Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - Tuesday, August 7, 1990
"Unfortunately, we're overwhelmed," said Dr. John Toney, a specialist at the University of South Florida who treats patients infected with the HIV virus.
The problem is twofold, experts say. On the one hand doctors are referring people who test HIV positive to a handful of specialists, although they can treat the ailments themselves. Meanwhile, the number of people who need treatment is growing.
Fear of AIDS is prompting doctors to turn away patients who test positive for the virus, said Dr. Lawrence Gaulkin, a family practitioner who treats HIV infection as part of his practice, a rarity in Tampa.
"The primary physicians that I know -- rather than study the disease and try to cope with it -- they say, 'Well, I don't feel I can cope with it,"' Gaulkin said. "I'm practically seeing a death per day now in this area. I have at least two or three (infected) patients in my office every day.
"Until AIDS, people were not wearing gloves," he said. "After HIV came along, all of a sudden everybody is yelling and screaming and putting on masks and gloves.
"There's a lot of hysteria," he added. "When health care personnel are acting this way, it really does not send the right message to the rest of the community."
Michael Marcott, who runs the Hillsborough County public AIDS clinic, said his caseload of infected patients has risen from 34 cases in August, 1988, to 502 cases today.
The numbers are so great that many new patients must wait up to six weeks to see a doctor, he said. The clinic also has trouble keeping nurses because of the fear of AIDS, Marcott said. "Their husbands threaten to leave them if they can't get reassigned," he said.
Although there is no reliable count of people in Florida infected with the virus, some health officials estimate that the number could be as high as 10 times the number of reported AIDS cases.
As of July 1, 1,479 cases of AIDS had been reported in the Tampa Bay area.
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