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active" heterosexuals. Sexual activ–
ity with prostitutes and bisexual
encounters are prime causes of the
spread of the A lDS virus to hetero–
sexuals. In sorne areas, 30 percent
of new AJOS cases are appearing
among heterosexuals.
A full-scale AIDS infection rap–
idly destroys the human body's
immune response, leading to
repeated " opportunistic" infections
by many kinds of pathogens. In
sorne cases the disease causes a rare
form of skin cancer called Kaposi's
sarcoma. Lower-key AIOS infec–
tions are suspected of causing other
health problems, but the complete
pathology is not yet understood.
Only a fraction of potential
AIOS cases has so far surfaced,
warn health officials.
"lt's going to be everybody's
problem"- meaning as a con–
cern- said Dr. Neil R. Schram,
chairman of the Los Angeles City
j
County AI DS Task Force. " T he
sheer numbers, in terms of what is
coming , are staggering," said
another health official. In many
areas, reported cases of AJOS
infections have been doubling every
year.
Worldwide, AIOS has now
struck more than 15,000 victims,
more than 12,000 in the United
States alone. An additional 500,000
to one million persons in the
United States have already been
infected with the AJOS virus,
HTLV-II J, according to estimates
of sorne health officiaJs.
Sorne officials estimate 1
O
percent
or more of those infected with the
AIDS virus will eventually develop
serious symptoms and die within five
years. T here is no cure for this dis–
ease known to medica! science at
present. The disease seems to have a
100 percent fatality rate once serious
symptoms develop.
Means of Spread
Medica! scientists indicate a new
secondary spread of the AIDS
virus. Sexual partners or spouses of
promiscuous mates, infected intra–
venous drug abusers and recipients
of AIOS-contaminated blood trans–
fusions are getting AIOS. And
fetuses of AJOS-infected women
are now appearing with infections.
In addition, severa! women have
contracted the deadly AJOS virus
November/ December 1985
through artificial insemination at
one fertility clinic.
When AJDS was first diagnosed
in 1981 , it was known as the Gay
Plague because it felled mostly
homosexual males and seemed to
be transmitted by anal sex. This
abnormal act often causes bleeding
and provides an exceptionally ready
conduit for the AJOS virus into a
new host.
"The basic problem is promiscuity,
not nationality," said one health
official.
Like the influenza virus, the
AJOS virus is constantly mutating
or transforming itself. The virus
that causes the killer disease exists
in around 100 different forms,
according to researchers. This dis–
turbing characteristic makes it very
difficult for scientists to pin down
(12,256cases reported as of August 5, 1985)
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<;_ _
<r :
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'
OTHER ADULT CASES: 3 ,246
Source:Centers forDisease
Control
Available evidence indicates
AIOS is not spread by toilet seats,
handshakes , sneezing or simply
being around a victim. General
household or environmental trans–
mission has not been definitely dem–
onstrated. lntimate contact where
the virus can be transmitted
into
another person seems required. In
parts of Africa, AIOS is a hetero–
sexual disease, striking men and
women in roughly equal numbers.
Health officials have removed
Haitians from the list of specific
AIDS high risk groups. Research–
ers have discovered that most Hai–
tians who contracted AJOS did so
as a result of homosexual activity,
use of contaminated intravenous
needles or sexual contact with
infected prostitutes-or from sex–
ual contact with someone in these
high risk groups who was infected.
or to devise a vaccine to fight it.
Another fact that has made this
disease so particularly frightening
and subtle is the long incubation
period- up
to
1O
years-before
symptoms may occur. Sexually
active infected persons, maJe or
female, may either carry the virus
in latent (nonactive) form within
their body cells or they may be car–
rying an active stage of the virus in
their bloodstream for many years.
In the latter stage they can be
spreading the AIDS virus to sexual
partners even though they them–
selves appear healthy and without
symptoms .
Blood tests can often indicate
antibodies to the HTLV- III virus
(though there can be false positive
results- i.e., indications of infec–
tion). There is no way doctors can
predict the fate of those who test
5