AIDS is not just a health issue but a national security problem. The disease threatens to devastate economies by sapping productivity. In countries where it runs rampant, according to a recent House committee report, the disease can cripple military and police forces, rendering them unable to fight domestic or foreign
Two aggressive AIDS activists jailed in San Francisco are finding support from an improbable source: those who call their theories crackpot and consider their tactics indecent and abhorrent. Michael Petrelis and David Pasquarelli are jailed in lieu of a combined $1.1-million bail on charges of harassing, stalking and m
When Cary Savitch ran for Congress last year, much of the political establishment wrote him off. How seriously were people supposed to take a candidate whose campaign platform was rebuilding the nation s supply of smallpox vaccine and protecting citizens from anthrax? Now, the Ventura physician is launching another bid
HLABISA, South Africa -- This picturesque hamlet set amid rolling hills and lush green valleys in the heart of Zululand is the epicenter of an ugly reality. Teachers take sick leave for up to six months at a time. Student enrollment in the first grade is falling. Funerals have become a common family excursion. Alm
About half of all adults being treated for HIV infection in the United States have strains of the virus that are resistant to some of the standard drug therapies, according to a study released Tuesday. The study is the first large-scale national survey to reveal the drug resistance. Previous drug-resistance research, p
As we cough, sneeze and sniff our way through the cold season, it may comfort us to know that technology has finally caught up with our expectations. Two new medicines promise to cure the common cold. The drugs, one of which may be available within the next several months, stop cold viruses in their tracks, not just ma
PRETORIA, South Africa -- Local AIDS activists won a landmark court case against the South African government Friday, forcing the state to make a key drug available to thousands of HIV-positive pregnant women. Activists who packed the public gallery of the Pretoria High Court cheered and hugged one another as Judge Chr
NAIROBI, Kenya -- Kenyan women this week won a 20-year battle to outlaw genital excision of young girls, but doubts remain over whether the government will vigorously enforce the ban. Even after President Daniel Arap Moi promised to sign legislation criminalizing the practice, many parents defied him by subjecting thei
The Food and Drug Administration asked a federal judge Thursday to hold the American Red Cross in contempt of court for persistent and serious violations of blood safety rules, escalating a years-long dispute between the FDA and the nation s largest blood supplier. The Red Cross has exhibited a corporate culture that
Father Jaime Soto said he was sweating bullets the first time he talked to Latino parishioners about AIDS in the 1980s. But a woman came up to me afterward, he said, and told me, Father, thank you for showing me how to talk about sex to my children. Now Soto, auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, ha
It s safe to say that most of the women idly magazine-flipping on a stormy Saturday morning at Sensation s Beauty Salon are waiting for the usual: their standing blow-dry, press and curl. The men, arranged at the back of the shop near the barber chairs, have arrived early for their own weekly rituals: Clean up the edge
There are many things Bobby wishes he could undo in his life--lost family ties, years in prison, a 30-year heroin addiction. But he is quick to share the one thing he has done right. He doesn t share needles. On Thursday, he was one of the estimated 50 addicts who showed up at the Rainbow Alliance s weekly syringe exch
On the eve of World AIDS Day, PBS delivers a powerful one-hour documentary tonight that speaks both to the fragility and the resiliency of the human spirit. Positively: The Changing Face of AIDS in America (9 p.m., KCET), uses the first-person accounts of children, teens and adults to grippingly illustrate the evolutio
The Los Angeles County Sheriff s Department has quietly begun distributing condoms to gay inmates at its downtown jail, joining just six other jails and prisons in the country in an effort to stop the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Although condom distribution to thwart AIDS is a long-accepted
The number of new syphilis cases nationwide continued to fall in 2000, reaching an all-time low of 5,979 infections, federal health officials said Wednesday. But several areas are seeing increased cases linked to outbreaks among gay men--a trend that a Los Angeles County public health official called disturbing. Na
Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union now have the fastest-rising rates of HIV infection in the world, with the number of HIV-positive people in Russia growing fifteenfold in the last three years, the United Nations reported Wednesday. Troubled economies, an epidemic of intravenous drug abuse, poor government heal
AIDS demonstrators have always been provocative during the two-decade epidemic: interrupting important speeches, chaining themselves to furniture, placing a 35-foot balloon-like replica of a condom on a U.S. senator s roof. But even some old-time activists say two prominent San Francisco protesters and their supporters
POSITIVELY: THE CHANGING FACE OF AIDS IN AMERICA - Grady Watts and Geraldine Wurzburg, executive producers Friday, 9-10 p.m., KCET-TV There s a clear mission behind the hourlong PBS documentary, Positively: The Changing Face of AIDS in America, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health. The program, which pr
Sexually transmitted diseases are among the most common infections in this country, yet somehow, the word isn t getting through to women about how vulnerable they are to these generally silent infections, according to a new survey. Just more than half of family practice doctors and obstetrician-gynecologists report dis
A state board ruled that an HIV-positive man with end-stage liver disease should be covered by Medicaid for a potentially life-saving liver transplant. The Division of Medical Assistance Board of Appeals in Boston said the procedure was medically necessary and not experimental. Some scientists believe that HIV reduces
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- A recent surge in rapes of children and even babies has sparked national outrage here, as rights activists, medical professionals and ordinary South Africans accuse the government of not doing enough to stem the tide of sexual abuse. According to police statistics, almost 32,000 cases of r
A decade after revealing he tested positive for the HIV virus that can lead to AIDS, Earvin Magic Johnson is very much alive, very much in control of a far-flung, multimillion-dollar business empire, and very much a highly visible source of hope and inspiration to those battling a disease once considered tantamount to
* A health foundation offers the service free at six of its Out of the Closet branches. The aim is to reach people who are put off by clinical settings. It s 6:30 on a Friday night and Bill, a 42-year-old TV writer from West Hollywood, is waiting to take an HIV test. This is his six-month ritual, what he does to give h
The only grass they were growing Monday at the pot club in West Hollywood was lawn turf. It was planted over a pair of mock graves in front of the headquarters of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center--beneath crosses labeled Compassion and Democracy that mark the end of a five-year effort to provide medical marijua
EL PASO -- The United States and Mexico took some imaginative steps this week to combat health problems that plague border communities and migrant workers, including tuberculosis , diabetes and AIDS. Meeting in El Paso and neighboring Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, health experts from the two nations agreed on a 10
More than half of American women avoid going to the gynecologist, a national survey has found, largely because they lack insurance, consider it too expensive or have language or cultural differences with their physician. The poll, released last week by the American Social Health Assn., a consumer health education group
Two organizations that are beneficiaries of California AIDS Ride announced Thursday that they will no longer participate and will create a new cycling event in 2002 to raise funds for AIDS and HIV services. The company that has created and promoted California AIDS Ride will continue the event next year, and will be soo
The 17th annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles, which has previously started and ended at Paramount Pictures, has been moved to the Pacific Design Center because of security concerns following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, officials announced Wednesday. The Oct. 21 event was moved because of the heightened security at Souther
The AIDS virus can cause a form of Lou Gehrig s disease, French and American researchers have found, but symptoms can improve or even resolve with treatment. The findings support the theory that viruses may cause some other forms of the disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (or ALS), and offer hope that th
Kill or Cure Produced for the Discovery Health Channel by Natural History New Zealand Ltd. Sept. 23, 4-8 p.m. (Repeats 8 p.m.-midnight.) You may think differently about the start of cold and flu season after watching this fascinating, but disturbing, four-part series on medical discoveries. The lead episode, Infe
Robert Lee Hotz and Rosie Mestel, Times Staff Writers
NEW YORK -- The scent of death mixed with the dust rising from the cold, damp sump of the ruined World Trade Center, overtaxing the cadaver dogs nosing the rubble for human remains and stirring fears of public health hazards in weeks to come. Medical authorities and public health experts Saturday discounted the risk of
Margrette Chism explains to her children that sometimes things happen in this life you can t control. That sometimes, you have to have endured the bad to appreciate the good. After living in slum-like conditions in a single-room Long Beach apartment and then a homeless shelter, Chism, her husband and three children bel
An apparently harmless and relatively common virus discovered only six years ago allows HIV-positive people to live substantially longer by slowing the progression to full-blown AIDS, researchers report today in two new studies. The virus is called hepatitis G, but it doesn t cause inflammation of the liver or any othe
UNITED NATIONS -- It s not that the U.S. government doesn t support children s rights, American diplomats say. But the Bush administration does oppose the way the U.N. wants to ensure those rights and is taking a conservative stand that is leaving even its usual friends behind. In the run-up to next month s U.N. Specia
Denise Jones and C.L. don t know each other and will probably never meet. But the two women share an intimate relationship. They sustain each other through food. Jones and her colleagues cook it, and C.L. and her family enjoy the results. They are part of a new collaboration between the Salvation Army and Project Angel
BEIJING -- In a rare public admission, a senior health official acknowledged Thursday that an AIDS epidemic is spreading rapidly in China , not only through drug use and unsafe sex but also through the common practice of villagers selling their blood. Yin Dakui, a deputy health minister, said new reports of HIV infecti
Eighty-five new cases of syphilis have been reported in Los Angeles County so far this year, despite a county announcement last summer that it had defeated a major outbreak. In fact, officials say this year s cases stem from the same outbreak as last year, when public health authorities took well-publicized steps to st
LISBON -- Agostinho Miguel Teixeira, a heroin addict, spoke in amazement about what happened when police caught him shooting up with a friend the other night. They started to help us, the 28-year-old said. One of them turned on his flashlight and pointed to our arms so we could do it easier, because it was really dark.
A state bill that would have required tough new warning labels for condoms sold in California has been pulled from consideration in the Legislature by its Republican author. The legislation, passed unanimously by the state Senate, would have made California the first state to require more detailed condom warnings than
Operators of a Hollywood-based network of AIDS treatment centers said Thursday they plan to branch out to Africa, opening the first internationally sponsored clinic for patients in hard-hit South Africa . Administrators of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation said they will spend $200,000 a year to operate the clinic in Durb
The nation s AIDS prevention efforts are hobbled by delayed testing, sporadic safe-sex education from physicians, and continued risky behavior among infected people, according to a series of studies released Tuesday. A day after health officials acknowledged that sharp declines in AIDS cases have ended, the studies hig
The United States AIDS prevention efforts are hobbled by delayed testing, sporadic safe-sex education from physicians, and continued risky behavior among infected people, according to a series of studies released Tuesday. A day after health officials acknowledged that sharp declines in AIDS cases have ended, the studie
The sharp declines in the number of new AIDS cases and deaths in the United States appear to be ending, stoking fears of a possible resurgence of the disease, federal health officials said Monday. Driving the trend are a rise in risky behavior among young gay and bisexual men and growing resistance to powerful drug coc
There are three clinical trials in California that offer drug treatment programs for people who may recently have been exposed to the AIDS virus. * Friends Research Institute in Los Angeles has a clinical trial offering treatment within 72 hours of possible exposure to HIV through high-risk sex or drug use. The program
Because AIDS began as a disease of gay men, doctors were slow to recognize its connection to vaginal infections and uterine cancers. Although knowledge about the disease has improved, there are still many questions about how it develops in women. Recognizing the need to answer those questions, the National Institute of
For years the Los Angeles man had practiced safe sex, and he was prudent again on a recent Saturday afternoon when he pulled a condom from a night-table drawer. His new partner--a casual acquaintance from the neighborhood--agreed to wear the condom but then removed it during sex. Suddenly, this healthy 38-year-old prof
United Nations -- Setting a precedent for the rest of Africa, Nigeria is planning to begin the continent s largest AIDS treatment program next month using cheap generic drugs, a U.N. special envoy says. Starting Sept. 1, a total of 10,000 adults and 5,000 children will receive a government-subsidized cocktail of anti-r
Charles Ornstein and Daniel Hernandez, Times Staff Writers
The American Red Cross, the nation s largest and best-known blood supplier, is struggling to overcome financial and regulatory problems that threaten to worsen an already dire national blood shortage, some health officials and experts say. The Red Cross troubles have spurred dramatically higher blood prices and left so
U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher has a prescription for communities to begin fighting AIDS: Encourage education in homes, schools and churches; create a safe, comfortable treatment and testing environment; and promote healthy daily routines. If we could really look at lifestyle and behavior, we could make a lot of pr
Magic Johnson drives through three defenders for a layup, leaps on a press table to celebrate, his legs quaking to the cheers. I thought he would be dead by now. Magic Johnson grabs a ball at the top of the lane, flips it over his head to a teammate for a dunk, smiles at the faces of astonishment. I thought I d be writ
Gay Latino men living in poverty and subjected to racism and homophobia are more likely to engage in high-risk sexual behavior and have higher rates of HIV, according to a survey of men in Los Angeles, Miami and New York released Thursday. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force study found that 73% of gay Latino men w
WASHINGTON--AIDS-related deaths in the nation s prisons have fallen sharply because of better treatment, but increasing numbers of inmates have tested positive for the virus that causes the disease, a Justice Department study says. In 1999, 242 state prisoners died from AIDS-related causes, down from a 1995 peak of 1,0
Ana Soto put off going to the doctor for several years, fearing she wouldn t be able to pay for the office visit. Then a relative told her she could get a checkup for next to nothing at Valley Community Clinic in North Hollywood. The word-of-mouth referral saved Soto s life. A routine mammogram revealed a lump in her b
FOR THE RECORD: Blacks and AIDS--A Sunday story on AIDS in the black community incorrectly stated that 40,000 people are diagnosed as HIV-positive every year around the world. That number is just for the United States . African American community leaders from Southern California on Saturday unveiled a three-pronged pla
UNITED NATIONS--After rancorous debate, the U.N. General Assembly agreed Wednesday on the first global action plan to battle the AIDS pandemic, laying out tough targets over the next decade for reducing infection rates and protecting the rights of those with the disease. After today, we shall have a document setting ou
UNITED NATIONS--A decade ago, if a person in diamond-rich Botswana were to die early, it would most likely be from a road accident or malaria. Today, more than half of the women in their 20s are expected to die of AIDS. We are threatened with extinction, Botswanan President Festus Mogae, who is in New York for a three-
UNITED NATIONS--In a stirring opening to a global conference on HIV and AIDS, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged all countries Monday to put aside moral judgments and confront the grim reality of a scourge that has already killed 22 million people and set development back a full decade in some nations. We cannot d
UNITED NATIONS--Two years ago, many leaders of the nations hardest hit by AIDS didn t even want to admit that the disease existed in their countries. Now, as the fight against the epidemic gathers momentum, not only are they willing to talk, but they also finally may be poised to act. This week s three-day global confe
UNITED NATIONS--In the days leading up to a U.N. global conference on combating HIV and AIDS, new donors--public and private--have breathed life into an international trust fund whose fate hung in the balance as recently as last month. A $100-million pledge this week from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and $1 mi
WASHINGTON--Citing the rising number of AIDS cases among minorities, a coalition of African American, Asian and Latino congressional leaders Tuesday urged the federal government to increase funding for AIDS programs in minority communities. The money should follow the epidemic and go to communities disproportionately a
Eight years ago, Daniel Pallotta, founder of the California bicycle AIDSRide, had no idea how he would fund his brainchild. Out of hundreds of sponsorship proposals, only one company emerged to help: Tanqueray, maker of distilled English gin. Tanqueray recently announced that this will be the company s last year as a s
Don Doxsee, a married auto parts salesman from Camarillo, didn t even know anybody with HIV until this week. But he has spent the past six days pedaling up and down miles of hills to fight AIDS, showering at campsites and sleeping in a tent city with thousands of others all engaged in a common cause. Everyone is in thi
Christine Hanley, Jennifer Mena, Times Staff Writers
Orange County health officials are concerned that unsafe sex is on the rise, citing a recent increase in syphilis among gay men and a new survey of HIV-infected residents that shows a nonchalance about transmitting the virus. A survey of 513 HIV-infected county residents shows that many do not realize the seriousness o
Robin Keeble stood out against a sea of white. Instead of the largely colorless T-shirts handed out Sunday to most of the walkers in the 15th annual AIDS Walk Orange County, the 45-year-old Anaheim resident wore a red shirt to denote her HIV-positive status. Keeble said she has learned to live comfortably with the dise
Robin Keeble stood out against a sea of white. Instead of the largely colorless T-shirts handed out Sunday to most of the walkers in the 15th annual AIDS Walk Orange County, the 45-year-old Anaheim resident wore a red shirt to denote her HIV-positive status. Keeble said she has learned to live comfortably with the dise
An HIV-positive preschooler from Thailand who was used as a pawn in a human trafficking ring won a court ruling Monday that will allow him to stay in the United States to battle deportation. U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian ruled that Phanupong Khaisri, 3, can remain here to appeal an Immigration and Naturalizatio
When my friend Sam lists the medications he is on, it sounds as if he is reciting the periodic table of the elements. When away from home, he used to carry all his meds in one big bottle. At various times of the day, he would spill them out and sort through them as if they were jellybeans--two red, one blue, one yellow
Robin Keeble stood out against a sea of white. Instead of the largely colorless T-shirts handed out Sunday to most of the walkers in the 15th annual AIDS Walk Orange County, the 45-year-old Anaheim resident wore a red shirt to denote her HIV-positive status. Keeble said she has learned to live comfortably with the dise
As they look into the next few decades, those who battle the HIV epidemic in labs and clinics see a future at once promising and grim. They see years of steady progress ahead--and years tackling daunting challenges. They predict that many more medicines will be available, ones with fewer side effects than the drugs use
While AIDS has largely fallen off the public s radar screen, 20 years of battling the disease have left an indelible mark on medicine in America. The impact goes far beyond AIDS itself. The massive scientific effort to find treatments and uncover how the HIV virus ravages the immune system has helped to illuminate the
At a recent gathering in a Los Angeles community center, a man who is about to speak introduces himself as a 53-year-old gay man. I always like to say my age, he explains, because there are so few of us left. Conversations about the impact of 20 years of AIDS in America, even among activists, often begin in a bit of a
Twenty years ago this month, the first report was published by the Centers for Disease Control describing five cases of an unusual pneumonia associated with immune deficiency in three Los Angeles hospitals. These were the first reported cases of AIDS. That is how it all started in the U.S. Through careful tracking, lin
Thousands of people are expected to participate in a benefit walk today to raise money to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS. Organizers said AIDS Walk Orange County is expected to attract 15,000 people and raise $1 million. The walk will begin at the UC Irvine Chancellor s Rose Garden, near Campus and West Peltason dr
WASHINGTON--On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the first reported cases of AIDS, federal health officials released disturbing new evidence Thursday that infections may be rising in a second generation of young gay men who were not even out of childhood when the epidemic began. In a study of six cities, including Los
In her first public forum since winning the April primary in the 32nd Congressional District race, former state Sen. Diane Watson denounced a recent campaign mailer by an opponent, which described her as someone who wants to give free needles to heroin addicts and showed a graphic photograph of an addict shooting up.
BAMAKO, Mali--Citing an emotional connection to the continent of his forefathers, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell arrived here Wednesday to open a four-nation swing meant to underscore Africa s importance to the Bush administration. The trip comes on the heels of two White House initiatives. Two weeks ago, President
At the Adult Industry Medical clinic in Sherman Oaks, people talk as casually about sex as they do the weather. Have you had sex today? How many partners? Did you use a condom? Leading the discussion five days a week is former porn star Sharon Mitchell, 43, executive director of the nonprofit health clinic whose fliers
WASHINGTON--The United States will contribute $200 million next year to an international fund to fight AIDS and other infectious diseases, President Bush said Friday. Joined at the White House by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Bush said the contribution will be seed money in
NAIROBI, Kenya--Activists from the medical industry and nongovernmental organizations launched a campaign Thursday to pressure members of parliament to approve a bill that could bring cheaper AIDS drugs to Kenya. The push for favorably priced AIDS medication is the latest challenge to pharmaceutical companies in an inc
WARSAW--It all sounds too bizarre for anyone to take seriously. But for six Bulgarian medical workers imprisoned in Libya , outlandish accusations by Libyan leader Col. Moammar Kadafi about a plot to spread AIDS are no joke. A Libyan prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against the five nurses and one doctor, who ar
With its airy design, sweeping architecture and sun-splashed atrium, the house on Santa Ana s Garfield Street could have been plucked out of Coto de Caza. After two years of construction, the $4.2-million, 24-bedroom house is the first residence in California built to shelter homeless people who have AIDS or are HIV-po
The controversial idea that a contaminated polio vaccine was responsible for the spread of AIDS in Africa has been discredited by new research released today. Analysis of stored vaccine samples by four independent research groups shows conclusively that they were not contaminated with the AIDS virus, thereby refuting t
CHICAGO--Combining two AIDS drugs works much better than standard treatment in preventing HIV transmission from mothers to babies, though there may be serious side effects, a French study suggests. Use of zidovudine - AZT -alone is generally recommended for HIV-infected pregnant women and their newborns.
PRETORIA, South Africa--The world s biggest drug companies dropped their controversial lawsuit against the South African government Thursday, paving the way for this country to provide cheaper medication to combat diseases such as AIDS. The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Assn., on behalf of 39 drug companies, uncondition
PRETORIA, South Africa--The world s biggest drug companies dropped their controversial lawsuit against the South African government Thursday, paving the way for this country to provide cheaper medication to combat diseases such as AIDS. The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Assn., on behalf of 39 drug companies, uncondition
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -A product that can emulate the work of red blood cells, transporting oxygen throughout the body, has been approved for use in South Africa, making it the first human blood substitute available anywhere in the world, the products developers announced Tuesday. Hemopure, a solution made fro
In spite of recent concerns, the Food and Drug Administration considers the blood supply in the United States to be as safe as ever. The likelihood of contracting an infectious illness through a blood transfusion is extremely low. The risk of HIV infection is estimated to be about 1 in 677,000 units, the risk of
TUGELA FERRY, South Africa--The Church of Scotland Hospital is located in an arid backwater of KwaZulu-Natal province, but it can provide results of an HIV blood test in minutes. It has two operating rooms, X-ray facilities and a basic laboratory. Nine experienced doctors treat about 500 patients each day. At 13 clinic
UNITED NATIONS--In preparation for the United Nations biggest global campaign ever against a single disease, Secretary-General Kofi Annan persuaded six major drug companies Thursday to cut further and faster the prices of AIDS treatments they supply to developing countries. The move followed Wednesday s unveiling of a
David Pierson, Margaret Talev, Times Staff Writers
Ventura County mothers receive the highest rate of early prenatal care in California, according to a report released Monday. But the mortality rate among the county s Latino babies in 1995-97 was more than seven for every 1,000 births--higher than the state s average of 5.7 per 1,000. Among other findings from recent y
Deaths from heart disease, diabetes and homicide occur at much higher rates in Los Angeles County than elsewhere in the state, but lung cancer death rates are lower, according to an annual report released Monday by the state Department of Health Services. The report also shows that most of California is experiencing a
TOKYO--When the judge read the not guilty verdict in Tokyo District Court Room 104 this week, a shock wave hit the gallery and quickly spread across the nation. Takeshi Abe, a powerful doctor suspected of playing a key role in one of the greatest medical scandals in Japanese history, had been absolved of all responsibi
Abbott Laboratories said Tuesday it would offer two AIDS drugs and a diagnostic test at no profit in Africa, making it the latest pharmaceutical company to slash prices in response to international pressure. Abbott is reducing prices of two protease inhibitors , Novir and
The battle over the price of AIDS medications in Africa is focusing new attention on pharmaceutical companies pricing practices for many drugs in the U.S. and around the world. AIDS activists have shifted their campaign for cheaper drugs beyond the impoverished sub-Saharan Africa nations ravaged by the disease. Adoptin
When you live in a city long enough, the streets become haunted. As you turn a certain corner, pass a certain house, the past rises before you, within you, as if conjured. Specters of joy or regret, fear or giddiness appear in varying degrees of solidity--some elusive wisps of memory, others as vivid and real as a stre
They scale rock faces, they ride fat-tire bikes, they look fit and fabulous and fun. The men appearing in public advertisements for prescription AIDS drugs are so attractive, critics have charged, that their images glamorize life as a patient, contributing to false confidence in the gay community about what is still an
Please excuse 16-year-old Hydeia L. Broadbent if she gets a little preachy about the dangers of drug use and promiscuous sex. She is, after all, the first to admit that she s too young to know everything. But as the petite teenager told a crowd of about 75 people Saturday at First New Christian Fellowship Missionary Ba
Orange County recorded a 5.5% increase in AIDS cases in 2000, according to statistics released this week by the county Health Care Agency. But officials say that could be attributed to more aggressive counting measures rather than a rise in risky sexual behavior. There were 325 cases reported in 2000, compared with 308
SACRAMENTO--More than four years after California voters legalized medical marijuana, researchers announced Thursday the first batch of studies planned under a $3-million state effort to determine what value pot has as medicine. The four studies approved by the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research are the first step
WASHINGTON--The Bush administration signaled Tuesday that it will not reverse an executive order issued by President Clinton last year that potentially would make it easier for impoverished African nations to have access to AIDS drugs at inexpensive prices. The executive order, which had been opposed by congressional R
Gay and bisexual men in the Los Angeles area are engaging in risky sex--often with multiple partners in public places--even when they know they have tested positive for the AIDS virus, scientists reported at a UCLA conference Friday. The data is alarming because it suggests that there could be a resurgence of AIDS in h
CHICAGO--In four days of intensive meetings, the 3,000 AIDS researchers gathered here last week for the eighth annual Retrovirus Conference saw little to be cheerful about. True, some promising new drugs appear to be on the horizon, but none is expected to be the blockbuster that protease inhibitors w
James Gerstenzang, Marlene Cimons, Times Staff Writers
WASHINGTON--White House officials said Wednesday that President Bush would leave largely intact the AIDS and race-relations offices he inherited from the Clinton administration--a seeming reversal after Bush s chief of staff earlier said they would be closed. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer and other senior officia
CHICAGO--As many as one of every seven Americans who are newly infected by the AIDS virus carry a strain that is resistant to at least one of the drugs now used to treat the infections, San Diego researchers said Tuesday. That represents a sharp increase from earlier studies and could have a major impact on treatment e
CHICAGO--Researchers fear that some new anti-AIDS drugs could exacerbate existing hepatitis C infections or promote new ones. At least one promising new family of anti-AIDS drugs targets a cellular receptor which, when disabled, makes hepatitis C infections much more serious, German researchers said here Tuesday.
Jocelyn Y. Stewart, Sharon Bernstein, Times Staff Writers
Charles was young and attractive and viewed the world in a way that would baffle some. AIDS simply did not frighten him. Charles believed in what he saw: His brother had the illness, but his brother took medications and still appeared well and healthy. Charles simply didn t see himself as being at risk. He had a steady
Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Medical Writer and Jocelyn Stewart
CHICAGO--A new study of six U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, shows alarming levels of HIV infection among young gay and bisexual men, particularly among African Americans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. One in every 10 such men is HIV-positive and the proportion climbs to 30% among Afric
A Rancho Palos Verdes man was arrested by U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigators Friday on charges of peddling bottles of water as a special new treatment for HIV/AIDS, arthritis and aging. A 16-ounce bottle of Steven Tondre s EXP sold for $50 and bore a label that read: Warning: Continued use of this product
The therapeutic power of the new AIDS drug combinations has been rightly celebrated, but the misconception that they are miracle cures is having a dangerous, unintended effect: Both infected and uninfected men are engaging in more high-risk sexual behavior. While drug companies ought to consider the moral implications
KAMPALA, Uganda--The United States will soon introduce a policy to end all HIV screening of foreign personnel hired at its more than 250 diplomatic posts around the world, according to State Department officials. U.S. missions also will not be allowed to turn down applicants because they are known to be infected with t
This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.