If it is through sex you try to enforce people to get tested more and take medication. If it is through syringes then that means that people don’t have as much access to sterile syringes. The reproductive rate of HIV is 2-5. This  most likely means that people are spreading HIV unknowingly (due to the symptoms of HIV being similar to the flu). Which means pressure people to get tested more often. Or provide more sterile syringes. 


Sources

“Transmission.” Cdc.Gov, CDC, 4 Mar. 2022, www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/hiv-transmission/ways-people-get-hiv.html


“HIV and Gay and Bisexual Men.” CDC, 3 Nov. 2021, www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/hivgaybimen

Leffler, June. “CDC Brings Forces to Kanawha County During HIV Crisis.” Wvpublic, WVPB, 1 June 2021, www.wvpublic.org/health-science/2021-06-01/cdc-brings-forces-to-kanawha-county-during-hiv-crisis

HIV.GOV. “Symptoms of HIV” HIV.GOV, 1 July 2020, www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/about-hiv-and-aids/symptoms-of-hiv


“Charleston,WV.” Charleston,WV City Overview, City Health Dashboard, www.cityhealthdashboard.com/wv/charleston/city-overview?metric=13&dataRange=city Accessed 3 Sept. 2022.

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