Studies show rapid increase in HIV among high-risk populations in L.A.

By Trucmai Nguyen
Daily Bruin Contributor

The potential for a rapid rise in HIV infections among gay and
bisexual men is the focus of studies prompting plans for greater
prevention and intervention efforts in California, according to UC
AIDS researchers.

A crowd of more than 400 California researchers, policy makers
and community members convened Friday in Los Angeles, at a
conference presented by the university-wide AIDS Research
Program.

The event emphasized translating findings in the biological
sciences into the development of new drugs and vaccines for
patients with AIDS and HIV.

“The information is directly relevant to the college
population,” said George Lemp, director of the UARP.
Statistics show that one in four HIV infected people in the U.S.
are younger than 22.

According to the UCLA AIDS Institute, AIDS is the world’s
deadliest infectious disease. Los Angeles ranks as the second
largest HIV and AIDS epicenter in the U.S. Throughout the world,
16.3 million people are estimated to have died from AIDS to date
and another 33.6 million people are estimated to be living with HIV
or AIDS.

At the United Nation’s AIDS Security Council Session last
year, experts predicted that “more people will die of AIDS in
the next decade than have died in all the wars of the 20th
century.”

Three of the studies emphasized at the event dealt with an
increase of HIV infections among high risk populations. It was
found that many HIV-infected bisexual men in Los Angeles expose
their male and female partners to the virus, often without
disclosing their HIV-positive diagnosis.

According to the study by AIDS Project Los Angeles, more than
half of the bisexual men studied did not always disclose their HIV
status to their sexual partners.

According to a team of UCLA researchers, “Many gay and
bisexual men continue to engage in anonymous public unsafe sex with
multiple partners following an HIV positive diagnosis.”

Studies conducted in Los Angeles showed that HIV-infected
African American men, who identified as heterosexual, constituted
61 percent of the population that failed to use protection during
anal sex with other men. This figure was greater than the 44
percent of men who identified as gay or bisexual.

“These three studies from Los Angeles are alarming to
us,” Lemp said.

For people who are not aware they are HIV-positive, and for
those who are but face personal issues that cause them to expose
others, Lemp said it was necessary for local and state agencies to
step up their programs in prevention and intervention.

The conference focused on four areas of research: social and
behavioral sciences, clinical sciences, basic biological sciences
and health services research and policy, according to Dr. Ronald
Mitsuyasu, the director of UCLA’s California AIDS Research
Center.

Keynote speaker, Dr. Stanley Plotkin, a medical and scientific
consultant at pharmaceutical company Aventis Pasteur, spoke about
the objectives of developing a successful vaccine. The goals
included creating a vaccine that will extend the life expectancy of
the patient already infected with the virus.

Another goal is to decrease transmission among those who are
infected with the disease. Other vaccines may not protect from
infection but will vaccinate against a full development of the
disease.

Despite rigorous research in the development of vaccines and
therapy treatments, one study found that new drug therapies are
becoming less effective in containing the virus. The number of
patients developing resistance to the HIV drug
“cocktails” is increasing.

After the peak of HIV and AIDS infections in 1982, the number of
incidences decreased with increased awareness and prevention
efforts. Although research today may focus on communities that face
the highest risk, it is important for low risk groups to realize
that the number of infections is slowly on the rise again, Lemp
said.

Lemp emphasized the current increase in the number of infections
due to complacency and the false belief that infection only occurs
among those involved in high risk behaviors.

“With the increased risk behavior by those at highest
risk, the assumption is that in five to 10 years, the virus will be
isolated to high risk groups,” he said.