Tag Archives: HIV

DHEC encourages STD testing during National STD Awareness Month

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April is National STD Awareness Month and DHEC is encouraging South Carolinians to get STD screenings.

Free testing at public health clinics

To assist in these prevention efforts, DHEC’s public health clinics will be offering free testing on April 18. Appointments are encouraged. Please call 1-855-4-SCDHEC (472-3432) to schedule your appointment. The department urges those at risk for any STD to talk with their healthcare professional about getting tested or request testing at one of the public health clinics.

This year’s theme for National STD Awareness Month is “Treat Me Right.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the theme presents an opportunity for providers to ensure they have the needed tools to properly detect and treat infections. It also encourages patients to learn about STDs and prevention while empowering them to ask their provider what they can do and how they can work together to stay safe and healthy.

Testing helps prevent spread of disease

Studies show that people who have STDs such as gonorrhea, herpes, and syphilis are more likely to get HIV compared to people who are STD-free. The same behaviors that increase the risk of acquiring these STDs also increase the risk for getting HIV. When left untreated, STDs can have severe health consequences to the person with the STD and to babies born to an infected mother. STD and HIV testing is a critical step in preventing the spread of disease.

According to 2016 data, there were just over 29,000 cases of chlamydia, nearly 9,400 cases of gonorrhea, and over 300 cases of primary and secondary syphilis in South Carolina.

For more information about STDs and sites that provide screenings, call DHEC’s STD/HIV Hotline at 1-800-322-AIDS (2437), or visit DHEC’s website at www.scdhec.gov/stdhiv.

DHEC in the News: National STD Awareness Month, opioids

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Here’s a look at health and environmental news from around South Carolina.

DHEC encourages HIV testing during National STD Awareness Month

COLUMBIA — April is National STD Awareness Month and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is encouraging South Carolinians to get STD screenings.

To assist in these prevention efforts, DHEC’s public health clinics will be offering free testing on Wednesday, April 18. The department urges those at risk for any STD to talk with their healthcare professional about getting tested or request testing at one of the public health clinics.

General Interest

As the opioid epidemic rages on, S.C. schools must decide how to teach students about drugs

Given the growing problem of opioid addictions and overdose deaths in South Carolina, the state’s Department of Education has new expectations of health educators.

For example, children in kindergarten should know the difference between drugs of abuse and medicine.

DHEC in the News: Tracking West Nile, HIV rates, flu

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Here’s a look at health and environmental news from around South Carolina.

DHEC: Submitting dead birds can help track West Nile virus in SC

COLUMBIA, SC (FOX Carolina) – The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is asking residents to send dead birds to their local DHEC offices to help officials track the West Nile virus.

DHEC is asking people to send crows, blue jays, house finches, and house sparrows they find dead as part of the dead bird surveillance program.

General Interest

CDC reports HIV rates are highest in the South

HUNTSVILLE Ala. — HIV rates are declining in the United States due to prevention efforts and awareness, except for in the Deep South. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say southern cities now have the highest rates of new infections nationwide.

A Second Wave of Flu May Be On the Way, CDC Warns

The bulk of this year’s deadly flu season was dominated by the H3N2 virus, an influenza A strain that is more severe and less receptive to vaccines than other types of the disease. As the season winds down, however, influenza B has overtaken influenza A, setting the scene for a possible second wave of flu, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) data.

DHEC in the News: Opioids, HIV, flu

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Here’s a look at health and environmental news from around South Carolina.

What’s new with the opioid epidemic? You!

LEXINGTON, SC (WIS) – It’s a story that keeps making headlines – the opioid addiction problem.

Every few days a news story highlights the growing number of those addicted and the deaths that come as a result.

A doctor at Lexington Medical Center says there is something new in the fight against the opioid problem. It’s you.

Lowcountry AIDS Services tested a record number of HIV positive people in January

A local nonprofit that provides free HIV testing is warning that it tested more people positive for the virus in January than in any other month in its 20-year history.

North Charleston-based Lowcountry AIDS Services says seven people tested positive in the month of January, the largest number in a single month. In contrast, no one tested positive in January 2017.

General Interest

Widespread flu causing large shortage in blood donations in South Carolina

The Blood Connection is appealing for donors because the flu is keeping regular donors at home.

“When donors are unable to keep their scheduled appointments because of the flu, the community blood supply drops,” said Dr. Robert Rainer, medical director at the agency.

DHEC in the News: American Heart Month, HIV, injury prevention in children and teens

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Here’s a look at health and environmental news from around South Carolina.

“80% of heart disease is preventable, know your numbers.” Get heart healthy this month!

Columbia, S.C. (WACH) – February is heart health awareness month.

Heart disease is the number one cause of death for women in the nation. It is also the second leading cause of death for all women in South Carolina.

It is the leading killer of African-American women in the Palmetto State according to results from the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).

Highest number of positive HIV tests in a single month reported by North Charleston agency

More patients tested positive for HIV at Lowcountry AIDS Services in January than during any other month in the group’s 27-year history.

The support clinic tested roughly 130 people last month and seven of those tests were positive — an abnormally high number.

“People think HIV and AIDS are a thing of the past,” said Adam Weaver, prevention program manager for Lowcountry AIDS Services. “It’s really not.”

General Interest

Injury Prevention in Children & Teens

This week Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Keith Borg about injury prevention during childhood.