Partners need knowledge in cases of HIV

By Carly Kuppe
Western Herald

Two arrests were recently made in Kalamazoo where the offenders were charged with not alerting their sexual partner of an HIV-positive diagnosis, said Carrie Klein, chief assistant prosecuting attorney in Kalamazoo County.

In light of the arrests, doctors at the Sindecuse Health Center want Western Michigan University students to know the risks associated with HIV and other STDs, said Marci Ellis, assistant medical director at Sindecuse.
“If a student is diagnosed with HIV, they should seek support from a primary care clinician and infectious disease specialist,” said Lisa Marshall, M.D., medical director at Sindecuse.  “A primary care clinician will be able to coordinate care and services needed and an infectious disease specialist will monitor and treat the disease process.”

The arrests were made after rumors began to spread that certain people had HIV-positive diagnoses and the sexual partners found out, Klein said. “When the sexual partners found out, some of them went to police and filed the complaint.”

Failure to alert sexual partners of an HIV-positive diagnosis could lead to arrest and possible jail time, Klein said.  The charge for not informing a sexual partner of an HIV-positive diagnosis is “sexual penetration with an uninformed partner,” Klein said.

The charge is punishable by a maximum of four years in prison, which prohibits someone who knows they have HIV or AIDS from engaging in sexual penetration with another person without telling the partner of the diagnosis, said Klein.

There have been 140 HIV-positive cases reported in Kalamazoo County since Oct. 2008, and 6,423 cases in Michigan, according to the Michigan Department of Community Health’s Web site.

HIV is easier to prevent than cure, Ellis said.  Engaging in sexual contact opens the door to many possible STDs.

“The best tool for prevention against sexual transmission is communicating with your partner prior to having sex,” said Ellis.

“[Students] should communicate with partners and then if they decide they’re going to have a sexual relationship, use condoms and other protective measures as they choose,” Ellis said.

It is important to discuss what kind of protection sexual partners will use, but communication is the number one tool, Ellis said.

“Don’t open your body up to something that could be a very major life altering event or illness,” Ellis said.  “Ignorance about STDs is not bliss.”

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1835

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Nov 3 2008. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com