KDHE Home - News 2000 - News Release
Kansas
Department of Health & Environment
Bill Graves, Governor
Clyde D. Graeber, Secretary
For Immediate Release
Contact: Sharon Watson, 785-296-1529
First Full-Year HIV Report Confirms Effectiveness of Confidential Reporting
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has released its first full-year report on HIV in Kansas. A state law enacted in 1999 provided a way for HIV cases to be confidentially reported to the department. AIDS, which is caused by HIV infection, has been reportable for several years, but HIV itself was not reportable until last year.
According to the report, 201 cases of HIV infection were sent to KDHE from July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2000. Of the 201 cases, 99 were new infections diagnosed during that period. This compares to 96 new cases of AIDS reported during the same time period.
Most individuals with newly identified HIV infections live in the state's metropolitan areas. Among people with newly recognized HIV disease, women, African Americans, and Hispanics were found more often than among individuals diagnosed with AIDS, who were probably infected many years ago. The rates of infection in minority populations are disproportionately higher compared to the state population as a whole. Similar trends have been observed in other states.
There was no reduction in the number of tests performed in publicly funded HIV counseling and testing sites (CTSs) as a result of instituting named reporting for HIV. Disease intervention specialists providing confidential partner counseling and referral services interviewed 103 persons with HIV during the period and found 11 previously undiagnosed HIV infections as a result of their activities. Forty-seven percent of all newly diagnosed and reported HIV positive individuals were referred to publicly funded Ryan White Care Services.
Reports of AIDS cases are no longer indicative of current demographic trends in HIV infection. For example, five Hispanic women were diagnosed and reported with HIV, representing 20 percent of all newly diagnosed and reported cases of HIV in women for the period. No Hispanic women were reported as having AIDS.
To obtain a copy of the report, contact the KDHE Bureau of Epidemiology and Disease Prevention, HIV-STD Section, at 785-296-5587 or visit the Web at http://www.kdheks.gov/hiv/download/hiv_rpt_Oct2000.pdf. The Acrobat Reader® plug-in is needed to view the file.
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