Jonathan Berg found out he was HIV positive at age 21. He grew up with alcoholic parents and never felt like he ‘fit in’. He said he made risky, unsafe choices and did not think about the consequences of his actions.

“The rules did not apply to me,” Berg said.

Berg, a volunteer speaker for the Center For Aids Research, Education & Services organization, will help kick off AIDS Awareness Week today by speaking at Sacramento State.

Berg said 50 percent of the people infected with HIV are under the age of 25.

Acquired Auto-Immune Deficiency Syndrome, known as AIDS, is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and is referred to as HIV, according to the Center for HIV Information at the University of California at San Francisco.

Emily Tsuchida, nurse practitioner from the Center for Aids Research, said the virus enters the body through sexual and blood contacts and has no known cure. Most people are exposed to HIV through sex and drug use. Eventually the disease kills white blood cells or T-cells and the body is unable to defend itself against certain kinds of infections and cancer.

According to the Center for HIV Information, the difference between AIDS and HIV is AIDS is advanced HIV. Someone with AIDS has a weak immune system and becomes sick from one of several infections or cancers. It usually takes between two to 10 years once a person acquires HIV for it to develop into AIDS.

Tsuchida said people do not die from AIDS. They die from diseases the body can no longer fight off because AIDS weakens the immune system.

“There are at least 2,000 people walking around Sacramento unaware they have HIV,” Tsuchida said.

When Berg tested positive for HIV, he said he felt terrified and everything went fuzzy in his brain. He wanted to act like he was in control of his life and did not know how to ask for help. Many questions went through his mind. As tears slowly rolled down his face, he described wondering if his partner would break up with him, would he ever be able to have sex again, and would anyone want to love him?

Berg said there are so many stigmas attached to this disease. He said things are getting more manageable, but it is not easy. His world is completely different now.

“There are 56,000 people in the United States that are HIV positive,” Berg said. “People have to make the decision to be safe.”

Berg said he realized he could no longer be a victim. He has to love himself in order to take care of his health.

“We all need to talk about it. We have to care enough about ourselves to make safe decisions,” Berg said.

Tsuchida said there is a misconception about having unprotected sex. She said young people have this idea that people with HIV look gaunt and sickly, which is not true.

“A person looking healthy does not mean that person is not HIV positive,” Tsuchida said. “HIV does not look like anything.”

Tsuchida said another misconception held by young people today is they think taking a pill fixes everything. Once a person has been diagnosed with HIV, he or she must take medication daily for the rest of his or her life.

One of the problems which must be dealt with, said Tsuchida, is a person will come into the clinic feeling fine, get tested for HIV, find out the results are positive and have to immediately begin taking strong drugs. Because of the side effects of taking HIV medication, now the person is not feeling well. Some side effects from medication can be itchy skin, headaches and diarrhea. This makes it harder to continue taking the prescribed drugs, but if a day is skipped, the drug may not work the next day. This is because the HIV virus has the ability to change itself and become drug resistant.

William Morefield, Sac State student and a volunteer speaker who is HIV positive, said this could happen to anyone. His goal is to reach out to the ‘at risk’ population and educate them about HIV.

Morefield said he was raised knowing the risks involved in having unsafe sex. He used condoms for a while, but in order to be more desirable to the men he dated, he stopped using them and contracted HIV.

Morefield, like Berg, said he was devastated when he found out he was HIV positive. Morefield said with a quiet sigh, that he truly contemplated suicide at that moment. He said it is important to seek support from family and friends when confronted by this disease. It is not something to deal with alone.

Someone can carry the virus around for 10 years without any symptoms, said Tsuchida. She said the population of people with HIV is getting younger. There is also a rise in other sexually-transmitted diseases, such as genital warts. Tsuchida said having genital warts or herpes makes a person more susceptible to HIV.

“It is your responsibility to protect yourself,” Tsuchida said.

Tsuchida said that in the United States, young women are not taught enough to say no to unprotected sex. She said the only way AIDS will become extinct in this country is by not letting AIDS reach the younger generation.

Another group seeing a rise in HIV are people older than 45 who have been married, then go through a divorce, said Tsuchida.

“We need to get rid of the stigma behind AIDS. Everyone needs to be tested,” Tsuchida said.

Tsuchida said when both partners in a relationship are HIV positive, they still must use protection when having sex because of the different strains of the virus.

She said even women having sex with other women are at risk because vaginal fluid has blood in it.

When a person comes in contact with HIV, it can take up to six months to show up, Tsuchida said. She also wanted people to know that once the test has been done and it comes back negative, unless a person has unprotected sex again, there is no need to redo the test.

Free HIV testing is available at the Sac State Student Health Center, the CARES clinic in downtown Sacramento and at Planned Parenthood facilities. The process is a simple mouth swab and the results are ready in 20 minutes.

Sally King can be reached at [email protected]