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Multicampus Outbreak of HIV in North Carolina

A North Carolina HIV RNA screening program, the Screening Tracing Active Transmission program (STAT), recently uncovered an HIV outbreak among college students, particularly young black men who have sex with men, attending 11 predominantly black colleges and one Native American college. Experts from CDC are investigating to determine effective intervention strategies, said Lisa Fitzpatrick, MD, MPH, CDC medical epidemiologist. "Another reason this investigation is important," Fitzpatrick said, "is because it will highlight the critical need of health resources in the South."

Between 2001 and 2002, HIV infection increased 9.6 percent in North Carolina. From 2002 through September 2003, HIV rose 5 percent, said Evelyn Foust, MPH, head of HIV/STD Prevention and Care for the state Department of Health and Human Resources. Lisa Hightow, MD, MPH, infectious diseases fellow at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and co-investigators found that 40-50 percent of new N.C. HIV infections occurred among people younger than 25, with a significant percentage among college students. Twenty-five of 146 newly infected men in North Carolina attended 11 colleges, and a sexual network linked seven campuses. Eighty-eight percent of the men were African-American; the same percentage were MSM. The outbreak was discovered because North Carolina health officials instigated a novel blood-screening procedure. In November 2002, the state began RNA screening on blood samples from STD and HIV clinics, counseling and testing programs, Foust said, to detect acute infections. Launched as a pilot program, STAT is the only such state program in the nation.

"Had we not been doing testing for acute HIV infection then, we might not have discovered [the outbreak] for a year or two," Foust explained. The state and the affected colleges are collaborating on Project Commit to Prevent to provide peer education training for HIV counseling and testing. Public health officials also plan to implement changes suggested by CDC after the investigators complete their research and report.

AIDS Alert (12.01.03)

We are providing the above information as a public service only. Providing synopses of key scientific articles and lay media reports on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases  does not constitute  endorsement. The above summaries were prepared without conducting any additional research or investigation into the facts and statements made in the articles being summarized, and therefore readers are expressly cautioned against relying on the validity or invalidity of any statements made in these summaries. This CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update also includes information from CDC and other government agencies, such as background on MMWR articles, fact sheets and announcements.

  • Most people infected with HIV carry the virus for years before manifesting AIDS. During that period, infected people will have few, if any, symptoms yet they can transmit the virus.

  • The percentage of women with AIDS has increased steadily, and the percentage of people infected heterosexually has also increased, surpassing the percentage infected through injecting drug use.

  • During 2001, there were 35575 newly diagnosed cases of HIV infection. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates now that 40,000 new cases of HIV transmission occur every year.

  • Of the people infected with the virus of AIDS in the USA in the year 2001, 42% were whites, 37% blacks, 20%  Hispanics and <1% Asians and Pacific Islanders and <1% American Indians and Alaska Natives.

  • During the 1990s, the HIV epidemic shifted steadily toward a growing proportion of AIDS cases in blacks and Hispanics and in women.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the cause of AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome). The presence of  HIV in the body can be detected in several ways. The most common is the HIV-ELISA Antibodies test.

The HIV-ELISA  looks for the body response to the virus manifested by the presence in your blood of Antibodies to HIV proteins. Antibodies are special proteins that our Immune System produce in response to the presence of HIV.

The test performed on your sample actually consists of two tests: a Screening test and a Confirmatory test. The screening test procedure is called an ELISA—Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay or an EIA (Enzyme Immunosorbent Assay). The confirmatory test is used in the event your HIV-ELISA is positive and/or equivocal and is the procedure used is the Western Blot Assay (WB)

The screening and confirmatory tests are usually done using small samples of blood. If a sample of blood tests positive repeatedly in the screening test, it will be confirmed through the Western Blot test. People will be informed that they are infected with HIV only after both the screening and confirmatory tests have shown a positive (reactive) result.

Positive HIV antibody tests results are over 99% accurate when confirmed. Negative HIV antibody tests are over 99% accurate if it has been at least six months after a contact with a potentially HIV-infected partner. False negatives or false positives occur rarely.

Antibodies to HIV can be detected in the blood, in the  urine or in the saliva. People produce antibodies with different speeds and therefore the time interval between infection and the development of antibodies to HIV can go from four weeks to six months from the exposure date or SDC ( Suspected Date of  Contact). The appearance of antibodies in a blood or urine sample of a person which was known to be negative to HIV is called Seroconversion.

The HIV Elisa results are usually available in one or two business days.

STDWeB provides only health screening services. Tests are provided only for personal information and/or risk identification purposes. STDWeB does not diagnose or treat medical conditions.  STDWeB screenings do not take the place of a physician care.  Transactions with STDWeB are confidential and will not be shared with third parties. Tests with "positive" or "indeterminate" result may require confirmatory testing and may involve additional charges.