Being HIV positive or having AIDS is no longer the death sentence it once was, but as more people live longer with the disease, it is continuing to spread, especially among minority women, a local health expert said today.
Dr. P. Samuel Pegram gave an update on HIV and AIDS at Winston-Salem's observance of World AIDS Day yesterday. Pegram spoke to advocates, those who are HIV positive or have AIDS, and those who serve them at the Piedmont Club. The event, attended by about 40 people, was sponsored by AIDS Care Service. Pegram is a professor of medicine and director of the infectious diseases specialty clinic at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
"If you take your medicine, we can put your virus to sleep," Pegram told the audience in describing advances in treatment.
But as patients live longer — many now are predicted to live into their 60s and 70s — they are living with complications such as hepatitis, Pegram said.
And the disease has continued to spread, especially among minority women.
Being HIV positive or having AIDS was the leading cause of death among black women age 25 to 34 in 2004. And it was the third highest cause of death for black women 35 to 44.
One of the areas that advocates will work on this year is encouraging people to get tested, Pegram said.
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