House to debate AIDS, HIV bill
Measure would change notification standards at schools
By Yvonne Wenger
On the Web
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control has information on its Web site about where to get tested for HIV, AIDS and other STDs. The site also has information on counseling and other community services.
Log on to www.tinyurl.com/6n7c5b.
To read the latest on HIV and STD statistics in South Carolina, go to www.tinyurl.com/5gwjcc.
COLUMBIA - Laurie Fritz knows just how cruel kids can be about little things. She can only imagine the torment a student living with HIV could go through if word spread.
That did not stop the parent of two Stratford High School students, though, from wanting the state Legislature to maintain current reporting standards for students with HIV or AIDS.
'We need the schools to know what's going on so they can protect all the children,' Fritz said.
The House is expected to resume debate Wednesday on a bill to change a law
that requires the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to notify school districts when a minor tests positive for HIV or AIDS at one of their health clinics. The law does not apply to minors who test positive through private health care providers.
Through June 2007, 760 people ages 13 to 19 were HIV positive in South Carolina; 164 have AIDS. The data is cumulative and is not broken down by county or school district.
Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, introduced the bill when he learned that teens weren't getting tested after they were told about the reporting requirement, and that it affected a disproportionate number of poorer teens who can't afford to be tested in private facilities.
Because schools should take the same precautions when a child or a teacher is exposed to someone else's blood, no matter what, officials say the knowledge is not useful and could be a liability if the wrong set of eyes spots the information.
Rep. Kris Crawford, a Florence County emergency room doctor, said without the information, those exposed in gym class or on the football field, for example, might not get the immediate medical attention needed.
'My question is: What are consequences?' said Crawford, a Republican.
Crawford, noting his faith in ethical and privacy standards within the health care profession, said he doesn't want to see a delay in the treatment for a child who has been put at risk. 'If my kid gets exposed, I want somebody to know that kid had HIV,' Crawford said.
Hospitals could immediately refer the student to an infectious disease doctor, who would be familiar with the latest research and know the best way to reduce the threat through medicine and treatment therapies, he said.
Still, Crawford said he understands the value of the legislation, with its aim at getting more teens tested. He said he just wants to get his concerns sorted out before the legislation moves through the House. Having already passed the Senate, its next stop could be the governor's desk.
Rosemary Thomas, health services supervisor for Berkeley County schools, said all district employees, including teachers and custodians, are trained every year on diseases spread by blood and the risks of potential exposure.
Students who come in contact with another's blood have the exposed area washed immediately and parents are notified, Thomas said.
She recommends that the parents talk to their doctor about getting their children's blood drawn and tested for HIV and other diseases that could come with exposure, such as hepatitis B.
School nurses cannot share the information on HIV-positive students, or those who have AIDS, with anyone, Thomas said. If the Legislature changes the reporting standards, Thomas said, 'not a thing's going to change.'
Employees in Charleston schools also are trained annually in precautions to take in every case when a student or employee is exposed to another's blood. There would be no changes in procedure if the legislation would eliminate reporting requirements, according to Susan Smyre, district communications officer.
She noted that even with mandatory reporting schools do not know of all the students who could have HIV or AIDS.
Fritz, the Berkeley County PTA president who spoke in her role as a parent, said the legislators should be able to come up with a way to meet all objectives, protecting kids from risk and keeping health matters private.
'I think they need to be extra-ordinarily safe with that information,' she said. 'It should only be available to a select few people on a-need-to-know basis.
'It could be traumatic to a child. They go through enough already, just if they have a different haircut,' she said.
Reach Yvonne Wenger at ywenger@postandcourier.com or 803-799-9051.
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ForPnC (anonymous) says...
Ah yes... paranoia strikes again.
I want a listing of people that walk duck-footed. They might trip me as we walk by each other.
April 13, 2008 at 8:10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ChrisPia (anonymous) says...
How about a Bill that would allow our EMS,Fire,Police and Corrections employees to have knowledge of the people they are dealing with infectious and dangerous diseases? To protect them from injury.
April 13, 2008 at 10:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LadyTarHeel (anonymous) says...
I think that reporting it to schools is a good thing. It allows the school to notify partners that someone they have had contact with has tested positive and they should get tested. No name needs to be given to students. They just need to know that they could have been exposed. I don't think it's about paranoia. It's about trying to protect young people who think they are invincible.
April 13, 2008 at 12:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ForPnC (anonymous) says...
"Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, introduced the bill when he learned that TEENS WEREN'T GETTING TESTED AFTER THEY WERE TOLD ABOUT THE REPORTING REQUIREMENT, and that it affected a disproportionate number of poorer teens who can't afford to be tested in private facilities."
We don't need more databases recording our lives. It's already stopping people from getting tested. I'd rather they get tested and know for themselves. Then they can tell who they want as long as they always tell their sexual partners.
About the only thing that isn't known about HIV/AIDS is how to cure it. You can't get it from sitting next to someone or holding their hand, or even hugging them. You can't tell if someone has it by looking at them.
Such a requirement is paranoia.
I can't change your mind and you can't change mine.
April 13, 2008 at 4:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LadyTarHeel (anonymous) says...
I hate to tell you this ForPnC, but if you do get tested, especially at a public health facility, it's recorded anyways. Regardless of whether you test postive or negative. They code it under a number that only health providers have access to. How else do you think they do monitoring at the CDC? I know that I can't change your opnion, but do you honestly think teenagers are going to tell their partners that they tested positive for HIV on their own, especially with the social stigma often associated with knowing you have it? I have heard of some adults who wont tell their partners, hence the reason people who knowingly infect someone with HIV are often charged with attempted murder. It's a sad thing, but it's true. Not trying to be rude or anything, just putting it out there. Everyone just needs to be safe out there!
Coldbeer, you are correct. We know a lot about HIV/AIDS, but we still don't know everything. Especially when it comes to disease mechanisms(i.e. viral binding and incorporation into the genome), which is why a cure has yet to be developed.
April 14, 2008 at 10:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SCdeacinNYC (anonymous) says...
Seriously, ideas like those are why we have such a problem with stigma in this country and the have the highest HIV infection rate in the industrialized world.
The reason many people don't get tested it because of the reporting processes. Stimga associated with are the main reasons why many people who are infected don't even know they are and go on further endangering others and themselves.
There is a fine line between safety and ethical privacy but I think we should be able to find it without making what's already an issue even worse. Really all it is doing is stigmatizing people who can't get tested at private doctors, so it doesn't even FULLY protect. We already know plenty of about HIV and AIDS. We know how you can get it and how you can prevent it. It's the fear and paranoia, which leads to stigma and ignorance which is helping to perpetrate its spread.
April 14, 2008 at 12:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ForPnC (anonymous) says...
Lady - I know it's reported to the CDC. For all the good that organization is sometimes. They can't even keep TB in their facility.
To report it to schools? Those kids would never have a normal life.
Remember when all mothers-to-be had to be tested for Syphilis? It's on my birth certificate the date my mother was tested and the negative results. This was caused by paranoia as well. People screaming that the sky was falling and world would be infected.
I've already written Hutto to tell him what a ridiculous bill this is. I can't wait to not vote for him. What a MORON.
April 14, 2008 at 3:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LadyTarHeel (anonymous) says...
I don't remember that. I think that they test mothers-to-be for everything these days, but it's a little ridiculous that they put it on your birth certificate.
April 14, 2008 at 5:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ForPnC (anonymous) says...
I'm semi-dating myself but that was over 45 years ago. It was the newest and greatest and most "deadly" disease there was (though I could name other more prevalent diseases of the time.) You couldn't even get married without a certificate stating negative Syphilis results.
When I have to show my birth certificate nowadays to usually younger people they ask about it. There's really no way to explain stupidity.
Sad to say but probably true - HIV/AIDS is most likely here to stay. Hopefully, in 45 more years, people will grow a bit smarter and realize that these databases are just as ridiculous.
April 14, 2008 at 5:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ForPnC (anonymous) says...
btw Lady - I'm not trying to be condescending towards you. Really.
I just honestly think this will be one of those things that in 45 years, folks will be quoting you: "but it's a little ridiculous" when it comes to this.
I wish you and yours Syphilis-free and HIV/AIDS-free lives!
April 14, 2008 at 5:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
belovedbliff (anonymous) says...
It's interesting that no one has mentioned anything about the adults at the school. Should they not be tested?
April 14, 2008 at 5:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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