AIDS: NUMBER OF REPORTED CASES IN MISSOURI CONTINUES TO CLIMB

The number of AIDS cases reported in Missouri continues to climb, and medical experts say more heterosexuals are contracting the disease.

Reported cases among homosexual and bisexual males are much higher than those among heterosexuals, but are remaining steady from year to year. The number of reported cases among straight men and women is rising, according to state statistics.

"(AIDS) is rapidly moving into the heterosexual population," said Kathy Bonney of the state Bureau of AIDS Prevention.

"The rates of infection for homosexual males is leveling, and the increases are showing up among heterosexuals and IV drug users."

Currently there are 4,273 people in Missouri who have tested positive for the disease at public health facilities. Bonney said it's important to realize that reported cases represent only a fraction of actual AIDS cases.

"The state estimates that there are approximately 6,000 to 7,000 more people who haven't reported it, haven't been tested and don't even know they are carrying it," she said.

Sallie Loos, coordinator of health services at Southeast Missouri State University, said AIDS cases are also increasing in Southeast Missouri. Each year more people opt to be tested for the HIV virus.

Loos said it's dangerous to think people who live in areas outside major cities can't contract the disease.

"I think locally people think it's not here," Loos said. "They don't realize there are AIDS cases in the local hospitals. They think it's confined to St. Louis, Kansas City or New York City. But it's here."

Media attention to the disease often prompts people to be tested, Loos said. Many sought testing after basketball star Magic Johnson announced he had contracted the HIV virus, she said.

Although there have been positive tests in Southeast Missouri, 163 people tested at the Center for Health and Counseling between September and May tested negative. All tests are confidential.

"I think it's a big decision just to be tested," she said. "You have to admit you're at risk."

Loos said that in Southeast Missouri the biggest risk factor for heterosexuals of both sexes is unprotected sex with several partners and IV drug use. She said she knows of at least one student and one staff member at the university who tested positive for the disease.

The Center for Health and Counseling at the university administers free AIDS tests to students and university staff. Free testing can also be obtained at the Cape Girardeau County Health Department.

For those who are tested, results take a week to 10 days. Blood samples are sent to Jefferson City for analysis. Many people seek testing following a particular incidence during which they fear they might have contracted the disease, she said.

Because someone can have the disease and not exhibit symptoms for seven to 10 years, "they can be unknowingly infecting others," she said.

"When the result is negative, people say, `You've made my day' or `You've made my year.' They also say, `I'll never do that again.'"

Bonney said heterosexuals often feel they are at low risk for the disease, especially if they live in a rural area. But more heterosexuals are testing positive, proving no one who engages in risky behavior is immune to the disease, she said.

"They might be aware they are engaging in risky behaviors," she said, "but they might not be tested for some reason or another.

"The message we've been trying to emphasize is that HIV is something everyone should be concerned about. It affects the rural areas as well as the metropolitan areas, and I think Southeast Missouri could be considered a rural area."

State figures show that in the 10 years since AIDS statistics have been available, in Missouri those with the disease are primarily homosexual males. Those with the disease are most likely between the ages of 30-39.