San Francisco Chronicle (SF); Saturday, November 9, 1991
David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor

Dr. Michael Mellman, team physician for the Los Angeles Lakers, would not offer any details yesterday about Johnson's blood tests, nor would he discuss precisely how the infection struck the star. He said only that so far, Magic shows no sign of any AIDS-related illness.

Johnson reported that his pregnant wife, Cookie, had already tested negative for the presence of antibodies to the virus, and Mellman said yesterday that the fetus she is carrying has also been tested and found to be free of infection.

Physicians who treat AIDS patients declare that outside of monogamy, there is no such thing as completely safe sex, as long as sexual activity involves intimate transmission of body fluids such as semen or blood. They maintain that condoms remain the first line of defense for anyone sexually active, particularly when condoms are coated with the spermicide called Nonoxinol-9, as many brands now are.

A major problem with unprotected sex lies in the fact that many types of human cells -- particularly those of the mucus-covered membranes that line the female vagina and the male urethra -- can harbor the AIDS virus, according to Dr. Martin Heyworth of the University of California at San Francisco, who heads AIDS research at San Francisco's Veterans Administration Hospital.

At last summer's International AIDS Conference in Italy, Heyworth said, researchers reported studies showing that during unprotected heterosexual intercourse, women became infected by the virus in semen from their male partners 20 times more frequently than men were infected by women.

FEMALE-TO-MALE TRANSMISSION

Men, however, are known to become infected with the virus from sexual intercourse with women. In many African nations, where prostitution is widespread and sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea and syphilis are common, heterosexual intercourse is the major mode of transmission to men.

The scientific data are still by no means clear, but the reason women seem to be in greater danger from heterosexual HIV infection seems to be that the many- stranded mucous membrane cells lining their vaginas carry abundant receptors to which the human immunodeficiency virus can bind, Heyworth said. Those same receptors probably are present in the mucous lining of the male urethra, he noted.

In most major American cities, including San Francisco, young women -- particularly black and Hispanic women in low-income inner-city neighborhoods who have intercourse with drug-abusing males -- are now the fastest-growing growing group falling prey to AIDS.

Since the AIDS epidemic erupted in America in 1981, at least 113,000 cases have occurred among gay and bisexual men, including some who have used virus-contaminated needles. Among other categories, about 55,000 heterosexual drug users who share needles have also contracted AIDS.

According to the national Centers for Disease Control, at least 11,000 American adults and adolescents developed the lethal disease after heterosexual contact. Infections were incurred in virtually all cases because the sexual partners were unprotected by condoms or had used condoms that failed. Half of those "heterosexual" cases occurred in people who had had sex with intravenous drug users, current CDC records show.

YOUNG PEOPLE'S RISK

But even much younger people are not immune from tragedy, and Johnson's campaign to warn about the indiscriminate nature of AIDS infection can also focus on those under 13 who may already be starting sexual activity.

Officials at the CDC said yesterday, for example, that 3,312 children under 13 have now contracted AIDS, with only a handful of the cases associated with hemophilia or blood transfusions, and more than 1,200 due to unprotected sexual activity.

The overall toll of AIDS in the United States now stands officially at 195,718 cases diagnosed and 126,059 men, women and children dead, the CDC reported.

Dr. Thomas J. Coates, director of UCSF's Center for AIDS Prevention studies said yesterday: "Magic Johnson has a powerful message to offer: He can tell everyone, 'Hey, you're all at risk unless you take precautions! Use condoms!' "

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1991. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

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