The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 17, 1994, Page 5, Image 5
Study finds
College Press Service
With an estimated one in 500
college students infected with the
HIV virus, students are becoming
aware that they must learn how to
protect themselves from getting
AIDS, health officials said.
The startling figure was found in
a study conducted by the Centers
for Disease Control and the
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Association.
The experiment was conducted
by testing 20,000 blood samples
drawn at 35 college health centers.
The blood was drawn for purposes
other than AIDS testing, and the
non-identifying demographic samples
were drawn between
September 1989 and December
1990.
AIDS cases are expected to
increase because risk factors associated
with AIDS are evident
among college students. Risks such
as having sex with a number of
partners and not using a condom
during every sex act exist for students
on campuses nationwide.
Information from university health
centers also indicates that students
use alcohol and other drugs that
may impair their judgement when
it comes to sex.
/'It may take 50 times before
they're infected, or it may take
once," said Sharon Douglass, director
of the HIV-AIDS Institute at
the University of Central Florida in
Orlando. "But it's going to happen."
HIV infection and AIDS are the
sixth-leading cause of death among
15- to 24-year-old men and women
in the United States, according to
CDC statistics. The only way for
college students to protect themselves
from becoming infected is to
become aware of the risks and take
precautions, officials said.
The HIV-AIDS Institute, a nonprofit
institution founded in 1977,
is designed to educate students at
UCF about AIDS and do research
and give service to the Central
Florida community regarding
AIDS.
In an effort to dispel myths
about the disease, a class at UCF is
taught exclusively about AIDS.
The course, "HIV Disease: A
Human Concern," is designed to
reacn siuuenis intellectually ana
emotionally about the effects and
risk of contracting AIDS.
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Douglass, the founder of the
institute and professor of the
course, said her class of about 200
students per semester is always
filled. She said students are eager
to learn about AIDS, and the class
has been a valuable tool for getting
her message about AIDS to the
students.
"It goes in one ear, sticks and
stays," Douglass said.
Since the class is designed to
appeal to students emotionally,
people with AIDS are often guest
lecturers. Students also watch a
slide presentation about people
who are dying from the disease.
"Seeing how AIDS victims actually
suffer made me think about
the fact that I have to take precautions
at all times if I don't want to
suffer like them someday," an
anonymous student's evaluation of
the class said.
Douglass said sometimes students
enter the class with the attitude
that AIDS is something that
could never happen to them. She
said before taking the class, many
of her students were sexually permissive
and didn't take any precautions
to protect themselves against
the disease.
Douglass, a respiratory therapy
professor, said most students have
some kind of misconception about
the disease before taking the class.
She said some students still think
of AIDS as a disease only gay men
or drug users gel. However, the
number of AIDS cases attributed to
heterosexual contact increased by
91 nprrpnf from 1QOH tr? 1Q01
according to the CDC.
Douglass said after about two
weeks of the class, the students
realize what they knew before the
class was miniscule, and she said
by the end of the class, they realize
how uninformed they were about
the disease.
Since Douglass began teaching
the class in 1986, she has had four
HIV-positive students in her class,
and another student had full-blown
AIDS. She said there have probably
been other students infected in
her class who chose not to tell
Douglass about their illness.
Douglass said she thinks her
class is changing attitudes of the
students who take her course. She
said many of her students tell her
that they are asking more questions
before they decide to jump in bed
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Safe sex can red
The following safer-sex methods cat
with the IIIV virus, according to the
Abstain from sex with an infected |
Ask about the sexual history of cur
and future sex partners.
Reduce the number of sex partners
minimize the risk of HIV infection.
Always use a latex condom from st
finish during the sex act, including
vaginal or anal sex.
Use only water-based lubricants.
Avoid deep-tongue kissing with an
infected person. Although transmis;
HIV has not been documented froir
kissing, a tear in skin could result ii
exchange of blood.
Avoid alcohol and other drugs. The
only affect your immune system, th
also affect your judgment.
Avoid anal or rough vaginal sex.
Do not share personal items such a:
toothbrushes and razors because th(
may be contaminated with saliva or
Chris Muldrow/The Gamecock
with anyone. She said her formei
students now tell her they are wait
ing longer before having sex with i
new partner and are now practicing
safe sex with condoms.
Students may be waiting longei
to have sex, but they are only practicing
selective protection, saic
Joanne Auth, a health educator ai
the University of Florida's Health
Center.
Auth said many students are
using condoms only when they feel
their partner is at risk. "And dial
may not be enough of the time,'
she said.
According to Auth, it's difficult
for students to comprehend thai
someone infected with HIV doesn'i
necessarily look sick; in fact, they
can look healthy for years.
College students tend to think
they know everything about AIDS,
although many students don't know
about a second strain ot AIDS thai
is mostly found in West African
countries but is also being found in
tbe United States, Auth said.
Unlike Douglass, Auth thinks
it's difficult to teach college students
about AIDS because they
think they know everything. She
said during her presentations tc
classes, she has to grab the audience
by providing entertainment
and getting the students involved in
the discussion.
In an effort to grab the attention
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V infections
luce HIV risk
i lessen chances of becoming infected
Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta:
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Source: College Press Service
r of the 18- to 24-year-old crowd, an
AIDS cartoon was produced by the
t National Institute on Drug Abuse
' of the Federal Department of
Health and Human Services. The
r cartoon is geared toward educating
I the younger generation about the
[ connection between the use of
, drugs and alcohol and unsafe sex.
The public service campaign is
: titled "Get high, get stupid, get
1 AIDS." It targets the college-age
t crowd with the message that it's
easy yo get AIDS if you're high on
drugs or intoxicated.
"Young adults are particularly
1 vulnerable to AIDS, and manv of
\ them are turned off by scare tactics,"
said Avraham Forman,
deputy chief of the Community and
Professional Education Branch of
the National Institute of Drug
Abuse.
i According to Forman, the cari
toon characters used in the campaign
look, talk and behave like the
' target audience.
The campaign, as well as other
campus programs, is teaching stu|
dents how to protect themselves
from becoming infected because
AIDS is not a gay disease or a
i druggie disease; rather, it's, a dis- J >
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Shot provides relief
during flu season
College Press Service the elderly." said Nancy Arden.
College students heeded 01 InH^nia UpiUemiology
wamintrc frnm hpttlrh nmfoccirtn- AdlVlly at the CDC.
als and lumed out in droves at K1ha' ^'sn ' "^-^'.v ""-'an
campus health centers to be vac- ,hal lhc,,lu *ason ,h's >'ear's
cinated against a nasty strain of expecicUro he worse 'ton other
influenza that's making the ytors. CDC health otticials note,
rounds *" y warn 1 percent 10
In mid-October, health offi- 20 lhc ?
cials at the Indiana University of ex?eclt:d ,obc ",l'-"c,cl) w,,h ,a?
Pennsylvania ran out of vaccine 1'"luenza v,ruscs ,ha' cause ,hc
because of high demand for free ' , . J .
flu shots and had to order anoth- J*131 s *>ut 1101 ncar '> as
er supply bad as the worldwide influenza
The flu season generally runs ou,break of 1918, which eventufrom
November to March, a"y more than 20 million
according to health officials. people dead, .48,000 in the
"As a direct response to the United States alone,
large number of students unable . current vaccine contains
to get flu shots, we have institut- v'rus strains of three distinct
ed this action," Rhonda Luckey, groups of influenza viruses in
director of administrative ser- worldwide circulation. \\ hen a
. , , , r . . nnrenn ?c n
vices at me Kecnan rteaitn <?
Center, told The Penn student dosal?c of J1* virus prompts the
newspaper. body to build up an immunity to
Although the best time for lhe i,,ncss alHl prevents the virus
vaccination is at the start of the from attacking lor at least a
flu season in October, anybody year's time,
can still get flu shots. Some uni- A' Hofslra University in
versity clinics offer the shots for Hempstead, N.Y., students
free, although others may charge reported more cold ami tin
small fees. If the campus clinic symptoms earlier than usual this
isn't offering the shots, check year, health officials said,
with local county or city health "We might be experiencing an
clinics or hospitals to find out earlier flu epidemic this year."
how much they charge for the sa't' ^r. H. Zane Kirk, medical
service. director at the Indiana University
There's a good reason for fear ?f Pennsylvania,
of flu: Influenza can be danger- Kirk also warned that students
ous, particularly for the elderly who received fin shots last year
and for all ages with existing will not be protected this year,
lung problems, heart disease, Some of the common symptoms
asthma or diabetes. The flu can of influenza are nausea,
lead to pneumonia, not to men- headaches, fever, chills, congestion
that it's inconvenient as tion, sneezing, coughing, body
heck during finals when you or muscle aches and diarrhea.
neea 10 oe up an nignt studying, n you oo eaten a coiu or tne
not hugging a bottle of medicine, flu. Dr. Jamie Weiner of
This strain is the Hofstra's Community Health
A/Beijing/3.2/92 virus, which is Program advised students that it
one of three influenza viruses in was best to treat one major
worldwide circulation, according symptom at a time rather than
to; the Centers for Disease buying over-the-counter mediControl
in Atlanta. cine that treats multiple symp"When
this type of virus, toms. In addition, the old standwhich
has been circulating since bys, plenty of liquids and chick1968,
has been the epidemic en soup, help by loosening
i ^r^in.uwe have seep # more secretions in the sinus and chest,
severe impact on older people Weiner told the student newspaand
a higher death rate among per.
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