Newspaper Page Text
Texas couple may be first case of woman to woman transmission
(AP) — Two women who have tested HIV-
positiveappeartohave contracted thevirusthrough
sex with other women, an Austin doctor says.
If so, they would be among the nation’s first
ra<yc of the deadly virus transmitted through les
bian sex.
Dr. David Wright has had dozens of AIDS
cases, but says his two lesbian HIV patients insist
they couldn’t have become infected through shared
needles or unprotected sex with males, two of the
most commonly reported ways the virus is trans
mitted.
“By their history, they’re not intravenous drug
abusers,” said Wright, a family practitioner at the
Blackstock Family Health Center. “They describe
themselves as not being bisexual. I think it’s pos
sible they got it through woman-to-woman sex.”
Travis County health officials said they know
of three AIDS cases in lesbians, but none are
thought to have become infected through sex with
other women.
Experts long have said HIV, the virus that
eventually leads to full-blown AIDS, can be trans
mitted by vaginal secretions, especially if the re
ceiving partner has an abrasion on the genitals or
other body part that comes in contact with the
vagina.
A federal analysis of 164 female AIDS patients
who identified their sole risk as homosexuality
i concluded that they were infected either through
sharing drug needles or through blood transfu
sions received before 1985, when the first blood
test for the virus became available. Those cases
were documented between 1980 and June 1991.
“All that proves is that (sexual transmission
between women) is rare, not that it doesn’t hap
pen,” said Susan Chu, an epidemiologist who did
the analysis. She is section chief for AIDS surveil
lance at the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta.
“Given now that there (are) about 25,000
(American) women with AIDS, woman-to-woman
transmission is not common,” Ms. Chu said. “But
I feel that one thing we need is for women and
lesbians to be aware that woman-to-woman sex is
a risk for HIV. ”
Janna Zumbrun, a gay woman who is director
of AIDS Services of Austin, agreed.
“There’s been a myth over the years that gay
women were not at risk. It’s amazing but there are
still lots and lots of people who think only gay men
are at risk. We haven’t even gotten beyond that
myth," she said.
Critics say part of the reason the myth hasn’t
dissolved is because most AIDS statistics lack a
category for lesbians, instead lumping them into
the “other” group.
“The problem is there (are) so few cases, and,
up to this point, nobody’s been asking the ques
tion,” said Dr. Tom Betz, medical director of com
municable diseases at the Austin-Travis County
health department.
The possibility of a woman acquiring the
virus through lesbian sex is becoming a topic at
AIDS conferences, though Wright said some lesbi
ans avoid the subject out of fear of being stigma
tised by other gay women.
“They’re sort of outcasts in their own commu
nity,” he said.T
Two studies cite risks of woman to woman sex
(AP) — One of the main risk factors for HIV
infection among lesbian and bisexual women is sex
with men, according to two studies released Tues
day, October 19. Researchers for the San Francisco
Department of Public Health revealed that the
HIV-infection rate among the two groups was 1.2
percent , or three times the rate for all San Francisco
women.
“Both surveys show very high levels of unsafe
sexual behaviors with male and female partners,
but still no clear evidence of woman-to-woman
infection,” said Stephen Mills, assistant chief of
prevention for the Health Department’s AIDS Of
fice.
Mills said one of the studies showed that one-
quarter of the women who identified themselves as
lesbians had had sex with men in the past three
years. He said the “myth-dissolving” data should
prompt health providers to target AIDS education
at self-described lesbians whose sexual activity
may be riskier than once thought.
“They may hang out with the lesbian commu
nity but theirsexual behavior does not reflect that,”
Mills said.
One survey—of498 women at popular night
spots — found six cases of HIV infection. Overall,
about 80% of the women surveyed said they had
had sex with bisexual men and roughly 10 percent
reported injection drug use in the past ten years.
The second study found that 47% of lesbians
and 58% of bisexual women said they did not
always practice safe sex when having sex with men.
That study looked at 483 women in various com
munity locations,
Said Judith Cohen of the San Francisco-based
group Lesbian Avengers: “We need to stop the
denial and apathy, and start paying attention.
Lesbian women are not immune. This is our wake-
up call — and we, and the federal government,
should take notice.”
Public health officials echoed their demands.
“Although the rates of HIV infection among
lesbian and bisexual women are currently low,
these rates may rise given the high levels of risk
behaviors in this population,” said Department of
Health epidemiologist Dr. George Lemp.V
the Atlanta Gay Center’s
Helpline
Daily, 6-1 lpm
892-0661
TDD
Of
□□□
□Ha ^
B 1
TZ7
The Volunteer and Non-Profit Voice of the Gay & Lesbian Community