Friday’s events in Snohomish County marking World AIDS Day come at a time when the number of new HIV cases reported this year is double the number reported last year.

During the first nine months of the year, 30 new HIV cases were reported in Snohomish County, up from 15 during the same time period the previous year.

Despite this increase, Snohomish County’s top health official said he doesn’t think that it signals a new rising trend in HIV cases.

“A single year doesn’t make a trend, yet,” said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District.

The 15 HIV cases reported last year were the lowest in the five-year period that began in 2003.

However, Goldbaum said the public health agency will work hard to reduce the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, in the coming year.

Brenda Newell, a program manager for HIV and AIDS prevention for the Snohomish Health District, said it’s hard to know why the number of HIV cases have increased this year.

“I think it’s truly a combination of factors,” she said.

Public health officials are concerned that people are being more complacent about practicing safer sex, she said.

Some people feel that HIV “is not really an issue to be concerned about any longer because there are medications available,” Newell said.

“I think there’s a level of fatigue around the message of safer sex,” she said.

The health district continues to emphasize the importance of people being tested for HIV, she said, so that people who are infected with virus can get medical help to battle the disease as quickly as possible.

“The sooner they know about the diagnosis, the more that can be done to help them,” she said.

The number of AIDS cases has declined slightly in Snohomish County, with 19 cases reported in the first nine months of this year compared with 22 new cases reported during the first nine months of last year.

In King County, the number of new HIV cases has been relatively stable for the last several years, with 350 to 400 cases reported annually, said James Apa, spokesman for Public Health — Seattle and King County.

The agency has a goal of reducing the number of new infections by 25 percent by 2015.

Friday’s World AIDS Day events in Snohomish County begin with a memorial march at 5:30 p.m. It will start at the Snohomish Health District offices at 3020 Rucker Ave. in Everett and continue to the AIDS memorial near the Mission Building on the Snohomish County Campus.

The march will return to the Snohomish Health District building for events including a candlelight vigil and music performed by Gaia Consort, a Snohomish folk-rock band.

Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.

Memorial walk

In Snohomish County, ceremonies to mark World AIDS Day, which promotes awareness of HIV and AIDS, will be Friday, beginning with a memorial walk at 5:30 p.m. It will start at 3020 Rucker Ave. in Everett. For information, call the Snohomish Health District at 425-339-5251.