When Jill Johnson spoke last week at the Kennett Senior Center about AUDS and other venereal diseases this unusual topic did cause an uneasy silence at first. The Kennett Senior Center is one of the first Senior Centers to discuss what is an unexpected and growing health problem among our Senior Citizens. There is an epidemic of venereal diseases among the senior population, including 60,000 new cases of HIV/AIDS cases a year in the country.As Johnson explained, many seniors have lost their life companions to death or divorce. Now that they do not have to worry about pregnancy, they don’t stop to consider whether or not their companion might carry a venereal disease.There are many STDs that are rampant. these include Chlamydia, Genital Herpes, Gonorrhea, Lice, Hepatitis and Syphilis but the most worrisome is HIV/AIDS, as this is caused by a virus. Although catching it is no longer a death sentence as new medications prolong life for many years, no disease caused by a virus has ever been cured. HIV has another problem: symptoms of it often do not appear for as long as ten years after infection, and are hard to identify as part of AIDS. The symptoms include fatigue, night sweats, long lasting dry cough, hard to treat yeast infections, swollen glands and diarrhea; they are easily confused with other medical problems or even just getting older.As symptoms can lay dormant for such a long time, Johnson recommended several actions seniors reentering the dating scene should take to protect themselves. The first step would be to get tested to be certain you are not infected. then make certain your partner is tested. Ordinary blood tests do not test for AIDS: you have to request it. if you are Simon pure no one will know you had it done. if you do have the virus it will be reported to the PA. Dept. of Health.if someone is sexually active she recommended that he use latex condoms. to try to help stop the spread of AIDS and other diseases among senior citizens the PA. Dept. of Health is offering free ones at various places including the Kennett Senior Center. it is though they will be placed in the bathroom but this is under discussion.Thus unusual topic for a luncheon meeting ignited some very spirited comments.
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