AIDS Continuing to Rise

The number of HIV/AIDS positive youths is on the rise in Chicago, particularly among gay black males.

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago said that many people are still very uneducated and unconcerned about contracting the disease and that many people have the attitude “it couldn’t happen to me.” The staggering rise in HIV/AIDS infections has made AIDS a leading cause of death in many places around the world.

As more than 1,000,000 people are living with AIDS in the United States and 22,000 in Chicago, the number is expected to grow globally, according to the World Health Organization. AIDS was first recognized on December 1, 1981 and has since been labeled a pandemic, killing millions annually.

Johnathon Briggs, AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s director of communications said that HIV/AIDS has been seen as a “homosexual disease” for a long period of time, but “people need to realize that heterosexuals contract the disease too.”

“Even though AIDS is effecting men who have sex with men, anyone can contract the disease,” said Briggs. “People just aren’t protecting themselves, either because they don’t know much about AIDS, or that they don’t think they can get it.”

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is contracted through having vaginal, anal or oral sex with an HIV-infected person, sharing drug needles with an HIV-infected person to shoot drugs, passing the virus from an HIV-infected woman to her baby during pregnancy or through breastfeeding. In time, the disease then may develop into AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), a condition in which the human immune system begins to fail.

The Illinois Department of Public Health, which has offices in Chicago and Springfield, has a toll free, 24 hour, seven day a week hotline that people can call if they have questions concerning their personal risk. They also have Spanish-speaking representatives available, according to Jim Rhodes, a representative for the AIDS hotline.

“We take calls everyday until 10p.m.,” said Rhodes. “From there, CDC (Center for Disease Control) takes over.”

Rhodes said that many of the callers are unaware about AIDS in general, range in age and sex and usually want to see if something that they did in the past could be putting them at risk.

“A lot of the people are young, but it really varies,” said Rhodes. “We might get some 13 or 14 year olds calling us up, 40 year olds, even people in their 80s.”


31-year-old Steve Cantrell, a Chicago man living with AIDS, said “I was shocked and couldn’t believe I had it.”

Like most of the people that are diagnosed with HIV, Cantrell was stunned and unaware that he had contracted the virus. When he found out, the virus was already at a late stage and transitioning into AIDS.

“I was 26 at the time and it was completely unexpected,” said Cantrell. “I felt like a ton of weight was slammed on top of me.”

Symptoms that HIV/AIDS patients may experience are diarrhea, vomiting, soreness of the body, headache, fatigue, sore throat, rash, lesions on the skin, depression and much more. Many patients say that they experience “on and off days,” where one day they may be fine, but the next they are completely bedridden.

“There are days when I feel so completely weak and worthless that I just want to stay in bed, but the medicine I’m taking is really helping,” said Cantrell.

When AIDS was first discovered, many thought of the disease as an automatic death sentence. With new medicine available and continued research, it has made life livable among the infected. Although the medical treatments may be expensive, the Illinois Department of Public Health provides FDA-approved prescription drugs through its AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) for HIV-infected patients who meet specific income guidelines. AIDS has now been labeled a disability, so patients can now receive government funding.

Like other major cities, Chicago has many resources connected to AIDS research to further rise funding. The AIDS foundation of Chicago has an annual AIDS run and walk, where millions of dollars are raised. The next AIDS run will take place on October 3 at Grant Park.

As AIDS has and continues to be a leading killer in the United States and across the world, experts in researching HIV/AIDS are hoping to come up with newly developed medication to further enhance patients lives and approach a cure. President Barack Obama is calling for more AIDS funding and research and has recently lifted a ban on stem cell research funding, which many believe will lead towards possible solutions for a cure.