New HIV warning for King County; unsafe sex rising, health officials say
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King County health officials are planning to issue a public warning that AIDS-virus infections may be increasing at an alarming rate among gay men.
Dr. Bob Wood, AIDS-control officer for Public Health - Seattle & King County, told a state advisory committee on the disease that it appears a "new wave" of infections is hitting the area.
The increases, he said, are a result of people relaxing cautions about sexual practices that spread the virus. Worries have subsided because new drugs extend the lives of AIDS patients, and people are burned out on the "safe sex" message, he said.
"The public perception is that AIDS is cured. ... They're not seeing people on Capitol Hill with (lesions) on their faces and using walkers or wheelchairs," Wood told a Tuesday meeting of the Governor's Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS.
Wood said Public Health will soon issue a warning about the resurgence of HIV. Authorities plan to brief the county Board of Health tomorrow on the problem, including a report on a recent "community summit" on AIDS. The private meeting in December involved 60 health officials and leaders of the gay community, where the epidemic has hit the hardest.
Other counties are not experiencing the same increases as King County, state health officials said.
Other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have dramatically increased in gay men over the past three years, suggesting a rise in HIV infections. Required statewide reporting on HIV infections is relatively new, and the system cannot yet indicate a trend, officials say.
Syphilis on the rise
Authorities at first believed increases in the other STDs might subside, but they have remained at comparatively high levels - especially syphilis.
"It is astonishingly high," Wood told the committee. "The rate of syphilis is now what it was in 1981, before the HIV epidemic really got started here."
Health authorities worry about surges in STDs because they indicate increases in unprotected sex. Sores caused by the diseases also make it easier for HIV to enter the bloodstream.
A King County-Washington state report shows HIV-positive blood tests of gay men have tripled during the past three years at Harborview Medical Center's STD clinic, the state's largest such facility. The increase was from about 3.6 percent to nearly 11 percent.
The increases are similar to those in San Francisco, where health authorities recently warned of a resurgence in the AIDS epidemic. Officials there are considering banning ads for prescription AIDS drugs showing healthy-looking young men engaged in active, athletic lifestyles. They worry the images lessen concern in the gay community over HIV infection.
Wood told the advisory committee that about three-fourths of the 50 or so men diagnosed annually with syphilis also are infected with HIV.
He also said reports on more than 13,000 HIV-negative gay men seen by Public Health's HIV program showed a decrease in risky sexual activity through 1995, but there has been a 25 percent increase since then. The greatest increases were among men younger than 25. Drug use was often associated with the risky behavior.
Wood said, however, that increases in syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia are reported in men in their 30s.
"The resurgence of STD and HIV in our community is unacceptable. ... Twenty years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it is clear that Public Health and the (gay and bisexual) community must redouble and revitalize its efforts to prevent further spread of the disease," a report on the summit meeting says.
Wood said suggestions from the summit participants included exploring how to curb unsafe sex in public places such as bathhouses and parks; how to secure more AIDS-prevention funds in a tight state budget; and how clinics can better identify and treat HIV patients.
Summit participants also urged development of new AIDS-prevention programs, focusing on emotional health, depression and substance abuse.
Chuck Kuehn, executive director of the Lifelong AIDS Alliance (formerly the Chicken Soup Brigade / Northwest AIDS Foundation), said the increase in HIV infections is a strong reminder of the need to continually update AIDS-prevention efforts.
"We can't get complacent because human beings will always surprise you," he said. "While people may have information about prevention, it's no guarantee they'll follow through with it. And it's because people are complicated."
Warren King can be reached at 206-464-2247 or at wking@seattletimes.com.