AEGiS-WashBlade: Health News

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Health News

Washington Blade - November 5, 2004

ATLANTA - Gay and bisexual men are at particular risk for a rare sexually transmitted disease now spreading in Europe and possibly headed for the United States, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention said last week, Reuters reported. Doctors and clinics around the nation should prepare to diagnose and treat Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) among gay and bisexual men, the CDC warned, according to Reuters. Several recent outbreaks of the disease in the Netherlands prompted the CDC's warning, Reuters reported. In that country, 92 cases of LGV have been discovered since 2003, whereas five cases per year is more typical, according to the news agency. Specific strains of chlamydia cause the LGV infection, which usually appears via genital ulcers, swollen lymph glands and flu-like symptoms, Reuters reported. In recent Netherlands cases, however, patients developed more serious symptoms, such as gastrointestinal bleeding, not usually associated with LGV, according to Reuters. "We expect it's a question of time before we see cases appearing here," Dr. Stuart Berman, chief of the epidemiology and surveillance branch in the CDC's division of STD prevention, told Reuters. "This is an early warning."

Posters featuring meth dealers used to combat drug use among N.Y. gays

NEW YORK (AP) - Some recently convicted drug dealers will become unwilling poster children for a campaign to loosen methamphetamine's grip on gay neighborhoods, authorities said last week. The posters have the defendants' names, mug shots and warnings such as, "Over six years for selling crystal meth. Was it worth it?" The posters will soon be displayed on the streets of Chelsea, the West Village and other areas where law and health officials say crystal meth abuse among gay men is spreading at an alarming rate. The idea has already outraged defense attorneys who have represented men picked for the posters. "Unless they're prepared to do this with cocaine dealers in other neighborhoods, it smacks of gay bashing," attorney Isabelle Kirshner said. "I find it highly offensive." Attorney Timothy McInnis said that though he supports educating people about crime, "I'm not in favor of making certain defendants into poster boys." Authorities claimed they have used posters as a deterrence in other cases.

Ariz. AIDS organization says it will close down

MESA, Ariz. (AP) - AIDS Project Arizona, which served more than 2,500 people affected by AIDS or HIV, has announced that it will close down. The group's board last week also announced the cancellation of its AIDS Walk Arizona fund-raiser, scheduled for Nov. 7. Other AIDS organizations are stepping in to help move clients into their programs. Board and staff members from AIDS Project Arizona said financial problems, leadership changes, staff turnover and backlash against the agency among local gays contributed to the demise of the nonprofit organization.

Controversial Mass. panel questions alleged health risks of being gay

MEDFORD, Mass. - More than 100 Tufts University students attended a panel discussion focusing on the conservative view on the sociological impact of homosexuality last week, the Tufts Daily college newspaper reported. There is "no such thing as gay people," said panelist Brian Camenker, leader of the conservative Parents' Right Coalition, based in Waltham, according to Tufts Daily. "These various things [homosexual] people do are symptoms of their own past, some often very tragic." Camenker compared homosexuality to alcoholism, and was followed by speaker Dr. John Diggs, who researches the health risks of homosexuality, the student newspaper reported. "Public health should discourage homosexual behavior," Diggs said.

Health officials shut Illinois lab over HIV test kits

BEDFORD PARK, Ill. (AP) - State and federal health officials are investigating a suburban cosmetics factory for allegedly manufacturing HIV diagnostic kits. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the Illinois Department of Public Health have ordered the closing of the laboratory at Raani Corp. in Bedford Park. The lab was discovered when a routine fire inspection earlier this month raised concerns of municipal code inspectors. The laboratory had been built inside the factory without permits, according to Bedford Park building coordinator Steve Edwards. A search of the room uncovered packages of HIV diagnostic kits and a locked refrigerator that contained vials that were labeled HIV-positive serum, Edwards said.

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