MISSOURI AIDS CASES DECLINING

An August political newsletter out of Jefferson City recently listed some encouraging statistics under the heading "AIDS Abatement."

They showed that 1992 was the peak year for new AIDS cases (1,014) in Missouri while 1991 recorded the largest number of deaths (842).

If taken by year of diagnosis, the number of people with AIDS dropped considerably in 1993 and again in 1994. Deaths were down, too.

Don't be fooled, warned Bureau of STD/HIV Prevention epidemiologist Dr. Robert Hamm. A 1993 change in the way AIDS is defined may have helped PWAs receive government assistance, but it didn't help record keeping at all.

He said the number of AIDS cases in the state have hit a plateau instead of dropping -- still pretty good news but not as impressive.

"You would like to think it has to do with all the effort put into education and prevention activities," Hamm said. "But, along with that, it's the natural course of epidemics to hit a plateau and, hopefully, start to come down."

That holds true in Cape Girardeau County, where the number of cases has hovered around 10 for the past few years. It was 8 in 1993, 11 in 1994 and 10 so far this year. The big increase has been in the number of people getting tested, according to Cape County Health Department Director Charlotte Craig.

Of 650 people who came in for HIV tests last year, one was HIV positive. Over 440 people have been tested so far this year, with one testing positive.

"Ninety percent of the people who come in to our STD clinic want HIV tests," Craig said. "It used to be that they came in for gonorrhea or chlamydia tests and we would have to ask if they wanted an HIV test. Now the HIV test brings them in."

Many of the people Craig sees aren't in high-risk groups, and that may be the reason for a low number of positive test results. Craig and her staff try to educate people they test about high-risk behavior and encourage condom use instead of unsafe sex and constant testing.

High-risk behaviors include having unprotected sex and sharing drug needles.

"Although we never try to talk anyone out of a test, we try to keep people from coming in the next time if they don't need to," Craig said. "If they don't use condoms, they should, and they shouldn't have indiscriminate sex."

While every sexually active person is at risk for contracting AIDS, the latest Missouri statistics show homosexual or bisexual males ages 30-39 are most likely to have the AIDS virus.

It is these people and those in other high-risk groups who may be avoiding tests, AIDS Project Coordinator Ted Fedler said, which also would contribute to the statistical plateau.

A Cape resident and person with AIDS, Fedler has been watching state trends.

"Perhaps we have a better informed public, but I think the reason is the higher-risk groups aren't being tested because they don't want to know," he said. "They know how it will affect them in rural Missouri with their jobs, homes, insurance and families."

The good side of being tested is that earlier diagnosis results in earlier treatment, and an HIV-positive person may have a longer life with better quality.

But because not everyone wants to know his HIV status, Fedler said it is more important than ever for each individual to protect himself.

"We're given the message constantly on television -- have safer sex or be abstinent," he said. "If you choose to have sex, take the responsibilities for yourself that go along with it."