Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, October 18, 1985 Page: 1 of 24
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Mississippi Gays Win
Significant Victory, page 3
Experimental Drugs Offer
Hope to Persons with Aids,
page 6
Immunosuppressed May Suffer
Further Problems from Poppers,
page 7
Do Gays Have Rights in the Work
Place? page 8
Falcon Crest
Offers A
Crop of
New Stars
This Fall,
page 16
DALLAS VOICE
Vol. II, no. 24 Voice of the Gay Community Friday, October 18, 1985
County Plans to Track Those Exposed to HTLV-III Virus
by Don Ritz
The Dallas County Health Depart-
ment has received a $240,783 fed-
eral grant from the Centers for
Disease Control in the hopes of
determining how widespread AIDS
has become in the county and to
track and counsel those who may
have been exposed to the virus
suspected of causing AIDS.
“I think what we have in Dallas
County is pretty much what’s hap-
pening nationally. There’s a panic
out there,” said Robert Hohman,
Dallas’ public health administrator.
Although the grant is only slight-
ly more than half of the $563,000 the
health department had requested,
Hohman said that he believed that
the funds would be adequate to do
the job they had envisioned.
The purpose of the grant is to hire
additional personnel who will
gather AIDS-related statistics,
track down and advise those who
may have been exposed to the virus
believed to cause AIDS and to
educate others about means by
which exposure may be avoided.
Epidemiologists will circulate
amongst high-risk groups, specific-
ally the gay community, and en-
courage them to take the HTLV-III
antibody test. If a person tests pos-
itively for the antibody, they will be
asked to reveal the names of sexual
•contacts. The sexual contacts will
then be advised that they may have
been exposed to the HTLV-III virus.
Hohman said that all information
will be kept confidential and that
testing will be voluntary.
Dr. Charles Haley, epidemiolo-
gist for the department, however,
had said in an interview earlier this
year, that if a court orders the
records with names of individuals to
be released, he would do so.
Hohman also said that individu-
als who take the test will not be
required to give their real names.
However, when he was asked how
tracking the sexual contacts of those
who test positively for the antibody
could be accomplished if real names
are not used, he said that he was not
certain that tracking contacts
would be a definite part of the
program. He said that it would be
necessary to talk to Haley, who was
out of town and could not be reached
by press time.
When asked what the purpose of
taking the antibody test would be,
Hohman said that the test results
would shew the incidence of expo-
sure to the virus which has occurred
in the community.
Bill Appleman, executive direc-
tor of the Oak Lawn Counseling
Center, said that he didn’t think that
the health department would be
able to do the tracking effectively.
“It would create too much anxiety
regarding the potential for loss of
jobs and insurance,” said Apple-
man.
Appleman said that the counsel-
ing center would continue to en-
courage people not to take the anti-
body test. “Assume you are positive
(for the antibody) and change your
behavior,” said Appleman.
The state health department in
Colorado recently required the reg-
istration of all persons who test
positively for the antibody. It is
suspected that other states will soon
require the same registration.
Earlier this week San Antonio
health officials hand-delivered let-
ters to known AIDS victims
warning them they face felony
charges if they have sexual relations
with anyone except others who have
been diagnosed with the disease.
A gay man with AIDS in Houston
was ordered to abstain from sex by
the health department there. After
he said that he would not do so, he
was followed by members of the
Houston Police Department vice
squad.
The HTLV-III antibody test was
designed to screen the nation’s blood
supply.
Results of the test are not diag-
nostic of AIDS. A positive test result
may indicate possible exposure to
the suspected cause of AIDS. A neg-
ative test result may indicate no
exposure or no development of anti-
body. The test cannot indicate if a
person has had, does have or will
have AIDS.
AIDS Victims May Face Charges
San Antonio health department
officials personally delivered letters
to persons who were known to have
AIDS on Monday, October 14. The
letters warned them that they
would face feiony charges if they
had sexual relations with anyone
other than another person with
AIDS.
Dr. Coitrand Rothe, director of
the San Antonio Metropolitan
Health District, said. "It’s a warn-
ing that any violation does consti-
tute a third-degree felony and that
prosecution will occur if necessary.’’
The decision for the letters was
made after Rothe had received
information that three San Antonio
AIDS victims had said that they
would not discontinue sexual rela-
tions. The case of a 30-year-old P W A
in Houston who said that he would
continue to have sex was also a
factor in the decision.
“My hope is that much of his talk
of continuing a promiscuous exis-
tence is just that,” said Rothe.
“We’re presenting instructions to
people we know about. I would hope
that in effect it would be a word to
the wise.
“People have been calling me,
suggesting that we tatoo all AIDS
victims. I’m trying to cut down on
all the hysteria,” he said.
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Ritz, Don. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, October 18, 1985, newspaper, October 18, 1985; Dallas, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth615618/m1/1/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.