The Department of Health and Social Services put out a release warning of increased instances of reported cases of HIV and Syphilis in Alaska yesterday.

According to their release, the elevated reports of the HIV virus and Syphilis have taken place in Fairbanks and Anchorage repectively. Their data shows that there was a spike in reported cases of HIV in the Fairbanks area during the period between January 1, 2011 and January 31, 2012.

Of the nine cases of HIV reported in Fairbanks, eight of those cases involved men having sex with men. Seven of those cases involved anonymous sexual partners online. Seven of those nine cases involved members of the U.S. Army or sexual partners who were in the Army. Four of the cases involved individuals 20 years of age or younger.

Anchorage experienced an outbreak of Syphilis during the same period. Since January of 2011, The HIV/STD program in Anchorage reported 13 new cases of Syphilis in the community. Like Fairbanks, the Anchorage cases had striking similarities. It is reported that in a majority of the cases, the individuals involved were men who were having sexual relations with other men and had found their partners online. Nine of those 13 cases of Syphilis have been reported since last October.

According to Susan Jones, program manager for the HIV/STD program, “Several of the patients were co-infected with both syphilis and HIV,” she went on to say, “and having both diseases increases the potential for passing the infections due to open sores.”

The HIV/STD program urges that anyone with risk factors for HIV or STD’s should take appropriate percautions when having sex and they urge testing for HIV/STD. Testing sites can be found at:https://www.hivtest.org/.

Rapid testing is available for HIV, rapid testing consists of a swab of the mouth and results are typically available within 20 minutes. Free rapid HIV testing is available at the Fairbanks Public Health Center, Feb. 21, from 1 to 5 p.m.; Feb. 22, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Feb. 23, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Call the health center at 907-452-1776 for more information.The Interior AIDs Association, in Fairbanks, will also be offering free rapid HIV tests, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 21–24. IAA can be reached at 907-452-4222.

More information on both outbreaks is available at: https://www.epi.hss.state.ak.us/bulletins.