On Wednesday, South Dakota Department of Health officials announced the largest increase in new HIV cases in a decade. In 2005, 33 new HIV cases were reported in the state, up from 19 new cases in 2004.

"I would characterize it as a worrisome trend," said Lon Kightlinger, state epidemiologist. "We're up 33 percent over a five-year median. We're headed in the wrong direction." Kightlinger cited intravenous methamphetamine use and use of the Internet for arranging sexual encounters as factors behind the rise in new cases.

"People are going into chat rooms and arranging encounters, usually anonymously. 'Meet me at such-and-such a place.' Names are not exchanged. People don't know who they're having sex with," Kightlinger said.

AIDS is also perceived as less of a threat today, leading to complacency, said Kathie Courtney, Northern State University professor of health education. For instance, said Courtney, the state has dropped a requirement that certified teachers complete a six-hour HIV/AIDS workshop. Some colleges, including hers, still include it for education majors, she added. And news stories that have shown prominent celebrities living with HIV gloss over the difficulties associated with HIV therapy, she said.

South Dakota now has 288 residents living with HIV/AIDS. Of them, 72 percent are men and 28 percent are women. According to the state report, 37 percent contracted the virus homosexually; 24 percent heterosexually; and 18 percent through injection drug use. South Dakota has the nation's second-lowest AIDS incidence after North Dakota, at 17.2 cases per 100,000 people, and the third-lowest HIV incidence, 26.7 cases per 100,000 people, after North Dakota and Wyoming.

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