By Mark
Pollio staff writer
December 9, 2003
FORT PIERCE -- Knowledge about HIV isn't spreading as fast as the virus, a Lakeland woman infected with the deadly illness said at a speech to college students Monday.
St. Lucie County ranks as one of the worst areas per capita in the state for HIV/ AIDS cases, according to Florida Department of Health Statistics. With 2,427 reported cases on the Treasure Coast, St. Lucie County makes up almost 65 percent of the total with 1,556 infections.
Fort Pierce is at the heart of the problem. Project Response AIDS Center Executive Director Shawn Dougherty said that nearly half of the 1,300 patients his group works with on the Treasure Coast are from Fort Pierce.
Poverty, prostitution and drug use are just a few of the reasons why the local numbers are so high.
Cathy Robinson Pickett, who became infected after a 1984 rape, told students at Indian River Community College that another reason the numbers are so high is because people refuse to talk about the illness.
"It's a major issue in this area," Pickett said. "People are dying every day. Everyone knows it, but no one wanted to tell the truth about it."
Pickett said when she tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS in 1984, when the syndrome wasn't yet called AIDS. Back then, it was called GRID, short for Gay Related Immune Deficiency, even though the illness was killing women and children too, Pickett said.
She explained how HIV/ AIDS is most commonly spread through unprotected sex. There are seven bodily fluids that carry the virus: vaginal, joint, amniotic and spinal fluid, blood, semen and breast milk. Any transfer of these fluids between two people carries the risk of transferring the virus, Pickett said.
Sharing needles, a common occurrence among drug users, is another way to spread the virus. The needle transfers traces of blood from the first user to the second. Blood transfusions also remain a risk, although screening procedures have significantly reduced the rate of infection.
"It's not about who you are, it's about the actions you take," Pickett said. "It continues to spread because we just don't talk about it enough."
Pickett said most people don't think to get tested. Many of those who do get tested, and test positive, refuse to tell others about their status. Pickett refuses to live by those rules, teaching everyone she meets about the virus and how to avoid getting it.
Her blunt conversation, which included a discussion of prevention, was enough to make the more than 100 college students who attended her speech blush. It also made them think.
"The speech kind of scared me," said Chris Ward, 18, an IRCC student from Atlanta. "I guess it's good to be scared about something like this. I know I'm going to get tested."
Patti Corey, IRCC Health and Wellness coordinator, echoed Pickett's thoughts. She said that most people don't get the education necessary to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
"People learn the most from those who have been through it," Corey said. "We've seen health problems reduced because of speakers like Cathy Pickett. Education is the first and foremost way to prevention."
For more information about HIV/AIDS, contact the St. Lucie County Health Department in Fort Pierce at 462-3800 or Port St. Lucie at 873-4924.
Number of AIDS cases reported
As of Sept. 30, 2003
• St.
Lucie: 1,556
• Martin: 442
• Indian River: 294
• Okeechobee: 135
• Florida: 92,334
• United States: 816,149
Source: St. Lucie County Health Department