Older Americans Make Up the New Face of HIV/AIDS, Experts Say

Newly divorced after 23 years of marriage, 50-year-old, Jane P. Fowler began dating again, a man she had known for years -- a man she now believes infected her with HIV. "I had no idea what was out there," said the Kansas City, Mo., woman. "I was an older woman. I did not have to worry about becoming pregnant."

Fowler, now 67, is part of the new face of HIV -- which increasingly is heterosexual, older and grayer. While there is no nationwide system that tracks HIV infections, the CDC says that among Americans who have AIDS, the percentage that are over age 50 rose steadily in the 1990s. "It is an area we want to be concerned about," said Robert Janssen, director of the CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. "Potentially there is a risk of there being increases in new infections in older people."

Fowler and others complain that the government's prevention efforts rarely target older Americans. Posters and campaigns do not usually feature an older face, and doctors sometimes discourage the elderly when they question whether they should be tested, advocates say. "One of our biggest problems is getting clinicians to take sexual histories of older people," Fowler said. Activists are also concerned that little testing has been done to see if there are adverse interactions between HIV/AIDS medication and traditional aging drugs.

One reason for the neglect, many say, is Americans' attitudes toward older people and sex. "We don't like to think of our parents or our grandparents having sex." A 1999 AARP survey found that more than half of men and women age 45 to 59 reported that they had sex once a week or more. One in four men and women over the age of 75 said they too had sex at least once a week.

Back to other CDC news for May 14, 2002

Previous Updates