TREATMENTS BRING DROP IN AIDS CASES; DRUGS, EDUCATION GIVE LONGER LIFE EXPECTANCY

Powerful new drugs and increased education helped cut Missouri AIDS deaths by one-third from 1995 to 1996, mirroring a national downturn in AIDS-related deaths.

In Cape Girardeau County, AIDS-related deaths also dropped, the Missouri Department of Health said.

"Missouri had a significant decrease: a one-third decrease compared to a one-fourth decrease on the national level," said Beth Meyerson, chief of the state's Bureau of STD/HIV Prevention.

Statewide, 339 people died from AIDS and related diseases in 1996, compared to 502 in 1995.

"This is over one year," Meyerson said. "Hopefully, this will continue."

In Cape Girardeau County, three AIDS-related deaths were recorded in 1995, compared to one AIDS-related death in 1996.

Nationally, HIV and AIDS-related deaths dropped from 15.6 deaths per 100,000 population in 1995, to 11.6 deaths per 100,000 population in 1996, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

New AIDS cases also dropped for the first time since the epidemic began in the early 1980s, said the CDC. In 1995, an estimated 60,620 new AIDS cases were reported in the United States. In 1996, that number fell to 56,730.

Nationally, an estimated 235,470 people in the U.S. were living with AIDS, said the CDC.

In Missouri, 7,380 AIDS cases have been reported along with 3,697 cases of people diagnosed as HIV-positive.

In Cape Girardeau County, 43 AIDS cases have been reported, and 17 people are reported as HIV-positive.

Health experts credit the development of new drug "cocktails" and protease inhibitors for stopping the reproduction of the AIDS virus and halting its attack on patients' immune systems. Expanded prevention and education efforts also are proving successful in curtailing the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The new drug therapies prevent HIV infection from developing into full-blown AIDS.

"That means basically that the virus is not active; it's still present, but it's not active," said Paula Pinkston, state health department care coordinator for HIV/AIDS patients in several Southeast Missouri counties, including Cape Girardeau County. "It's wonderful," Pinkston said.

Ten years ago life expectancy for someone newly diagnosed with HIV or AIDS was three years, she said. The new medications have increased that life expectancy to 20 years.

"It makes you feel pretty good that you've seen it come so far," she said.

But longer life expectancies are "kind of a Catch-22" for HIV/AIDS patients, Pinkston said.

Patients who show great improvement may no longer qualify for Medicaid and Social Security benefits, and may not be able to afford out-of-pocket costs to pay for the medications if they return to work, she said. Some of the drugs can cost as much as $40 a day.

Health experts are disturbed by the increase in HIV and AIDS cases among heterosexual women.

"In Missouri, women comprise a minority of the infections," said Meyerson. "Men are still 86 to 90 percent of the cases, but they used to be 100 percent of the cases."

Statewide, 74 women have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, Meyerson said.

Nationally, the number of women diagnosed with AIDS from 1991 to 1995 increased by 63 percent.

The number of men diagnosed with AIDS in that period increased by 12.8 percent, said the CDC.

Unprotected sex with infected partners and intravenous drug use are the two biggest risk factors for HIV/AIDS infection.

Women under 25 are 2.5 times more likely to be infected through unprotected sex than by injecting drugs, the CDC says. That means it is time to start targeting heterosexual women for AIDS prevention efforts, Meyerson said.

"What we also think is that women don't think they're at risk for AIDS," she said.

AIDS DEATHS

COUNTY 1995 1996

Cape Girardeau 3 1

Bollinger 0 0

Perry 0 0

Ste. Genevieve 1 1

Mississippi 1 1

Scott 1 1