Associated Press, 11/19/98 16:07

The situation may be particularly bad for women, who, according to another report, may be more susceptible than men to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The reports were given Wednesday at the "AIDS at the Millennium" conference sponsored by the Massachusetts Medical Society and Lemuel Shattuck Hospital.

A study by Dr. Valerie Stone of the Brown University School of Medicine found that nearly three-quarters of Massachusetts and Rhode Island men with AIDS got the three-drug, protease inhibitors treatment, but only half the afflicted women did.

The study also found that 75 percent of whites with AIDS got the multi-drug, or "cocktail" treatment, but only 58 percent of blacks and 50 percent of Hispanics did.

Half of heterosexuals with AIDS were being treated with the drugs, compared with 81 percent of gays and 61 percent of those who contracted the disease through drug injections.

The study was made at five sites, including community health centers and teaching hospitals.

Protease inhibitors given in combinations have improved and prolonged the lives of many AIDS victims.

New biological evidence suggests women may be more susceptible to HIV than men, said Dr. Deborah Cotton, director of AIDS clinical research at Boston Medical Center.

"The disease also progresses faster" in females, she said.

She also said women and minorities are underrepresented in clinical trials of new AIDS and HIV treatments, and "There may be some biological and genetic differences in how some people respond to the drugs."

Stone said everyone in her study had some health insurance, so she eliminated cost as a reason some were treated with protease inhibitors and others were not.

She said it appeared that patients were more likely to get the treatment if they knew about the drugs and asked for them.

"Some said they had never heard of the therapy. Whites were much more likely to have heard of the new drugs," she said.

Heterosexuals were less likely to get the therapy because they often face the ailment alone, she suggested.

"Many people get help through networks. Gays have their networks and so do IV drug users," she said.

Heterosexuals with AIDS usually are women who got the disease from having sex with men, who were or had been drug-users or bisexual.

The women often did not know anyone else with the disease, she said.

"This was surprising, but even IV drug users knew more about AIDS than these women," she said.

Of women with AIDS, 58 percent are black, she said.

Nationally, 43 percent of AIDS victims are black; 36 percent are white, and 20 percent are Hispanic, according to data presented at the conference.
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