San Francisco Chronicle - The Voice of the West, 901 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94119 - Thursday, January 23, 1997 - Page A13
Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer

Among gay city residents aged 17 to 22, the number infected by the AIDS virus fell to 8.1 percent in 1995, compared to 11 percent in a similar survey completed in 1993.

During the same period, measures of behaviors that place the young men at risk for AIDS also declined -- evidence that the decrease in infection rates is genuine, and not just a statistical curiosity.

For example, the percentage of young men who reported having had 10 or more sex partners fell to 44 percent, compared to 64 percent in the earlier survey. Those with sexually transmitted diseases fell to 14 percent from 21 percent, and those reporting that they were high on drugs the last time they had sex fell to 25 percent from 67 percent.

The discovery of high infection rates among young gay men in the 1993 survey -- which followed a smaller study in 1991 pointing to a similar trend -- was extremely alarming to public health experts across the country, who feared the start of a second wave of the AIDS epidemic.

Thomas Coates, director of the University of California at San Francisco AIDS Research Institute, said the latest figures are encouraging. "If the numbers had gone the other way, and we were looking at a 14 percent infection rate, we all would be very unhappy," he said.

But study director Dr. Willis McFarland of the San Francisco AIDS Office stressed that the infection rates were still unacceptably high. The study found, for example, that 2 percent of the 15- to 17-year-old gay San Francisco boys surveyed were already infected with HIV. "It shows you can't wait until someone is 19 or 21. By then, it may be too late," he said.

Unlike earlier studies, the latest survey -- paid for by the federal Centers for Disease Control -- covered 15- and 16-year-olds and was extended to Alameda and Santa Clara counties. The infection rate among young men surveyed was 5 percent in Alameda County, 4.5 percent in Santa Clara County, and 5.8 percent in the three counties together.

McFarland said the most troubling finding of the three-county study was that infection rates for young African American gay men were 12.5 percent, significantly above rates for whites. The survey also found that the young black men were not engaging in unsafe sex or drug use at a higher rate than whites -- lending some weight to theories that blacks may be more susceptible to HIV infection than whites.

Coates said it is unclear whether the higher infection rate for HIV among blacks is caused by social factors -- such as the network of sex partners within a given population -- or biological causes. However, he noted that some research suggests that whites are more likely to carry a defective gene that appears to make it harder for HIV to infect a blood cell. The defective gene has not been found among gay black men who have thus far been tested for it.

Researchers conducted the study using an RV van equipped with a laboratory that could provide HIV blood testing and counseling while subjects answered questionnaires. Data from 719 subjects in the three counties were compiled to produce the final report.

Among the findings:

-- 30 percent of those surveyed reported having unprotected anal sex, which puts them at high risk for contracting the AIDS virus, within the past six months.

-- 35 percent reported being forced to have sex.

-- 11 percent had received gifts or money for sex within the past six months.

-- Of 42 people who tested positive for the AIDS virus, only 10 knew they were infected at the time.

David Boyer, spokesman for the San Francisco-based Stop AIDS Project, said the latest survey on infection rates for young gay men shows simultaneously that prevention programs targeted to youth can work, but that more intensive efforts are needed.

"A lot of young guys are coming to town from places where they couldn't talk about being gay, and couldn't talk about sex. They are particularly vulnerable," he said. "We must reach out and educate them as soon as they come to town."
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