AIDS: Why take chances?

Good evening I'm Dave Iverson welcome to tonight's special live broadcast. Tonight we're going to take a look at what AIDS means to young people and that means asking some tough questions and providing some candid answers. We've asked a number of local people to help us out in this project some disc jockeys musicians sports figures all of them to help man the phone lines tonight. We'll turn your questions over to a health expert when you phone in for a confidential response if you choose or you'll be able to participate as well in our live discussion on the air. You can call us at 1 800 3 6 2 3 0 2. Throughout tonight's program we'll also provide you with some short messages about AIDS from some well-known Wisconsinites So let's start that now with former UW basketball great J.J. Weber. I'm J.J. Weber. You know the AIDS virus can't count it doesn't know how old you are so don't think you're immune if you're under 30. Everybody's at risk. It isn't high risk groups that spread AIDS. It's high risk behavior. If you're sexually active you can get aids but you can also prevent it. Tonight special program can answer your questions about the disease how it's transmitted and how you can prevent it spread. Take the AIDS quiz. Call the

AIDS hotline for more information. Right take chances. As J.J. Webber just said AIDS doesn't pay attention to birthdays you're just as vulnerable at age 15 as you are at age 50. We want to start out tonight with an AIDS quiz. You can test your own knowledge about AIDS and get some answers to those questions people ask most frequently. To find out about those concerns we visited a number of local schools high school Technical College and a university classroom. We asked people to write down the questions they wanted to answer. Then we sifted through the responses and picked out the questions most often asked. Obviously people who have confidential questions about AIDS don't necessarily want to ask those questions on television. So instead we asked some young actors to voice the concerns we most frequently heard. So to start here's Carolyn. There seems to be a lot of information out there about it. But I still get confused. I understand what it stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. But is that the virus the same thing as the disease. If I got the virus would the disease follow.

What are the symptoms for. With those questions in mind let's begin our quiz now. Here is question number one. Everyone infected with human immunodeficiency virus or HIV has a it's everyone infected with HIV also has AIDS. True or false. The answer is false. Everyone who has the AIDS virus does not necessarily have AIDS. That experience is not true for everyone and it's important to remember that you can experience AIDS symptoms but not in a rather you can have the virus and not necessarily experience AIDS symptoms. That's part of what makes this condition so dangerous because if you're not yet experiencing symptoms you can still pass the disease on to someone else in a sense it's kind of an invisible time bomb here now is question number two what percentage of persons infected with HIV develop AIDS within five years. 15 percent 35 percent 60 percent or 100 percent. How many infected with HIV get aids in

five years. The answer is 35 percent. This is a figure that keeps on changing and that is not good news. Originally researchers thought that only 20 percent of those who had the AIDS virus would get AIDS. That percentage keeps going up and researchers now think that eventually 80 to 90 percent of those who have the virus will someday develop some immune system problems. Here now is question 3. On average how long to people with AIDS live after they've been diagnosed. Six months one year three years or five years. How long do people live after the AIDS diagnosis. The answer is one year. The average survival time just one year. Only 15 to 20 percent of those diagnosed with AIDS survive for more than three years. And if you're a member of a minority group the survival rates are we're still one of the questions people ask most at the various schools we visited had to do with Wisconsin itself. There was this feeling that people in Wisconsin are

in less danger than other parts of the country. Here again is Caroline. We don't live in California or New York. We live in Wisconsin. I have friends who live in small towns in the northern part of the state. And even Milwaukee is smaller than Los Angeles or New York. Do we really need to worry about INT's in Wisconsin. How many people in the state have the HIV virus. How many actually have AIDS. So here's a question about the frequency of AIDS in Wisconsin. How many people in our state are infected with HIV. One to two thousand five to eight thousand eleven to seventeen thousand or 20 to 25000. Again how many people in Wisconsin are infected with HIV. And the answer is C 11 to 17000. Again that's 11 to 70000 is the figure of the number of people who are infected. And again it's a number that

continues to grow. Before we continue with our quiz Here's another short message about AIDS this time from Olympic runner and registered nurse Cindy but I'm certain. The most recent government estimates tell us that in Wisconsin there are between 11 and seventeen thousand carriers of the HIV virus in Wisconsin. The numbers also tell us there are approximately 10 new cases of AIDS every month. In Wisconsin. The government provided us with the lowest estimates. The government educates us with the facts. But the government can't prevent AIDS. Only individuals can. Olympic runner Cindy. Now question number five on our AIDS quiz a question about how AIDS is transmitted. This is one of the most frequently asked questions. Which of the following puts you at risk for AIDS. Casual sex. Sex without using a condom. Sex with someone who uses I.V. drugs or all of the above. Which of these put you at risk for

contracting AIDS. The answer is D all of the above. You can get AIDS through a single sexual encounter. It's not like you get a free pass every now and then. It's that simple. Certain kinds of behavior is what spreads this disease and that's what we're going to focus on now next. Just what kind of behavior puts you at risk. Here's what a lot of people are asking. Rumors travel fast at school. My friends are always talking about new ways they heard you can get it needs I've heard you can get AIDS from Miskito is sharing a glass or just casual contact. Are those rumors are they true. And when dating how careful should I be. Can aids be spread by French kissing. Should I say anything to a new person I'm dating. It's kind of awkward to talk about people's past experiences. What should I ask. So here's a Frequently Asked Question Question number six in our AIDS quiz. Can you get AIDS from French kissing. Your choices are absolutely

probably probably not or Absolutely not. Can you get AIDS from French kissing. The answer is C Probably not. Well HIV is found in saliva in small amounts in infected individuals there is no evidence that the virus can be transmitted in this particular way. Casual non-sexual contact is not how you get AIDS. As UW football coach Don Morton explains in this brief message. No one has all the answers when it comes to AIDS research continue to try to find a vaccine or cure for the disease. I do know some ways we can't catch AIDS. AIDS is not transmitted through casual contact. We can't get it from sharing towels Combs athletic equipment or locker rooms. We can't get AIDS meeting at a restaurant or sharing a glass of beer. AIDS is transmitted from person to person through intimate sexual contact and your sexual partners and actively are up to you.

So casual contact doesn't spread AIDS. But what if you're sexually active. How can you prevent the spread of the disease. Here now is question number seven. Which of the following are ways to prevent HIV transmission. Abstinence from sex monogamous relationships safer sex practices or all of the above. Which of the following can prevent HIV transmission. And our answer is all of the above. Abstinence from sex is the only absolute preventative measure monogamous relationships prevent transmission. If they are indeed absolutely monogamous and if they're for a long period of time safer sex practices like using a condom should always be practice with a partner whose sexual history is unknown. Questions about condoms and safe sex are common. Here again is one of our student actors. Lots of information on AIDS talks about safe sex. But how safe is safe sex if someone is sexually active and uses condoms. Is it really safe sex

or just safer. Does any other form of birth control protect against AIDS. Again the only absolutely sure means of prevention is abstinence but sex with a condom is much safer than sex without a condom. So here is question number 8. All condoms are equally effective in preventing HIV transmission. True or false all condoms are equally effective in preventing HIV transmission. The answer that question is false. Condoms can be made from natural materials like animal tissue or from latex rubber latex rubber condoms are the only ones that should be used for prevention of HIV transmission. No other form of birth control can prevent the transmission of AIDS. You can't talk about AIDS without talking about condoms in any program like this one also has to include some frank and candid talk about sexual behavior. You may find this next clip that we're going to show you from the program

sex drugs and AIDS a little bit uncomfortable to watch but it is important. Here's actress Radeon Chong sacked. What does sex have to do with getting it. Well I'll tell you there are two kinds of sex that we're talking about. Intercourse and anal intercourse during intercourse. That's your standard guy girl for most sex. Sometimes when you're making love you can get a small cut inside and you won't feel it. If your partner is infected the virus can enter the bloodstream through the cut. That's why guys got to wear condoms and girls gotta make sure guys wear them to keep infected semen out of the body. Now the other kind of sex anal intercourse. This is the riskiest. Why. Because it's Strider and it's tighter in there and the blood vessels are closer to the surface and easier to tear. This gives the virus in the semen a direct

way to get into the blood. The point is if you're going to have sexual intercourse of any kind use a condom. I know you may feel like a jerk but I know you are taking him out to put him on. You don't think it's romantic and you feel a little embarrassed and you figure the person going to have sex with won't like him there. But believe me it's better to feel a little embarrassed there to risk getting a disease that could kill you. And if you feel weird or uncomfortable about condoms or any of this stuff talk to somebody and hopefully to the person you want to have sex with. But at least talk to a friend. And tonight is a night when you can indeed talk to someone that's what this program is for we have some health experts standing by to answer your questions so call in if you do have some questions as soon as we're done with tonight's AIDS quiz now. Question number nine in heterosexual intercourse is the male or the female more risk of contracting HIV the female the male or C both are equally at

risk. The correct answer to this question is A the female is more at risk. And that's important because it's important to remember that this is not just a disease that affects homosexual men. Just today in fact the surgeon general again pointed out that AIDS can be transmitted through heterosexual intercourse if one partner is infected. Now we'll continue with our quiz. This is a question about testing. It was a concern a lot of people raised. There are a lot of newspaper reports about mandatory testing for AIDS but among my friends the question is about voluntary testing. How do we know if we should be tested. I'm not familiar with the kinds of tests available or how reliable they are. Can the test be wrong. Question number 10 in our quiz has to do then with the reliability of antibody tests. That's the

test you take for determining HIV infection. So here's the question. Our tests for HIV always accurate true or false are they always accurate. The answer is false. The AIDS tests are largely reliable in a small and it is a small percentage of cases the wrong results can be given. We'll talk about that more with our panel in just a little bit. Now here's another concern. The one in fact that was Ray's most frequently by the people we talked with. The scariest thing about AIDS is that it's fatal. One mistake can result in death. The most frequently asked question about AIDS by people our age is how close is research to a cure. Is there any chance in the near future for a drug or a vaccine that will work. How effective are the drugs available now. So the prospects for an AIDS vaccine is the subject of our last question. Question number 11 there will be an AIDS vaccine by the year 1900. True or

false. There will be a vaccine for AIDS by the year 1990. Answer that question is false. In fact it's highly unlikely that will there will be a vaccine in the next five to seven years. Why it's so difficult to come up with an AIDS vaccine is something else we'll be focusing on with our panel of experts in just a moment. That wraps up our AIDS quiz. Now it is your turn to call up and get some confidential information or to participate in our live studio discussion. If you have questions about AIDS you can participate in this special program. Call 1 800 3 6 2 3 0 2 0 and ask for the AIDS program. A panel of experts will join Dave in the studio and try to answer your questions in those in the studio audience. Our phone bank is staffed with some names and faces you might recognize. Give them a call and tell them you have a question for the panel. We'll try to put as many of your questions on the air as we can.

If you have a personal question or situation and we prefer to talk privately to a health professional We have people here who can answer your questions. Just tell the person who answers the phone that you would like to ask a question off the air. If you would like to ask you a question either on the year or privately call 1 800 3 6 2 3 0 2 0 0 0 and ask for the program. All right we begin our live studio discussion we have a studio full of young people who are going to answer ask some questions maybe answer some questions as well this evening and a panel of people who have joined me to talk about these issues. Joining me is Dr. Jim Bridger Ratu coordinates the AIDS program for the Department of Health and Social Services in Wisconsin. Sue Dietz is here as well she is the director of the Milwaukee AIDS project and Vicki Wilson who is a teen counselor with Planned Parenthood in Milwaukee. And joining us live tonight from Atlanta

is Dr. James Allen. He is the assistant director of the AIDS program at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and he'll be fielding questions for us from there this evening. I want to start by asking and talking about the risks that are there to young people I think if you're young or if you can remember when you're young one of the things you think about is that I'm 18. Nothing's going to happen to me. And when you talk to teenagers is AIDS a real concern for them or do they think it's that something that happens to somebody else somewhere else. I think the majority think like you said they think that it won't happen to them and that oh it is. It's like it won't happen for me ever not now at least. Dr. Allen in Atlanta what are we beginning to learn as you analyze the statistics from across the country are young people. Do they show up I guess in the figures and are you concerned about the possible increase of AIDS cases among young people in this country.

There are several parts to that question. If you're talking about cases of AIDS in teenagers it's fairly uncommon. The most frequent reason why teenagers might get AIDS is because they have a clotting factor disorder hemophilia and they've been infected through receipt of blood products to help correct their. Clotting factor problem. So is this something that that that's uncommon. We do have a small number of teenagers also who have become infected and have developed a through drug use or through sexual activity primarily male homosexual activity. The biggest problem with with teenagers is that they are at risk of becoming infected and then by the time that they get into their mid 20s we begin seeing the numbers of AIDS cases increasing sharply precisely because the symptoms don't necessarily show up for so long and they are at the age where people are really becoming sexually active for the first time. That's correct. Dr. Berger and what are you seeing here in Wisconsin and do

teens really need to worry about this. I mean I don't want to encourage people to turn the channel here for the next 40 minutes but is it a real problem for teenagers. Well I think one of the things to remember is what Dr. Allen pointed out is the fact that in Wisconsin approximately 20 percent of our cases occur in individuals between the ages of 20 and 29. But we have to remember Bear that the incubation period for this viral infection may be on average five to seven years or even longer for that. So these individuals that are developing AIDS in the early 20s mid 20s are individuals that probably were infected in their late teens. And in Milwaukee what are you starting to see what kinds of things do you think young people really need to be thinking about as they approach the point where they're going to become sexually active. We encourage everybody to take a look at themselves and see with their own risk factors might be. And with teenagers who are not yet sexually active and hopefully have not experimented with drugs we have a complete prevention opportunity. We could stop AIDS in Wisconsin right

there. So we need to be encouraging people to take a look at those things that are dangerous and could threaten them could threaten their health and their lives even before they get into those behaviors that is the best prevention. One of the things that I've really realized as we've worked on this program the last couple of days is that the ironic thing about this is terrible a disease as it is it is preventable. I mean it's not it's not as some people have said a high risk disease so much as it is high risk behavior that you have to prevent and if you can prevent it you prevent the disease I mean you do have a choice. Absolutely we can stop AIDS right now it's very very preventable but it does mean making some behavior changes for people it does mean taking a look at some of those things in our lifestyle that we haven't wanted to talk about or even think about. We maybe just acted on them without thinking in the past. All right. Let's take our first phone call of the night. We have a viewer who is calling in tonight from Woodville Go ahead please you're on the air. Hello. The question for your panel to discuss the difference between the viruses of the AIDS virus and the

hepatitis viruses I'm aware are very similar in nature and there are in some ways some are awful. We have been able to carry hepatitis. We can usually find it. It remains dormant. All right Dr. Alan let's go to you in Atlanta. Difference between hepatitis virus and the HIV. And if we can treat one how come not the other. The viruses are actually quite different. The confusion perhaps comes from the statement that the two viruses are transmitted or spread from one person to another in very similar fashions. We cannot treat or cure hepatitis and we cannot treat AIDS or infection with the AIDS virus. Consider the two viruses basically is quite different. One thing that I think is important to remember is why is this thing so difficult I mean is it is it similar to when you go to a doctor and I know this is a gross over oversimplification but it's like it seems to me it's a bit like when you go to the doctor with a cold. If it's a virus there ain't much you can do if it's strappy

you can take something and you'll get better. I mean are viruses fundamentally awfully pesky critters to Saul. No the point is that we have found drugs medicines that will kill bacteria which are much more complicated organism. There's still a one celled germ if you will but there are much more complicated and they are fairly easy to kill with a number of the drugs that we have. We do not have a drug that is really effective. Killing any virus that is causing an infection in people we have drugs that will kill or will slow the growth of viruses in the laboratory and we can use some of them as treatment for people who are ill. But basically consider that there is has not ever in the history of mankind been a real cure for any of our viral diseases. All right let's go ahead to our next caller now we have someone on the line with us tonight from northern Wisconsin from Sturgeon

Bay. Go ahead please you're on the air. Okay I guess you're not on the air. We will continue with some discussion and get back to our phone calls in just a moment. QUESTION I'd like to ask is this how do you ask someone about their sexual history. That has to be one of the more embarrassing sensitive kind of questions to ask. If you're just about to become sexually active. Vicky Wilson what do you say. Do you say well now who have you slept with last who have you slept with for the last six months to ask people to fill out a questionnaire. And what do you do so that you can proceed with some degree of security. Well like you said it's hard and it's embarrassing you don't want to offend anybody. But with the seriousness of AIDS it's going to take a strong community communication based relationship. And with that that I think in the long run people are going to realize that it is a serious disease and they're going to start communicating more and the more they communicate the easier it will be. What do you say. Do you just say Who have you slept with. Well I guess I'm interested in what you actually say you know what are the words you use.

Like Vicki said I think you have to have established a relationship with the person before you this day and age before you decide to do something is as serious as having sex with them. So hopefully you have some serious discussions with them about who they are what kinds of activity this participated in in the past. What kinds of things they like and dislike. What are the things that are most important things that they value and part of the things that make them feel good. You can lead into this discussion without just popping on a stranger. By the way who have you had sex with. Yeah in a sense I guess it relates back to the question about why it's so dangerous these days to have casual sex. You have to be able to talk to people and that means a relationship that's not just a casual one. That's right so that you can talk about those things that are most important to us and most valuable to us in our lives and sex is one of those things. Not to say that talking about sex is easy to start and we've never been in this society very good about talking about sex we tell dirty jokes that's about the extent of it. And this is a very good time to learn that in developing a relationship with someone you care about. All right let's go back to the phone lines now we have a caller on the air with us from Milwaukee. Go ahead please.

Now we seem to be having a little bit of trouble with our phone lines high technology can only not solve AIDS it sometimes is a problem in TV as well but we'll get back to our phone calls I'm sure in just a little bit. Doctor John let me go back to you at this point we heard that we had some feelings among people when we went out and interviewed younger people in schools around the area that look it's a problem in New York it's a problem in San Francisco problem in L.A. but it sure as heck isn't a problem in Wisconsin this is America's Dairyland et cetera et cetera et cetera. What about that. We are a somewhat lower incidence rate but are you what are we starting to see is it happening here I guess as as anywhere. I think one of the things that we see happening is while San Francisco and New York City at this time may account for some 40 percent of the cases is projected into the early 1990s that these two cities will only account for 20 percent of the cases as the burden of this epidemic moves into the lower incidence areas such as Wisconsin

and Wisconsin I think it's important to know that we've seen AIDS cases I know of infected individuals from all corners of the states and both from urban and from rural areas. The numbers are going up as well I mean it follows that so you know for a geometric kind of pits correct the numbers in Wisconsin have been doubling almost every 12 months and we currently have two hundred sixty eight. Case is by the end of 1991 we expect to have around eighteen hundred cases in Wisconsin again this confirmed cases of AIDS and you have to remember for every confirmed case of AIDS there may be between 25 and 50 other individuals that are infected with the pirates and potentially could infect someone through sexual behavior or needle sharing. And a year ago as I recall the number was maybe one hundred twenty five hundred fifty AIDS cases so it's 270 now and better than a thousand a couple of years from now. You can see the kind of geometric progression that we're looking on to correct. All right is that pattern holding as well nationally. Dr. Allen is there any reason for optimism or encouragement

about the rate of spread of this disease. You have to look at two separate issues there. One is what is the rate at which the cases of AIDS are being reported diagnosed and reported and what is the frequency or rate of spread of the virus. And that is what is going to determine the cases. The numbers of cases that are being reported five to ten years from now in terms of the cases of AIDS itself were continuing to have increases every month. In other words there is more going to be reported in the month of March than there were in the month of January. We have not yet in any area seen a true slowdown. What has been encouraging is that in selected populations in selected areas where there has been intensive educational programmes about AIDS and about prevention where many people have seen friends and loved ones die from AIDS. The

frequency of new infections is going down dramatically. But the groups that continue to be at very high risk for new infections in particular are intravenous drug users people who shoot up with drugs. And if I have one message to young adults it stay away from drugs. Dr. Allen thank you. Let's talk about about something that you brought up a little bit earlier if we might about you know you're saying we've just never in the history of humankind been able to find a vaccine or a cure rather for for a virus. Is that wishful thinking that we would find a vaccine in the next three five seven years or by the year 2000. Are you optimistic that with all of the research efforts that are now going on that we will find something or is that just something that we really ought not count on. Again I don't have an easy answer. Vaccines and drugs for treatment are very different things. Let's talk about the vaccines. We

will be able to have a vaccine. But the question is how effective will it be. We in fact do have a prototype for a model type of a vaccine now that has been given to chimpanzees and it's being used experimentally in humans. The bad news is that it doesn't seem to be effective in other words it doesn't work. Even if we are able in the next debt 10 years the next decade to develop an effective vaccine. I think we know from past experience that it will not be 100 percent effective in other words if we look at our very effective vaccines now such as measles vaccine we know they're only 95 or 96 percent effective. And I guess my question to anyone who may want to take the vaccine and consider themselves protected. Are you going to be satisfied with this disease with 95 percent effectiveness. So again we are as we return to the question of education prevention that this is a preventable thing by certain acts and behaviors that you choose not to do.

That's correct. We know today how to prevent infection if people only follow the advice that is given and they're not talking about giving up sex. We're not talking about totally locking ourselves away forever. We're talking about making modifications that will enable us to live a healthful lifestyle. All right let us put the pressure now on our studio audience we have a lot of people here have joined us from various schools high schools from around the state. We'd like to be able to respond to the questions that people have here this evening is there a question that someone would like to ask that we can get on on to an answer with Go head place in the back row if you would stand up please. Yeah. Wondering if you did think that you had the AIDS virus where would you go would you go to your local doctor. Or would you just go to. Hospital or what. And say that you want a test for AIDS. Where would I go. All right let's take this back. There really I think to parse your question so. So let's take them in order Thanks for the question. One is Dr. Jim very Geraint if you're concerned what do you do. Do you go get a test and two should you

find some specialist or just go to your neighborhood physician. OK. I think if we talk for a minute just about testing and the fact that fortunately one of the ways in which we can help control this epidemic is through testing voluntary testing. There is a test. It's not for the virus it's for the antibody. It's a very good test it's one of the most accurate tests we have in medicine. This test is a simple blood test that requires drawing a small amount of blood from the vein in your arm. And this can be done in any physicians office and they send the blood on to a laboratory sort of by laboratory to be tested. What is important in addition to having the test on that counseling need to be part of this activity because the test itself will not prevent a person from developing AIDS it's the modification in behaviors that will occur who should get tested I mean should everyone who has ever had a sexual encounter with someone that they're not too sure about go get tested

who should get tested. Well it's it has to be individualized and everyone needs to assess their their own risk and I think part of the counseling process that needs to go on is prior to getting to test to talk to someone to review the risk that you may have. This can be done over the 1 800 AIDS line that's set up in the state it can be done with the counseling and testing sites that the state has set up or can be done with a knowledgeable physician or a clinician. But the individuals that we believe should be tested because of the high rates of infection include gay and bisexual men I.V. drug users individuals that have had transfusions since 1980 in 1978 until 1985 when the blood was has been tested especially if they've had multiple transfusions. If they've had transfusions in higher risk areas such as San Francisco or New York.

Also individuals that have had multiple sexual partners especially if they don't know the sexual history of those partners. So those are some of the groups that seduce let me bring you into this at this point. To the question that was asked. Where do you go first do you do do you go to a counseling center like yours do you go to your neighborhood doctor. Where do you go in that first step of finding out what to do. That depends on the individual I think again what we're talking about here is a real sensitive conversation so you need to go to someone that you can trust someone that you know is going to provide you with accurate information. Talking to your friends may be a good idea but you are going to have to seek some medical advice somewhere along the line. Maybe an interim step is to call a hotline like the 1 800 number here in Wisconsin and they can also refer you to people in your area we have lists of physicians and counselors and counseling and testing sites all over the state where we can refer people that would be valuable valid information and will give those numbers and locations later in our program we'll put up the numbers of where you can call from around the state to get information about where to go to get

counseling testing or treatment. Let's try our pesky phone lines again we have a phone caller on the line we think from Milwaukee. Go ahead please you're on the air. Yeah. All right let me. Not really. Think of Africa. All right Dr. Allan if you could hear the question the it is what is the difference between AIDS and herpes. They're both caused by viruses but they're quite different viruses. Both of the viruses do share the characteristic that once they are in the human body. Once a person is infected that virus will be with the person for the rest of their life. Herpes however usually causes fairly minor although it's a nuisance type of a problem. The you get best of colds and all surges that come back and then heal and then come back again with the HIV or the AIDS virus as you know. Usually a person starts

off with a fairly lengthy period during which they don't know they're infected they're asymptomatic. And then you get a progressive development of a systemic rather than a localized type of infection as you get with herpes a systemic illness that. The two diarrhoea and weight loss and fever swelling of the lymph nodes and then on to the more serious infections and cancers that characterize AIDS. OK let's the response to the virus is the body's response to the viruses is very different. All right. Let's go ahead to our next caller we have someone on the line tonight from can who would like to ask a question go ahead please can I show you're on the air. Hi you had said earlier that age can't be bred true to live on. Now what I'm wondering is why are they going to all of the sudden wearing gloves and masks. All right good question. I think the point you made in the quiz is that though the virus exists to some extent in saliva there's not yet been any evidence to show that something like French or deep kissing is something that can actually transmit the disease.

But let me go to Dr. Virgil around for some more information about AIDS and saliva. OK that's a good question. I think the issue for dentists and dental hygienists is the fact that we're not only dealing with saliva we're dealing with oftentimes bleeding of the gums during dental procedures. And so we have the white blood cells the infected white blood cells that are actually in the saliva So really they're not dealing with saliva per se but blood so we make the recommendation for dentists dental hygienists that they always wear gloves that they wear a mask that they wear glasses so that there's not splattering the blood that might infect them through their mouth or through their. Eyes. All right we have a question now from our studio audience so let us go to that next. Go ahead if you would with your question please. Well one of your children had AIDS and you sent them to public schools how susceptible with the other children be at the school. All right. The question that has come up of course in a number of states around the country what about the degree of risk if a child has a and attend school Dr. Allen in

Atlanta what is the current recommendations on that and to what extent should parents be concerned as we've seen them be very concerned in places like Indiana and Florida over the last year. There have been a number of studies carried out very carefully done studies that have looked at the risk within family settings in which the type of contact is usually much more clothes much much more intimate than it ever would be in a school setting. There has not been any documented evidence of transmission within a family setting of this type in all of the studies in the United States. So if you were and let me ask you this to personalize it a bit if you learned tomorrow that your child was attending a school where there was someone who had AIDS you'd have no anxieties about that right. I would have not even if there were a number of children and teachers. The point I always make in the lectures and presentations I get when I'm asked a question like this is that I would be delighted if I could exchange the risks of my. Children who are I've got four teenagers. I would be delighted if I could

exchange the risks that they're going to die on our nation's highways for whatever wrists might exist from transmission within a school setting. It just isn't going to occur there in the absence of sexual activity or intravenous drug use. All right let's move ahead. We have got a backlog of phone callers on with us this evening and so we should take care of some of them we have a caller on the line now from Milwaukee. Go ahead place here on the air. A lucky Caller are you with us. Go ahead of your guest I am. I've been watching the program since it started. I feel very very good. However I have not heard anything on the symptoms of AIDS. I've heard the risk. And think it is major However I feel that a lot of people would like to know what the symptoms are. All right let's see if we can give you some information on if you would please. Sure. I think we've talked a little about this but just to expand upon it we're talking about a viral infection that causes a spectrum of illness as we

indicated for the first several years the person may not have any symptoms at all. But it's important to remember they're still infected and can try and transmit the virus at some time down the line they start to develop symptoms. These symptoms are usually persistent weight loss persistent fever chronic diarrhea the night sweats and persistently swollen lymph nodes. Now these symptoms may be associated with a variety of other illnesses but these are the type of system symptoms especially if they're persistent that an individual needs to go in and see a physician to have a diagnosis made. And then. Later on the immune system continues to be destroyed. Individuals are become very susceptible to a whole variety of other bacterial fungal and viral diseases that eventually may be fatal in their case. All right we have another question from our studio audience. Go ahead and back please if you would stand up and give us your question.

OK. In the past we've used the editorial animals rats to see if we can find a virus or something to cure it recently or in the paper that we are using you know human beings are we getting the percentages of that we need amount of people to get a virus at least. Are we getting in enough people to give us something. I'm not sure. Can I follow your question we had do we have enough people that do the tests that they want with whatever they have to cure the virus. I was getting a lot of people you know I wouldn't want to say I have AIDS and go out and you know get a laboratory to get tested. And all they had to get a virus out of it I was getting and the people that have aids out there in the laboratories trying to get them a cure for it. OK let me throw that to you doctor Dr. Allen in Atlanta question about I think the kind of research that's ongoing now is there enough evidence is there enough of a test pool in which to treat people. What kinds of

risks are involved for people who have are receiving experimental kinds of treatment. What can you tell us about the status of ongoing scientific efforts. The studies are moving ahead very well at the present time. The first phase is laboratory testing to find out a certain drug might be useful against a virus. It then moves into trials of carefully controlled clinical trials with human beings. The studies that are underway around the country now are using several different drugs in the hope that they'll be useful. The one drug t that has been found the most useful is what are readily widely available in the United States today and other drugs may become more widely available if the clinical trials that are being done show that they are also effective. All right let's move ahead we have another question from our studio audience. Go ahead please if you would with your question. I happen to know that teachers have to go through TV testing every few years and their

results are on public record. And I'm wondering Why then aren't AIDS victims the results of their testing. Why is it on public record so that people who are working with them are aware of this because that's what the results of teachers are not good for is that to protect the children. OK so a question about confidentiality really and what kinds of things should we should we know in terms of what other people have. Dr. very complex issue about confidentiality. What do you think people I guess. Let me state it a little bit differently. What do you think people have a right to know whether it's in the school or in the workplace. OK. I want to talk about confidentiality I also want to just make sure there's no confusion in when we're talking about tuberculosis and we're talking about AIDS or HIV infections when you're talking about tuberculosis you're talking about an infectious disease that can be transmitted in a casual manner that is by sharing office space being in the same classroom. Another individual can become infected. That's not at all the case with the HIV virus so we're in a whole different setting. Confidentiality is

very critical for this disease we want to encourage people to feel comfortable to go in and get counseling that they need and to get testing and to encourage that there has to be some assurance to them that they'll be able to do that without the fact that they're infected being their name spread in the newspaper and all sorts of people in the workplace know that they're infected especially in those settings where there's just no other risk to the other individuals. Your perspective on this is is discrimination still a real concern among people who have AIDS or have we come some distance in the last five years in terms of how people respond to a fellow worker a fellow schoolmate who has the disease. Well we've come some distance and I think we're fortunate those of us who live in Wisconsin that we may have experienced less discrimination in this state than in some others. But that doesn't mean we're off the hook. There is discrimination here and now right in this state people are treated inhumanely in some cases whether it's their loved ones who've turned away from them out of fear or misunderstanding whether it's being fired from jobs turned out of

their apartments not able to get insurance so that they're left penniless with the bills mounting up around them. It certainly happens and it happens right here so we can't let down our guard we still have to be thinking about what's best for everyone here. We will all suffer from discrimination not just the people who have AIDS but all of us will. All right let's go back to our phone lines caller on the line now from the Wisconsin Dells. Go ahead please if you would. Yeah Hi my question is there and under the planet indeed before me. I mean you have a pirate ship you can't be active right. OK good question. Dr. Allen and Atlanta how come this is so tough. Well again I go back to what I said before we have been able to develop drugs against bacterial infections and that has been very effective especially in the last 40 or 50 or 40 years. We have never had a cure for any of our viral diseases. And

the difference from today from 50 years ago in the United States is that for many of our viral diseases we have very effective vaccines. We were able through the use of vaccination programs for example to wipe out from the face of the earth the dreaded killer smallpox. That was done through a vaccine. The problem with AIDS is that the vaccines that have been developed so far they use the model vaccines from the prototype vaccines have not yet been found to be effective. And once we have an effective vaccine it will help but it isn't going to be a replacement for prevention that is available today. All right another quick question from our studio audience and I go ahead please if you would I'd like to know if AIDS virus can live outside the body and if it can how long. All right Dr. Drew. It was one of the paradox with this virus that inside the body it's a tremendously ravaging virus and leads to death of the individual. But once it's outside the body it's a very fragile virus

to reproduce or replicate. It really requires being within cells. So once blood is spilled on a tabletop or something like that we don't have a reproducing virus like we might have with bacterial infection so the amount of virus that's there is all it's going to be there and it very rapidly decreases in quantity and there's never been any evidence to date that. Blood on environmental surfaces or that type of exposure is creates a risk or cases have not been associated with those type of exposures. And again that's that's what makes school so not not really such a risk because you don't have and it really requires intimate sexual contact and that's obviously not what's going to happen on the playground. OK. Dr. Drew thank you another question in the back Go ahead please if you would. What age should school kids kids in school. Certainly a great question. When do we start talking about this. Vicky let's bring you back in wind. What have you found in terms of when people want to start knowing about

this. When do you start talking to kids at what age do you think. Well I think we should start the basics at a very pretty young age because just walking around listening you find smart children listening to the news and they hear some things about AIDS and they have questions I think education should start pretty young. Do you find that kids have questions at a young age in your work as a teen counselor do you get 13 14 year olds or younger having questions about it. There are a few questions I think like you said are there more teenagers who are realistic and they're not asking as many questions maybe they're scared that if they talk about it they're going to have to think about it more and it might happen to them and they should use how do you begin talking to kids and at what age do you begin to start having those conversations. We start learning about sexuality and about how to take care of ourselves when we're born. That's something that happens every day of our lives and should really happen in a in a little more formalized process than how many of us learned it. So I think that even in kindergarten

there's there's things to learn about taking care of ourselves about how our bodies work when we get a little bit older how what what the how to take care of ourselves and how to recognize when something's wrong with us when we're a little bit older than that. Generally experts have said to an educators have agreed that around sixth grade we really should be talking very seriously about preventing AIDS specifically and where can we get materials in this I mean this is uncomfortable for most of us I think as parents or as teachers to want to sit down your 7 8 9 year old or even Dr. Allen year for teenagers. Where do you where do you go I guess for the best information is this. Is there readily available information that people can write away for called the AIDS hotline or what. Like a virgin. Let me just talk a bit about school education to start with and the fact that the Department of Public Instruction of the Department of Health and Social Services this this very month are initiating an education program in the school system for doing some training of school health educators who are making curriculum material available to the school systems. And then on the local level a little bit determine how this is incorporated into the

school programs. So that is an activist birth that's going on throughout the state of Wisconsin as far as where is information available. As Suze indicated the hotline number. Local public health agencies are family planning clinics your own physician or clinician the school nurse. There are many educators in the community that are knowledgeable and we should point out that our phony answers tonight on this program when you dial that 1 800 3 6 2 3 0 2 0 0 0 number will stick around for a while after this we're wrapping up this program unfortunately and in a few moments but we'll stick around you'll be able to answer your questions. We'll be able to answer your questions to do phone in after the program is over and we can point you in the right direction. We've got another phone caller on the line and that person is from Madison So go ahead please if you would Madison Caller Good evening. I have two very brief questions the first one being where people most cars get free confidential testing every second.

What is the real thing. Sex or at worst. All right thanks for the two questions. First off on where people can go for confidential testing there's counseling and testing site set up all over the state of Wisconsin and they cover pretty much the geographical area of the state. And again people can call the hotline and the number is 1 800 3 3 4. After the program is over and now we can give them a testing site that's in their own neighborhood and there are testing sites throughout the state all not like they're just in Madison or you know all over the state of Wisconsin. And the question about oral sex risk for that you want to answer that or do I need to toss out I'm a doctor added to that very very different question about the risks involved in oral sex. Well I think we should think of risk behaviors if a full spectrum all the way from anal sex where there may be damage to the rectal mucosa and potential for direct entry of the virus from the semen right into the bloodstream all the way down to where there's not any risk at all from casual contact and oral sex falls someplace in between there.

There is very little information about oral sex because individuals engage in oral sex oftentimes have other more riskier sexual practices. But we do know that the virus is known and semen and especially if there are cuts in the mouth or something like that the risk that small potential. All right let's go ahead with another question from our studio audience go ahead please if you would. If a person is bitten by infected person is it possible for them to get it. All right Dr. Drew. OK but again we're talking somewhat about saliva transmission and the virus is not known to be transmitted directly from saliva. There are a lot of studies is Dr. Allens indicated that casual contact contact with saliva in household is not associated with transmission. However if there is a lot of bleeding in the mouth of an individual may have been involved in a fight so we're actually not dealing with saliva anymore but we're dealing with blood. And if the individual biting

breaks the skin so there's actually the opportunity for the blood to leave the infected person and to enter the bloodstream of the second individual the resists more potential that we would recommend that those type of individuals seek a clinician physician to decide whether they need to be tested. All right let's take one last phone caller we have time for one more phoned in question tonight. And that's from Watertown Go ahead please if you would with your question. Yeah my daughter and I were having a discussion that we want a man with AIDS can give actual Brady by giving out the vote and following that. Right we were just talking about oral sex a moment ago. Dr. Allan anything else you want to add on that question which is why I have to say that's a question that was frequently asked by students when we went around to a different question so even though it makes us all kind of uncomfortable here to talk about it is when we need to respond to Dr. Allen. Yes as Dr. Birger on answered earlier the risk is probably considerably lower than other standard

types of sexual contact meaning basically penile vaginal or even or especially penile rectal. But there really isn't good information at all. All right Dr. Allen thank you. So that's I'm going to go to you for just one last closing thought on all of this. What's the most important thing that young people need to know about AIDS that AIDS is preventable. Just absolutely there it is the statement that AIDS is preventable and everyone can protect themselves by avoiding unprotected intercourse and by not sharing drugs by not doing drugs. You can stop AIDS in Wisconsin right now. All right Sue Dietz and Vicki Wilson Jim very Geraint and Dr. James Allen in Atlanta thank you for joining us this evening. We know we've answered just some of your questions and there are many many more our phone answerers will stick around until 9:00 o'clock this evening so if you do have questions and you want to ask them go ahead and keep calling. We're also going to show you now a number of other numbers that you can call and get information. Here are some of those numbers which you can call there is the number right now in Green Bay that's the number you can call if you live in the Green Bay vicinity.

And here is the number to call in lacrosse 6 0 8 7 8 5 9 7 2 3. And we have numbers for also here in Madison 2 5 5 1 7 1 1. And we have a number for Milwaukee as well 2 7 3 a. Those are numbers that you can call if you want to get some information. I know we put them up on the screen pretty briefly so that if you are having more questions and you want to get some additional information about where to go just give us a call now at that 1 800 3 6 2 3 0 2 0 and you'll be able to find out more information. We close now with some final thoughts from actress Ray Dawn Chong. This is something that I think is a very difficult topic for all of us but it's probably the most important topic there is for both parents and children to discuss. Some thoughts now from raid on Shawn. OK that's it. That's what you need to know three things wine. Ages hard to get to. You can get it from sharing needles. So don't shoot up three. You can get it from

having sex with someone who has the virus. So if you want to be safe you got to be careful. And if you're going to have sex any kind of sex use a condom. If you decide not to have sex that's OK too. You can always know for sure who has the virus and who doesn't. And that means each time you have sex with someone new and you don't use a condom you're taking a risk with your life. Don't take that risk.