Official Warns of Surge in HIV Cases
Health Dept. survey shows men not using protection

By Laurie Garrett
STAFF WRITER

February 11, 2004


Even as almost two-thirds of new HIV infections in New York City are among
heterosexuals - chiefly African-Americans - gay men's sexual habits may
portend a resurgence of cases, according to studies presented yesterday at
the annual Retrovirus Conference in San Francisco.

New HIV infections among gay men have held at a steady rate of about 1,100
cases a year, Dr. Lucia Torian, director of the city Health Department's HIV
Epidemiology Program, said in an interview. But she said recent health
department surveys show that more than half of the HIV-infected men in the
city routinely have anal intercourse without using a protective condom.

"This is a prescription for a resurgent, explosive HIV epidemic," Torian
warned. "Have we seen it yet? No. Could we? Definitely."

In late 2000, New York City made it mandatory that positive HIV test results
be reported by laboratories and physicians. Since then city health officials
have tracked down the reported cases, confirmed them and analyzed the
trends.

In 2001, 6,400 new HIV diagnoses were reported, Torian said. An additional
test run by the department found that 21 percent of those cases were
infections less than six months old.

The tests also reveal that "our new cases of HIV are more likely to be
women, more likely to be black and more likely to be in the category of
heterosexual or 'no discernible risk,'" she said.

The studies found that nearly 65 percent of new infections in New York in
2001 were heterosexual.

And in 2002, 29 percent of new HIV diagnoses involved residents of Manhattan
while 71 percent lived in the other boroughs, chiefly Brooklyn (28 percent)
and the Bronx (24 percent). Even as the HIV caseload rises in the outer
boroughs and among heterosexuals, HIV testing is promoted most heavily in
the gay community, and few doctors in New York City recommend tests to their
heterosexual clients, Torian said.

Of the 1,784 women diagnosed with HIV in 2002, 1,203 were black. Torian said
the department believes new HIV infections among gay men have held steady
based on a comparison of new infections with spot surveys taken in previous
years.

"Everybody should get an HIV test," she said. "And every doctor should offer
it routinely. It should be just like cholesterol screening."

Since 1985, HIV has taken a larger toll in New York City than any other
location in North America, with 135,837 cases diagnosed, 62 percent of whom
have died of AIDS.

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