World AIDS Day: Older People Face HIV Risk, Too

By Deborah Straszheim, Norwich Bulletin
December 1, 2008

Advocates say incidence rising in those older than 50

Sometimes they leave a basket of condoms for the audience.

If it’s an elderly group, the basket always empties, said Sandy Brindamour, executive director of Alliance for Living, a nonprofit organization that serves people with AIDS or HIV in southeastern Connecticut.

“You can hear them say, ‘Oh, this is for my grandson,’ or ‘This is for my son.’ “ she said. “And you know that it’s not. You know that people are lonely, and they develop relationships.”

Since 1980 through June 30 of this year, the Connecticut Department of Public Health reported 4,800 Connecticut citizens older than 50 living with HIV or AIDS. That represents 37 percent of all cases.

In the first six months of this year, 27 new cases were reported in people older than 50. The highest numbers of new cases were reported in the 40 to 49 age group. The second highest numbers were in people older than 50.

“People who are over 50 have sex. I know that’s shocking,” said John P.

Merz, executive director of the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition. “People don’t want to think about their parents having sex, but it’s true. There’s a whole group out there who are divorced, or some are widowed, and they’re out there dating, and HIV and AIDS isn’t even out there on the radar screen.”

Couples are also able to have sex later in life due to drugs that were unavailable years ago.

The statewide coalition provides advocacy, education and other assistance to people with HIV and AIDS in Connecticut.

On World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, the coalition pointed out that 30 percent of people with the virus in Connecticut do not know they have it.

Brindamour said the percentage of older people has remained stable through the years, based on data in southeastern Connecticut. But the number of cases among older people has grown along with the total number with the virus, she said.

People in their 50s may be less likely to use a condom because they feel they’re beyond worrying about it, she said. They may believe they’re adults and can judge whether someone’s a risk or not, she said.

They also may be unaware they are infected. For example, a woman in her 50s may think she has night sweats because she’s in menopause, Brindamour said.

There are close to 800 cases of HIV and AIDS in southeastern Connecticut, but the group doesn’t see most of them.

“If you are a professional, you don’t want to go into a building that everyone knows is the building where individuals with HIV and AIDS are cared for,” she said.

Some of the agency’s clients tell friends they’re volunteering at the building, she said.