New HIV Infections Three Times National Average in South Florida

The rate of new HIV infections in South Florida has risen to more than three times the national average in 2015, according to preliminary data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's annual HIV Surveillance Report.

An article in the Miami Herald reports that infections in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area last year averaged about 38.8 cases per 100,000 people.

According to the CDC, the rate of new HIV infections in 2015 averaged 12.3 cases per 100,000 people. Other STDs, including syphilis, have also risen, indicating that more people are having unprotected sex, particularly men who have sex with men (MSM). In Miami-Dade, new HIV infections among MSM accounted for 8,293 cases, or 52.6 percent, of the total through October, according to the local health department's latest preliminary figures. Most are among men 20-49 years old.

"It's kind of disheartening," Paula Sparti, a retired family physician in Miami who has treated HIV and AIDS patients since the 1980s, said of the rise in STDs. "We saw them a lot early on, before we even had AIDS, and then it decreased to some degree because people were being more careful as they were watching their friends die."

Experts say that the increase of both HIV and STDs in the Miami-Dade area show that there is a more casual attitude about the risks of unprotected sex.

Sparti said that when she first began working with HIV and AIDS patients in the 1980s, the high rate of mortality was a deterrent to unprotected and casual sex. But HIV infection is no longer seen as a death sentence because the virus can be treated with antiretroviral drugs and other medicines, causing a shift in attitudes.

"The younger people are not seeing that, so they're not afraid," Sparti said, "and they also see it as a treatable and chronic disease and aren't worried about being on medication for the rest of their lives."

Florida Surgeon General Celeste Philip issued a written statement on Tuesday in response to questions about the CDC's preliminary HIV surveillance data, which she noted reflect where Florida was last year.

"In December 2015," Philip said in the statement, "we recognized we needed to adjust our approach to curtail new cases of HIV, and over the past year we have made tremendous strides."

Philip said the health department has adopted a strategy that includes routine screening for HIV, increased testing for high-risk groups, prevention education and the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP drugs, to reduce the spread of HIV.

"So far, we have seen promising results from these pilot projects in South Florida," Philip said in the statement. "And we have plans to expand them to other parts of the state to continue to meet the needs of this community."