Norwalk City Hall

CUMULATIVE AIDS CASES

 SINCE 1980:  507

http://www.norwalkct.org/citygov.htm

Bridgeport, CT

CUMULATIVE AIDS CASES

SINCE  1980: 1,583

http://ci.bridgeport.ct.us/newdepartments/Eco_Dev_Dep/default.aspx

A SHOCKING REALIZATION

So, while I did know that the number of cases in Norwalk would be substantially higher, I did not know how large of a problem AIDS was in the vicinity of my hometown. Norwalk has an AIDS rate, for example of 611.2 cases per 100,000 people- almost twice the national rate. Similarly, Stamford has a rate of 675 cases per 100,000 people, a full 328 cases higher than the rate in the United States.  Most shocking however, was the AIDS rate in Bridgeport; while I thought the disease might be a problem there, I would never have guessed that they had a rate of 1134.5 cases per 100,000. (Table 1.1) (Table 1.2)

TABLE 1.1

RED: INDICATES TOP THREE HIGHEST RATES OF AIDS CASES (PER 100,000 PEOPLE)

BLUE: INDICATES LOWEST THREE RATES OF AIDS CASES

MAP OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY

http://pollutionfreeschools.org/county/fairfield/

In addition, the media had also taught me that AIDS was a disease rampant among homosexuals, an impression that influenced my guess on another question. I hypothesized that 90% of cumulative AIDS cases in Fairfield County are males, when, in actuality, only 74.4% are. (Table 2.1) On that same train of thought, I guessed that only 20% of cumulative AIDS cases in Fairfield County are a result of heterosexual transmission when, in reality, 20.5% are (Table 2.3). As my "guesstimates" were accurate in this regard, it seemed my hypothesis concerning homosexual transmission was correct. Much to my surprise, however, in analyzing Fairfield County AIDS data, I learned that only 23.8% of AIDS cases in my area occurred when men had sex with other men. It turns out that injection drug use is the major culprit in the spread of AIDS in my county, as 42.2% of cases resulted from this mode of transmission. (Table 2.3)

 I was similarly ignorant when it came to AIDS as it affected people along racial lines. When asked what percentage of cumulative AIDS cases in Fairfield County were Hispanic, I guessed 80%. I can admit to having no substantive basis for this explanation. I had read in the media that AIDS often affected blacks, so why had I guessed such a high number? As Hispanics make up a minority group in my town, I suppose I had just assumed they must have had a high rate of AIDS. I certainly did not expect the disease to plague the white population in Fairfield County. So, once again, I was shocked to see that whites made up 37.3% of the cumulative AIDS cases in Fairfield County- only 2% short of the African American population and nearly 15% higher than the Hispanic. Clearly, I was under-informed. (Table 2.2)

 As stated above, the media undoubtedly contributed to my lack of knowledge concerning AIDS. However, I should also mention that, as I moved half-way through my junior year of high school, I seem to have missed out on all health education that I might have had, had I remained in Wilton. In other words, I may have gained a more local perspective on AIDS than was provided for me by local media.

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