Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
United Press International - October 24, 2008
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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