Social Networks and HIV Transmission: The Contextual Dynamics of HIV Risk Behaviors

Despite advances in public health, biomedical, and social sciences, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), continues to proliferate. HIV is spread by exposure to infected blood, semen, or vaginal secretions. HIV transmission most commonly occurs because of sexual activities, through the sharing of contaminated needles and other drug paraphernalia, and less frequently, from infected mothers to their newborns (CDC, 2001). From the first reported in case in June 1981 through June 2001, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 793,026 cases of AIDS. The CDC estimates that 650,000 to 900,000 Americans are now living with HIV and approximately 40,000 new infections occur each year (CDC, 2001). Injection drug users make up the second largest group of people diagnosed with AIDS. Injection drug use is directly or indirectly associated with about one-third of all AIDS cases in the United States (CDC, 2001). As of June 20, 2001, there were 1000 people living with HIV or AIDS in Iowa. Of those, 21% reported having injected drugs (State of Iowa HIV and AIDS Surveillance Report, June 2001)