Washington Blade - September 13, 2002

NEW YORK - At similar stages of HIV infection, women tend to have lower levels of the virus in their blood than men, according to a new report. Previous studies have yielded conflicting findings on this issue. But the new report, which took a close look at 13 earlier studies involving more than 10,500 patients, concluded that the majority of the evidence shows a clear gender effect. "The difference is real," said study author Dr. Monica Gandhi of the University of California, San Francisco. "But we have no idea of the significance of that difference." Since doctors use blood levels of HIV to guide them in many of their treatment decisions, the difference could be an important one. Yet there is no strong evidence to suggest that giving women medication at different times than men will confer benefit, especially since both men and women appear to develop full-blown AIDS at similar rates, Gandhi told Reuters Health.

HIV medication adherence worsens after Sept. 11 attacks

NEW YORK - Patients taking medications for HIV were more likely to miss doses or take doses later following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, according to a study from the Center for HIV Educational Research & Training (CHEST), which was published on GayHealth.com. Data was collected from 68 men in New York. The mean number of missed doses of protease inhibitors increased from 2.67 two weeks prior to Sept. 11 to 5.07 in the two weeks following the attacks. "Adhering to medication regimens in the aftermath of 9/11 was an even greater burden," said Alix Kutnick, project director of Project PILLS (Protease Inhibitor Longitudinal Life Study). The study is ongoing to determine whether this trend is lasting.

CDC to open office in Guyana to help fight HIV

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention will open an office here this month to help local health officials combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, the U.S. ambassador to Guyana said Monday. The first of two doctors assigned to this South American country by the Atlanta-based CDC is due to arrive this week and the second before the end of the month, U.S. Ambassador Ronald Goddard said. The move complies with a promise by U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson in April at a conference of health ministers to help fight rising infection rates in the Caribbean. The CDC is also expected to send doctors to other countries in the region by the end of the year. The Caribbean has the world's second highest infection rate after sub-Saharan Africa.

Syphilis surges as safe sex wanes in Montreal

MONTREAL - Syphilis, a disease that was almost eradicated in Quebec only four years ago, has returned with a vengeance in Montreal among gay men, according to Dr. Rejean Thomas, founder of the Clinique Medicale l'Actuel. He went so far as to declare a syphilis epidemic in the city. Cases of gonorrhea and chlamydia have also soared, suggesting that many Montrealers are no longer practicing safe sex. "If there is an easing of safe-sex practices in the gay community, you can be sure that is also the case in the heterosexual community at large," Thomas said. From September 2000 until last July, Montreal public-health authorities reported a total of 24 cases of syphilis. By contrast, there was only one registered case for all of Quebec in 1998. The trend in unprotected sex coincided with this summer's Divers/Cite Gay Pride festivities, which attracted thousands of tourists from across North America. The event - held in part to raise awareness about sexual diversity - might have unwittingly contributed to the increase in syphilis cases, the Montreal Gazette reported.

Upcoming conferences in Washington, Atlanta to focus on gay health concerns

WASHINGTON - Gay health will be the focus of two upcoming national conferences, one in Washington, D.C., and the other in Atlanta. The National Coalition for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Health will hold a national meeting in Washington from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1. "Our members will meet with government agencies and Congressional offices to ensure that the federal government will live up to the goals it identified for the LGBT communities in the Healthy People 2010 document two years ago," said A. Cornelius Baker, co-chair of the coalition's executive committee and executive director of Whitman-Walker Clinic. For more information, call 202-797-3516 or visit www.lgbthealth.net. In Atlanta, results from the scientific study HIV Early Detection Study of Unrecognized Positives will be unveiled at a national HIV/AIDS Conference on Oct. 11 and Oct. 12. The HEDS UP study found that 40 percent of patients diagnosed with HIV have already progressed to AIDS before HIV was detected, despite having known risk factors or clinical symptoms associated with the disease.

From staff and wire reports

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