Of all the groups affected with HIV/AIDS, one rarely considered is the group over 50. In fact, the number of persons aged 50 and above living with HIV/AIDS has been increasing in recent years in part due to highly active antiretroviral therapy and due partly to newly diagnosed infections in this age group. Their risk factors are the same as younger people, but sadly, many don't believe they are as much at risk. And unlike their younger counterparts, older people are often less knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS and therefore less likely to protect themselves.
The numbers however, are sobering:
Statistics for those over 50
- 15% of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses
- 24% of those living with HIV/AIDS
- 19% of all AIDS diagnoses
- 29% of people living with AIDS
- 35% of all deaths of persons with AIDS
Of course the risk factors are the same as that of younger age groups: sexually active while not practicing safe sex or injecting drugs or smoking crack cocaine.
But those over 50 also have their own set of risks. These include:
- Lack of perception they are at risk
- Lack of knowledge about the disease and treatment options
- Failure to get tested or use protection
- Health care professionals who underestimate an older patient's risk, thus missing opportunities to present prevention messages or suggest testing
- Physicians missing a diagnosis of AIDS because some symptoms are similar to those of normal aging, like fatigue, weight loss and mental confusion.
- The stigma of HIV/AIDS which may be more severe among older people. leading them to hide their diagnosis from famiiy and friends
How can you get tested? Free and confidential or anonymous HIV tests are available. To find an HIV testing site near you, visit www.hivtest.org or call 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636). The line is open 24 hours a day and calls can be made in English or in Spanish.
If you have HIV, it does not mean you will get sick and die. While there is no cure for HIV, new drugs are available that can help you stay healthy and decrease the amount of HIV virus in your body.
The CDC estimates that 40,000 Americans contract HIV every year. And 1 in 4 of those who have it don't know it. It's time to stop thinking about HIV/AIDS as an illness affecting specific groups and start thinking about an equal opportunity virus that can infect all of us.
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