HIV destroys the body’s ability to fight off infectious diseases while AIDS alters the body so that it can no longer fight any diseases. Severe HIV and AIDS symptoms might not appear for several years, so a sexually active person could contaminate others unknowingly.

Recent reports have stated that 76 percent of D.C. residents infected are African American. Heterosexual intercourse is the leading cause of transmission among the African American community.

The Washington Post reported that African American men have an infection rate near seven percent, meaning that they have the highest infection rate in D.C. The transmission of the disease has gone from mostly affecting the homosexual community to the general population. 2.4 percent of Latinos and 1.4 percent of Caucasians are infected with HIV in the city as well.

The Washington Post also reported that D.C.’s HIV/AIDS rate has increased 22 percent since 2006. What is to blame? People are taking poor precautions when it comes to protecting their health.

Many people still believe that HIV/AIDS is a homosexual disease; however, it has moved from being a disease that mostly affected the homosexual community to one that mostly affects the heterosexual community.

These statistics shocked many students at Gaithersburg High School. "I am shocked by the news because you would think that since America is more modern, people would be less ignorant and that we would set an example for other countries," senior Robyn Johns said. Many students are aware of the precautions that are necessary to prevent STDs. So how can so many people become infected in two years? "Poverty has made it so that people don’t care because they live with a day to day mentality," Johns said.

HIV/AIDS rates have increased about 21 percent since 2007, according to The Washington Post. Has awareness of the protection against STDs gone down? "I kind of know about prevention," sophomore Wilber Hernandez said. The District’s health concerns its neighbors and Maryland is the closest neighbor to D.C.

Young adults need to practice safe sexual practices in order to prevent infection and keep in mind that becoming sick with HIV/AIDS is a realistic consequence of unsafe behaviors. Many young people feel like catching an STD of any sort is not going to happen to them, but not practicing safe sex or other forms of irresponsible conduct can have major consequences.