NurseWeek

Lax precautions lead to surge in infections

Reuters Health
July 9, 2000


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San Francisco. City health authorities are reporting a sharp jump in new HIV infections, marking the start of what many physicians fear is a dangerous new stage in America’s AIDS epidemic.

Health officials estimate that, after years of relative stability due to aggressive prevention programs, safer-sex publicity and new drug treatments, new HIV infections in San Francisco doubled to 900 in the past year.

"We see in San Francisco what is going to happen next in the epidemic. We saw the first AIDS infection, and now we’re seeing the first rise in new infections," said Thomas Coates, Ph.D., director of the AIDS Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco, on June 30. "This should sound a warning bell for the rest of the country."

Health officials blame the rise in part on the success of earlier AIDS prevention and treatment efforts, which have combined to make the disease seem less threatening for many gay men.

"The statistics very clearly point to a well-defined target population and a particular behavioral pattern. This is a trend that can certainly be contained," said Rene Durazzo, director of programs at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.