Associated Press - November 30, 1986

"It's important because Vermont has a very low incidence of the disease," said Deborah Kutzko, who was hired in October to coordinate AIDS education programs. "We are in a perfect time and place to do prevention."

Through a $139,335 grant from the Federal Centers for Disease Control, which has coordinated research on acquired immune deficiency syndrome, the department is developing programs to educate all Vermonters about the disorder, which attacks the body's immune system, destroying the victim's ability to fight infection.

The program is aimed at "lowering the anxiety of the general public" and dispelling myths surrounding AIDS, Ms. Kutzko said. She worked on other infectious disease programs at the centers' regional office in Boston before coming to Vermont. #9 Cases in Vermont Only nine cases have been reported in Vermont, but health department officials, however, say the number of people at risk of the disorder, which is transmitted by virus primarily through the exchange of bodily fluids, like semen or blood.

"At this point in time it's not whether you are a homosexual, it's the number of partners that is the biggest risk factor," said Marilyn Richards, a health department investigator.

Research on the virus is limited, and there is no known cure. However, researchers say there is no evidence that the virus is transmitted by casual contact or through the air.

Last year Vermont began training public health nurses in each of its 12 districts on how to cope with the disease and providing them with information to be distributed to schools, churches and civic groups around the state. Two health department investigators, who until last year had concentrated their presentations in public schools on other sexually transmitted diseases, now also offer discussions solely on AIDS.

The department is conducting a telephone survey to determine how much Vermonters know about AIDS to help develop prevention programs, and it has issued guidelines for physicians to cope with diagnosis and treatment.

At the Burlington office, the department is developing a library with slide shows and pamphlets about AIDS that will be available to the public.

Broadcasts on AIDS

Radio and television advertisements will be broadcast within the next few months listing AIDS resources and stressing that AIDS cannot be contracted merely by being in the same room with an infected person.

A telephone service, staffed during office hours, allows people to ask questions anonymously about the virus, and, if they wish, to be referred to an AIDS testing site. AIDS tests are recommended only for those in such high risk groups as homosexuals, intravenous drug users and people who may have had sexual contact with someone in a high risk group. The hotline number is (800) 882-AIDS.

"We are now concerned with the IV drug user," Ms. Richards said. "Because you get into heterosexual transmission and pre-natal transmission."

A network for helping AIDS victims and their families has been slow to develop in Vermont because of the small number of cases.

One group, the Committee on AIDS Resources and Educational Services, in Montpelior, has just been formed to help AIDS patients and their families. The mailing address is P.O. Box 1125, Montpelier, Vt. 05602.

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