Miami Herald - Sunday, September 29, 1985
Phil Long, Indian River Bureau Chief

Sponsored by the state and federal governments, the program allows people who think they may have been exposed to the almost always fatal acquired immune deficiency syndrome to get a free blood test. That test, called an HTLV-3, helps identify the presence of an antibody that is created by the body in response to the AIDS virus.

So far, an average of 10 people a week have taken advantage of the free, confidential service.

Because the test by itself is not conclusive, about one in eight is referred for further counseling and diagnosis.

The program has been so successful that it frightens people like Charles Suggs.

Suggs, St. Lucie County's VD specialist, administers one of the four nearly identical AIDS projects on the Treasure Coast.

"It frightens me because I run into so many people who want to take the test, who need to take it, but they won't. They are afraid to know the results," Suggs said.

Fear is a major enemy, said Betty Kroesen, head of Martin County's AIDS program. "That is why psychological counseling is an important aspect of the program," Kroesen said.

For 13 of the 80 Treasure Coast people who have availed themselves of the blood test, the results have been "positive."

"Testing positive doesn't mean a person has AIDS," said Dr. J.B. Tucker, head of the health department in Indian River County, where 33 people have taken the test. "It means about the same thing as a 'positive' skin test for tuberculosis means . . . that you need further diagnosis by a physician."

Unfortunately, Tucker adds, neither does testing negative mean a person doesn't have AIDS.

In January 1984, the federal government mandated that communities keep close track of AIDS cases and deaths. On the Treasure Coast, only Indian River and St. Lucie counties have reported cases. Both have seven cases, but Indian River County leads in deaths with three compared to St. Lucie's two.

Indian River County has the highest number of AIDS tests of any Treasure Coast county.

One man died of AIDS in Martin County, Kroesen said, but he was a transient from California who was terminally ill when he arrived.

"We haven't had any problems with AIDS over here," said Mary Rutledge, nursing director of the Okeechobee County Health department. Rutledge said her department had only administered four blood tests and none showed "positive."

AIDS record keeping is centered in Palm Beach County, administrative headquarters for the five-county Health and Rehabilitative Services District 9 that includes the Treasure Coast.

In Palm Beach, 245 people have been tested, said Charlene Williams. "About 50 percent of those were already showing symptoms of AIDS," she said. But only 20 percent tested "positive" on the HTLV-3.

"We are finding that one of the problems in dealing with AIDS is that people are so frightened of it," Kroesen said.
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