A jump in testing

When I got tested, I joined 150 other Kent State students who did the same thing last year. In the early 1990s, Kent State began offering students free, anonymous and confidential tests. Now Kent State’s health center, as well as those at some other colleges and universities, reports a rise in the number of students they’re seeing, something they credit to more awareness and friendlier methods of testing.

A lot of smaller schools still cannot afford to test. That’s a concern for some health experts but not as much as the unknown number of young people who have HIV and do not know it.

At Kent State, all of the allotted appointment slots — usually 25 or 30 on a given day — have filled quickly this year. Cleveland State, which began testing in 1990, experienced a 5 to 10 percent increase in the number of students it tested last year. The College of Wooster, a private school that up until four years ago had directed students to the county health department, ran out of tests during an anonymous session Feb. 13. Oberlin College tested 300 of its 3,000 students last year, an overall steady increase since 1989.

“We could not survive without this program,” said Lori Flood, Oberlin’s student health promotion coordinator. “It keeps in the campus mind that HIV has not gone away.”

The campus-testing surge comes at a time when teen-agers and young adults account for 13 percent of HIV and 3 percent of AIDS cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC statistics for those 13 to 24 years old were compiled from 25 states that reported HIV infections from 1995 to 1999.

Typically, school health officials said, students test the most after their awareness has been heightened. It also helps that many of their school health centers offer it for free. Students usually respond when they see fliers on campus.

It used to be difficult getting students to show up for testing, said Carolyn Mesnak, coordinator of Kent State’s Student Health Promotion, which offers anonymous exams four times a semester and confidential exams anytime.

Awareness is one reason for the increase, Mesnak said, but she believes more are also testing because needles and blood aren’t used. In the fall, Kent State began using OraSure, the lollipop- like device placed near the gums that can detect HIV antibodies. She said it is quick and reliable and most students prefer it to the traditional method of testing.

The College of Wooster, which usually tests 200 to 300 of its 1,700 students each school year, also has noticed an increase since it started using OraSure, said Nancy Anderson, nurse director of the school’s Longbrake Student Wellness Center.

But a lot of smaller schools, mostly liberal arts colleges, do not have the resources to offer testing and send students off-campus to do it. Otterbein College near Columbus has HIV/AIDS pamphlets in the health center lobby but does not offer testing to its 3,000 students.

Marietta and Muskingum colleges, where just over 1,000 are enrolled, send all test inquiries to the county health departments.

Cost is the main factor. Susan Fracker, director of Muskingum’s wellness center, said the school’s insurance company would not reimburse the school for HIV/AIDS tests, which usually run $25 per student.

Concern remains whether students at these schools will actually drive the distance to the county health department to test. And, at a time when many young people don’t know they have the disease, doctors and health experts said accessibility is especially important.

But by and large, these school health officials said, that is not really an issue. Only a handful of students ask about testing each month. Some students might be uncomfortable about testing on campus, too.

School health officials said it doesn’t matter where they test — just as long as they do it. But health officials at schools that offer on-campus testing said it only encourages those who might otherwise neglect it.
“Testing on campus is convenient and feels safer than going to a public health clinic,” Oberlin’s Flood says. “It helps reduce the number of individuals with HIV because they know their status.”

Sarah Gareau, a Health Education and Promotion graduate student, said she found HIV testing to be “a struggle” last year. Yes, it was nerve-racking. But she had an equally frustrating time finding transportation and someone to go with.

Her school, Ursuline College, 13 miles west of Cleveland, didn’t offer testing and referred her to an outside clinic, which Gareau said was scary because it was in a rough neighborhood in Cleveland.

After asking around, no other students felt like making the trek, so she took a bus and tested alone.

“It became a big process,” Gareau said. “It was scary enough, but then having to worry about transportation...”