Washington Blade - August 10, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Incidents of domestic violence in gay male and lesbian relationships rose 29 percent nationally last year, according to a report released in July. There were 4,048 reports of domestic violence among lesbian, gay male, bisexual, and transgender couples nationally, up from 3,120 in 1999, according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.

"With this fifth annual report, we are able to stop asking, 'Does same-sex violence exist?' and start answering what we're going to do about it," said Shawna Virago, a program director at Community United Against Violence. Another report released by a Chicago-based gay advocacy group showed that the number of reported same-sex domestic violence incidents had doubled in the last year in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune.

CDC names Jaffe temporary head of AIDS office

ATLANTA (AP) - Dr. Harold Jaffe, who played an important role in the government's early investigation of HIV, has been named acting head of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's AIDS office. Dr. Helene Gayle, who has been the CDC's AIDS chief for six years, is leaving the post to become the top HIV/AIDS adviser for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Jaffe, 55, joined the CDC in 1980. He was an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer in the early 1980s, when the CDC first identified HIV. Jaffe will temporarily head the National Center for HIV, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention, which has a $1 billion annual budget. He will assume the post Aug. 27. The agency is conducting a national search for a permanent director.

Examining the risk of violence among gay youth

DAVIS, Calif. - Stephen Russell, a 4-H youth development specialist at the University of California, Davis, will analyze data over the next five years concerning gay youth and how that group is at greater risk for every type of violence, the Sacramento Bee reported. He is analyzing the results of a nationwide survey of 20,000 teens by the National Longitudinal Study of the Adolescent Health in 1995. Data was collected on family life, peer relationships, and risk-taking behavior. Russell said gay youth are more at risk for depression, substance abuse, violence, and unwanted pregnancies. He wants the data to help people better understand gay youth and help prevent them from being targets of violence, the Bee reported.

"This is the first time we have qualitative data for same-sex attraction," he said. Russell was awarded a $300,000 grant by the William T. Grant Foundation, an organization that supports youth development research nationwide. Russell also had a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Public Health which found that gay teens are about twice as likely as other teens to contemplate or attempt suicide, according to Reuters Health.

Steady partner is more likely source of HIV

LONDON - A steady partner is more likely to be the source of HIV infection among young gay men than a casual partner, Dutch researchers report in the July 6 issue of AIDS, according to Reuters Health. Dr. Udi Davidovich, of the Municipal Health Service, Amsterdam, and colleagues note that studies of gay men have shown that rates of unprotected anal intercourse "with steady partners are higher than with casual partners." Between 1984 and 1987, the researchers found that 15 percent of men 30 years old and younger were infected by their steady partner. Between 1994 and 2000, the proportion had risen to 67 percent. "Steady relationships are not automatically safer, but have to be made that way," Davidovich told Reuters Health. There appears to be an association between safety and steady relationships, but "they don't necessarily go hand in hand," he said.

Flu vaccine is effective for HIV patients

NEW YORK CITY - Influenza vaccination appears to be as effective in most HIV-infected persons as it is in those who are not infected, according to a recent analysis of an influenza outbreak, Reuters Health reported. Researchers at the New York City Department of Health interviewed 118 residents and employees at a residential facility for people living with AIDS where an outbreak of influenza occurred in 1996. They also reviewed medical records and collected serum samples from 65 residents. Due to the risk of prolonged illness and hospitalization for influenza illness among HIV-positive people, the researchers recommend that clinicians continue to adhere to guidelines suggesting annual influenza vaccinations.
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