The
column, Ask Lisa-Anne, first appeared in the weekly the Community
Journal Newspaper. This African-American newspaper is stationed in Nassau County, Long Island, New York and serves the towns
of Hempstead, Uniondale, Freeport, Baldwin, Roosevelt, West Hempstead, Rockville Center, and expanding. The founder
of this paper, Gary Coley, launched this paper over 20 years ago to create positive thinking,
raise issues that affect the African-American community, and to provide mutually beneficial business opportunities.
The current publisher, Larry Montgomery, continues the traditions of
this paper and keeps the African-American readers informed about issues that affect their
lives.
The US
Immigration News is an informative newspaper shared all over New York and was launched by editor
Attorney Jospeh Famuyide and is an extension of his law practice.
Joseph is passionate about assisting new immigrants as they assimilate into the USA and has incorporated my column
to better assist his readers. Contact his office for any immigration issues including passports and green cards. www.usimmigrationnewspaper.com.
*
The NY Liberty Star newspaper is stationed in
Brooklyn, New York. The editor in chief Lenecia Hines and
managing editor Ivrol Hines publish informative and up to date news
to it's mostly Caribbean audience. This family run newspaper keep it's community informed about politics, travel, education,
health, crime, foods and sports news throughout the Caribbean Islands. Visit www.nylibertystar.com for more information and subscriptions.
The New England Informer is
the most consistently sought after premier newsmagazine for individuals who need to reach and network with a diverse community.
It disseminates thought-provoking and high-quality information. It prides itself as a constant resource offering up-to-date
information and current articles, which helps all types of businesses to meet the growing demands of diverse consumers through
advertising, marketing and more. It's CEO and Publisher is Doreen Wade. You
may view this high quality newsmagazine atwww.neinformer.net.
Chatafrikarticles.com, a division of ChatAfrik Inc.,
is a directory of quality articles from expert authors on a wide range of topics. It is
an all inclusive African-focused website where rigorous and candid Articles are presented for the maximum understanding of
our readers. They provide a medium for the distribution of fresh, reprintable content suitable for use on web sites,
ezines, newsletters, and print publications. Visit www.chatafrikarticles.com for more information.
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Q.As a classroom kindergarten teacher, I’m in close contact with my students.They often hug me, lean on me, sneeze on me and cry on me.I’m concerned about contracting
a serious ailment like HIV/AIDS.How can I protect myself without being dismissive and cruel to my students?Shouldn’t teachers be told who has AIDS in their classroom? What is the incidence of children who have HIV/AIDS?
A.It’s a heartbreaking thing to see children suffering from the symptoms of AIDS.This is information that should be reviewed in the beginning of every school year to staff in public schools as a reminder
of the precautions a teacher should take on a daily basis and to weed out myths about HIV/AIDS as well.Let’s
explore this topic!
What is HIV/AIDS?According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention-www.CDC.gov, HIV
stands for human immunodeficiency virus.HIV is the virus
that can lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome,
or AIDS. The CDC estimates that about 56,000 people in the United States contracted HIV in 2006. HIV damages
a person’s body by destroying specific blood cells, called CD4+ T cells, which are crucial to helping the body fight
diseases. HIV is primarily spread via unprotected sex, sharing of needles,syringes,
rinse water, or other equipment used to prepare illicit drugs for injection and being born to an infected mother—HIV
can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy, birth, or breast-feeding. How Many Children Have HIV/AIDS in America?According to AVERT, an international AIDS charity, an estimated 3,792 children aged under 13 were living with
AIDS at the end of 2007.Most contracted it from their mothers. Visit www.avert.org.The numbers outside of the USA are astounding!Are African-Americans More Likely to Contract HIV/AIDS?Of all racial and ethnic groups in the United States, HIV and AIDS have hit African Americans the hardest.
The reasons are not directly related to race or ethnicity, but rather to some of the barriers faced by many African Americans.
These barriers can include poverty (being poor), sexually transmitted diseases, and stigma (negative attitudes, beliefs, and
actions directed at people living with HIV/AIDS or directed at people who do things that might put them at risk for HIV).When you look at HIV/AIDS by race and ethnicity,
you see that African Americans have
More illness. Even though
blacks (including African Americans) account for about 13% of the US population, they account for about half (49%) of the
people who get HIV and AIDS.
Shorter survival times. Blacks with AIDS often don’t
live as long as people of other races and ethnic groups with AIDS. This is due to the barriers mentioned above.
More
deaths. For African Americans and other blacks, HIV/AIDS is a leading cause of death. www.CDC.gov
There are several challenges
facing the African American community that impact HIV prevention efforts and how well African Americans with HIV/AIDS cope
with the disease. Some of these challenges are:poverty, denial, STDs and drug use.Having
sexually transmitted diseases increases one’s chances of contracting HIV/AIDS.This also means that
more African-American children will have HIV/AIDS because more African-American mothers have it as compared to other races.Do parents or guardians have to disclose to the school that their child has
HIV/AIDS?Parents have to disclose to healthcare professionals, (doctors, nurses, physician assistants, dentists)
that their child has HIV/AIDS so they can treat the child accordingly.The law does not require parents
and guardians to share HIV-related information with a child's school. However, it may be in the child's best interest for
some school employees to know about the child's HIV infection (for example, if the child needs help taking medicines).Parents and guardians of children with HIV should also think about whether to share their child's HIV status with people
directly involved in the child's life, such as babysitters, friends, and relatives. They do not have to tell anyone. However,
it may be overwhelming to care for a young person with HIV/AIDS without telling others and getting support. Visit www.health.state.ny.us/diseases/aids/facts/questions/child_adolescents.htm
Can I get HIV from casual contact?
No. HIV is not transmitted by day to day contact in the home, the workplace, schools, or social settings.
HIV is not transmitted through shaking hands, hugging or a casual kiss. You cannot become infected from a toilet seat, a drinking
fountain, a doorknob, dishes, drinking glasses, food, or pets.HIV is a fragile virus that does not live
long outside the body. HIV is not an airborne or food borne virus. HIV is present in the blood, semen or vaginal secretions
of an infected person and can be transmitted through unprotected vaginal, oral or anal sex or through sharing injection drug
needles. Children who bite will not transmit HIV. Although the virus sometimes can be detected in the saliva of an infected
person, experts say the concentration is too weak to cause infection in others.www.Aids.org
Can the
Department of Education bar students infected with HIV from attending classes? Can HIV-infected employees be removed from
their jobs?
No.
Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 protect the right of
persons with HIV/AIDS (which are considered disabling conditions under these laws) to continue working as long as they are
able to perform the essential functions of their jobs. Under the same laws, students with HIV/AIDS have the right to attend
school and cannot be denied access to any educational opportunity for which they would otherwise be qualified.
As we have seen, there is no reason to exclude students or
personnel with HIV/AIDS because they do not pose a danger to others in a school setting.
How can teachers protect themselves?First, you have probably hugged and held the hand
of a child who has AIDS already in your career.You should practice the same precautions you would use
to avoid catching pink eye and the swine flu. Most parents don’t disclose this information because they do not want
their children isolated, rejected and mistreated.The United Federation of Teachers-www.UFT.org, which
is the teachers’ union across America, offers the
following information when teaching children who have HIV/AIDS:Some school employees, such as school nurses and health aides, have job duties that
involve routine exposure to blood. Just like health care personnel working in hospitals, these school employees face some
risk of contracting the HIV virus if they sustain direct contact with infected blood. Examples of direct contact
include being pierced with a needle or other sharp object contaminated with the virus or being splashed with infected blood
on the eyes, nose, mouth or an open wound.Other school employees with some risk of exposure to HIV may
include any physical education teachers and school safety officers who frequently deal with injured students and custodial
staff who are responsible for cleaning up blood spills.Every school
employee should follow the safety procedures called “universal precautions” by avoiding contact with the blood
of others.
What steps should the Department of Education take to protect school
employees against exposure to HIV?The Bloodborne Pathogen Standard adopted by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration in December 1991,
requires that every employer develop a plan to prevent or reduce workers’ exposure to bloodborne pathogens (germs) including
HIV and the hepatitis B and C viruses.For Department of Education employees, the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard
is enforced by the New York State Department of Labor through PESH, the Public Employee Safety and Health Program. The OSHA/PESH
Bloodborne Pathogen Standard was adopted after strong pressure by the UFT, the American Federation of Teachers and many other
unions throughout the country.
Shouldn’t teachers who do NOT
have HIV/AIDS, be told if other teachers have it?Such a disclosure policy would be illegal. It also is unnecessary. It would be illegal
because the New York State Public Health Law explicitly bars the disclosure of such confidential medical information in most
circumstances. Department of Education policy reinforces the legal mandate by explicitly prohibiting school employees from
disclosing information about a student’s HIV status without the consent of the student or his/her parents/legal guardians.
In some cases information about HIV status may not even be disclosed to the student’s parents. (See Chancellor’
Special Circular #37 of May 19, 1993.)For more information about ‘universal precautions,’ visit www.UFT.org.
Vaccines
cause Autism?
Question:
I am a 2nd grade special education teacher. Three of my students have
been diagnosed with autism. With autism on the rise, what can teachers
do to meet the students’
needs? My district has provided no training.
Answer:
This topic has been heating up talk shows, radio programs,
and topics
in education venues
for many years now. There has been no long term,
intensive research to prove or disprove whether vaccines have caused
the rise in autism in this country or abroad. A few years ago the
incidence of autism was 1 in every
600 births. Today it’s 1 in
every 150 births. Autism is a developmental disability that
typically appears during the first three years of life and
affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with
others.
Medical experts don’t
have a comprehensive understanding of what
causes
autism, but they do know there is a strong hereditary
component.
An
article in the Associated Press, May 13, 2008, reports that
lawyers at a hearing in federal court argued that parents’
claiming that childhood vaccines cause autism, should not be
rewarded by the courts when the scientific community has
already
rejected any link.
Nearly 4,900 families have filed claims with
the
U.S. Court of Claims alleging that vaccines caused autism and
other neurological problems in their children. Lawyers for the
families are presenting three different theories of how vaccines
caused autism. The theory at issue recently was whether vaccines
containing the preservative thimerosal caused autism. A Justice
Department lawyer, Lynn Ricciardella,
said that theory has not
moved
beyond the realm of speculation. She said the Institute of
Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
have rejected any link between thimerosal and autism.
Thimerosal has been removed in recent years from standard
childhood vaccines, except flu vaccines that are not packaged
in single doses.
The CDC says single-dose flu shots currently are
available only in limited
quantities. My opinion on the subject
is
that children have been receiving vaccines for decades and
there was no rise in autism. This is a recent phenomenon. If it
is indeed caused by vaccines, then researchers need to explore
what changes if any, have occurred
in vaccines recently. This is
the
scientific argument as well. There have been no changes to
these vaccines besides the removal of Thimerosal. Even with it’s
removal, the incidence of autism continues to rise. If I
was
a parent of a young
toddler, I wouldn’t refuse vaccines but I
would ask my pediatrician to administer them in smaller intervals
than usual so that any changes in my child could be seen immediately.
Symptoms of Autism:
There are no absolutes in diagnosing autism. Like
many disorders or
illnesses, other
difficulties or concerns have to be explored and ruled
out. However, there are some signs that parents should take seriously
and pursue evaluations for as soon as possible if they exist.
If your
pediatrician won’t
listen and acts like you’re just an over zealous,
panicing parent, find another doctor. The experts at
