ST. LOUIS, Oct 24, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Up to 50 students at a St.
Louis-area high school may have been exposed to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS,
county health officials said.
The St. Louis County Health Department said it would provide free HIV testing to
the 1,300 students at Normandy High School, with testing expected to be
completed by the end of the month, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
The call for testing at the school arose from a routine investigation into an
HIV diagnosis that led to concerns about at-risk students, the department said.
Officials didn't reveal whether the person testing positive for HIV was a
student.
"It could well be substantially below that" number of 50, said Craig LeFebvre, a
health department spokesman told the Post-Dispatch. "Just because you're exposed
doesn't mean you contracted the disease."
Health investigators may not know the identities of all the students involved,
LeFebvre said.
"If we knew who they were, we probably would have acted in a less public
fashion," he said.
While most likely scenario for HIV exposure among teenagers would be sexual
activity, health experts say sharing contaminated hypodermic needles also could
be responsible, the Post-Dispatch said.
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