“HIV continues to rise,” said Jennifer Kiger, who serves as HCPH’s director of the Office of Epidemiology, Surveillance and Emerging Diseases. “We’re seeing that in Texas, [and] we’re also seeing that here in Harris County.”
Digging deeper
Montrose had the highest rate of new HIV diagnoses in the six-year time period, according to the data, with a rate of 81, compared to the third highest rate in the county, which was found in the Settegast neighborhood in north Houston with 66.
The report also stated that the Downtown Houston and Montrose areas had the highest rates of people living with HIV in the county from 2015-21, with 5,614 and 2,238 cases, respectively.
“I think we do see that more younger people ... live in the more central part of our county,” Kiger said. “That’s part one. Also, one thing we really talk about in the report is that sometimes hospitals or clinics may not have an address for an individual and therefore will put the address or ZIP code of the clinic or hospital.”
Harris County has a higher-than-average rate of HIV than the Texas average, which can lead to poor health outcomes, higher health care costs and reduced quality of life, health care officials said.
HCPH is expanding its low-cost, clinical and preventive services to address the rising rates in the county, according to an April news release. As part of its HIV/STI prevention program to remove testing barriers, HCPH offers Testing 123, a mobile outreach service that offers services to clients at their preferred location by texting 281-962-8378 to set an HIV testing appointment.
