Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, August 31, 1999
Carl Hall
Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported yesterday the first successful use of the new testing technology, designed to help pinpoint the source of newly found infections.
The process consists of two tests for antibodies to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. One test can detect the presence of the virus within a month of infection. A modified version detects only HIV antibodies present about four months after the first test.
Used together, the two tests can reliably distinguish between long- standing infections and those that occurred within the previous four to six months, researchers said.
"We can now better identify new epidemics while they are still just emerging and intervene before infection spreads more broadly," said Dr. Robert Janssen, a top AIDS specialist at the CDC.
The new testing system is called STARHS, which stands for Serologic Testing Algorithm for Recent HIV Seroconversions. Results of the first studies using the system were reported yesterday at the National HIV Prevention Conference under way in Atlanta.
A six-city study of 96,000 clients of sexually transmitted disease clinics found that 8 percent of the gay and bisexual men were infected with HIV each year, compared with only 0.48 percent of heterosexuals in the same clinics. Another study, drawn from surveys of nearly 3,500 gay men in San Francisco and six other U.S. cities, found high prevalence of HIV in sexually active younger gay men.
About 7 percent of the 15- to 22-year-old gay men surveyed were found to be HIV-positive, with 3 percent contracting the virus each year. The same study showed 41 percent of younger gay men had engaged in unprotected anal sex within the previous six months.
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