As of December 2008, the number of senior citizens in New Jersey living with HIV rose to 1,282, which represented a 17.5 increase from the previous year, according to state health officials and reported on by The Star-Ledger. Women account for 32 percent of these cases.

Experts say that much of the problem is that people aged 65 and over do not believe they are at risk, and neither do their health care providers.

“It all stems from people thinking that seniors are not sexually active,” said Caitlyn Flynn, program coordinator of the New Jersey Women & AIDS Network. “We are not asking them questions as if they are sexually active and not giving them the information they need.”