Our new and improved Sex Facts page is being taken over by Sandi, the WGAY Gonococcal Princess! If you would like to ask the Gonococcal Princess a question, email me and I will forward your questions along. We'll try to do this every week until I can give Sandi her very own WGAY email address. Enjoy!

Education:

 This Week's topic: HIV/AIDS (posted 2/19/04)

Thankfully, The Post has come through for me (for once in a long time journal entry for the 11th February 2004 for the whole sad story) and I am very excited. The article in question is

HIV Outbreak Is Identified Early: New Strategy Uncovers Network of Sexual Liaisons in North Carolina By David Brown

To understand why I am excited, you have to understand that right now I work in the healthcare field doing research on cytokines. Before this I worked doing research on Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC, gonorrhea, The Clap, etc). A while ago I started working on an MPH in Epidemiology focused on STD & HIV/AIDS rates, I have now decided to take that work and go on for my MS/PhD in actually medical research in this area. Needless to say I have an interest in this topic in general. (And right now, before you start thinking about writing in, we can answer all of the questions that I have been asked before these are actual and honest answers that I have give to people many times, I am sure that you can figure out the questions from the context.)


1. No, I have never had an STD.
2. No, I cannot take a sample from you and run it to see if you have an STD.
3. Yes, I know that I have done this for others, but they were the patients that I was studying at the time.
4. No, I cannot prescribe any medications for you if you have an STD.
5. No, I will not give you any meds from my lab to make the burning and itching go away.
6. No, I will not go on a date with you even though I know what you have is curable.
7. No, the reason that I will not go out with you is not because I have already judged you.
8. No, the reason that I will not go out with is not that you listed your home address under a local bridge.
9. No, the reason that I will not go out with you is not related to the fact that the government has spies that keep on infecting you.
(As I am sure you have guessed, the last four were given to the same man please dont ask well both be very sorry).

Okay, back to the article it talks about a group of men (mostly homosexual) in North Carolina that have all been infected with HIV/AIDS in a short period of time and how regular testing and honesty with your doctor can pay off. While sadly, a total of 84 people have become infected as of now, the number could have been a lot higher. There are a number of lessons that we can learn from this sad story.


a. Just because someone tests negative for a disease, does not mean that they do not have it!
b. While using barrier methods (i.e. condoms, dental dams, etc) is not always totally effective, it is still better than nothing.
c. Even people that look healthy - may not be. (Sadly, in my research I still hear this used as an excuse for not using condoms! But s/he looked like a good person, why would I question them if they said that they were clean? )
d. Find out what type of testing your doctors office or clinic will be using. Find out if they test all samples two times as with some type of testing the rates of false negatives/false positives can be high. Samples that test negative for antibodies to HIV are pooled in batches, and the batches are then tested for HIV genetic material with the highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. If a pool turns up positive, technicians can test the individual samples. This eventually leads to the single sample that contains HIV but not antibodies -- and, therefore, represents a brand-new infection. Doing this extra step adds about $2 to the cost of a standard HIV test, which is about $3.50, Leone said.
In this case, they make sure that there are no false negatives! Not all places do this, so check to make sure!
e. While money may be an issue, shop around for the best deal on testing costs. $5.50 is cheap! Thats a drink at the bar vs- the rest of your life! If you are worried about your insurance find out (some are worried about public records of their sexual preference) find a free or low cost clinic in your area. Here in D.C. we have the D.C. free clinic, Planed Parenthood, and the Whitman-Walker Clinic. All offer low cost/free testing and also many provide condoms for free! (Take a bunch, hand them out to friends, loved ones, etc)

Over all enjoy what life has to offer you, but as Thomas Jefferson said: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Updated: February 19, 2004