Top 25...

This article lists the top 25 US cities with high HIV/AIDS rates.    I find this list expected & frightening.  A lot of the areas I already knew about.    Then I looked again & got a surprise.  My little, nowhere town is within  a 500 radius (+/- a little) of 6 of these cities.   

6 out of 25, that's almost a 25%.   My area is on or near some of the biggest roadways crossing the nation.   There are a lot of people from other places that pass through this region.   A lot of people probably from these top 25 cities.   Many of which probably spent some time here & contributed to the HIV levels in our area.

If these are the top 25 & I'm that near 6 of them, how many of the top 50 am I near?   This list doesn't take into account small towns & communities considered too small for these agencies to count.   Some of those little towns could have higher rates than any of these cities.  Having sex there would be like playing Russian Roulette.  

A lot of people still think they love in places too removed to be in any danger from HIV.  That was probably never the case.  People travel all the time & bring their baggage with them.   I hope this list puts things in perspective for some people.  Nowhere is safe from HIV.

Cya...