Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1985. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - Thursday, August 08 1985
Ellyn Ferguson, Herald Staff Writer
The 10 are among 56 people for whom the Health Department recently received test results, said Charlene Williams, the department's epidemiology nurse.
The 10 positive results account for 18 percent of the 56 tests. The majority of people ranged from 20 to 50 years old, although a few were older than 50.
The 56 were among 77 people who voluntarily participated in the Health Department's screening for HTLV-III, the virus linked to AIDS. The screening program began July 15.
The results do not mean the people who tested positive have AIDS or will develop AIDS.
Williams said Tuesday that many of those with positive test results fall into one of the AIDS high-risk groups, such as homosexual or bisexual males, intravenous drug users, hemophiliacs and recipients of blood or blood products.
Statewide, 184 (32 percent) of the 579 people who have been through the blood screening process have tested positive for the HTLV-III antibodies, said Dr. Deborah Holtzman, an epidemiologist with the state's preventive health services.
Holtzman said 172 of the 184 people with positive tests were members of the AIDS high-risk group.
Since early summer, the Health Department and several county health departments in Florida have participated in a federally financed program to conduct blood tests for HTLV-III antibodies.
Holtzman said the the blood screening tests are to keep people from going to blood banks on the pretense of giving blood so they may be tested.
Blood banks don't give test results to donors. The health departments do. Test results are confidential, and health department workers do not know the person's name or address, Williams said.
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