European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 5, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Preventing aids in the army stories by Janet d Agostino medical writer w Hen or. Michael Benenson became chief of preventive Medicine forthe 71h medical Comet in the summer of1964, the first few cases of aids i Europe were just being diagnosed. Benenson came to Germany from Bangkok Thailand where to had been studying tropical diseases such As malaria and Dengue a virus thai causes a rash lever and headache he had Little inkling thai in Germany most at his Lime end attention would be consumed by this new disease called aids it was obvious something drastic was happening and that we needed to be concerned he said. The military became aware of the first Case of aids in Europe in 1983 when a Servie member died in Numberg from what an autopsy revealed As pneuma cysts caring pneumonia a parasitic infection of the lung that kills Many aids victims but that is rarely seen in healthy people he said. Doctors end Schten Usta could not accurately track aids until a test to identify the antibody to the virus was developed in 1935. Until then we were Only aware of sporadic cases Benenson Sake. Thaimy t testing of All soldiers in Europe began in August 1986. Testing of Navy and air Force members in Europe also began in he fall of 1996. The defense department has tested More than 1.7 million of its total 2.1 million Active duty personnel for aids of those tested. 2,777 have tested positive for the aids antibody meaning they have been exposed to the virus. The lasting of All army service members is almost 100 percent completed according to the defense department the army testing in Europe is mor ored from Benenson s office. . Of. Caroline Rakiewicz. The Community health nurse for Ihu 7th mid Contd spend 50 percent of heir Day dealing Wilh the army s aids screening and educational programs and speaking about aids to military groups. To re fortunate in that the other people in the office have picked up the Slack Benenson said from his office in Heidelberg where messages written to him on scraps of paper decorate the door and hang from the door Jam. The specially of preventive Medicine draws Little attention from the Public or the press until something happens such As aids said Benenson who was formerly director of the . Army component or the armed forces research Institute of medical sciences in Thailand. Aids is sometimes compared to other catastrophic diseases such As the Black plague or smallpox but Benenson said it is different. It in t the kind of disease you can Saleh by being around someone a so who has got it he said. Except in those cases where people contract the disease from blood transfusions you Are not going to Gei aids unless you put yourself at Trie Challenge of preventing aids is convincing people that they May be at risk and that they need to Lake precautions said Benenson who earned his medical degree from the University of Maryland jus a b in Public health from Johns Hopkins or. Michael Bonento University. If people Don t see themselves at risk they Aren t going to change their behaviour to said. It s very difficult to convince a Young invincible Soldier that he or she May be at risk there Are people still showing up Wilh cd who Are not using precautions. And if they Are putting themselves at risk for cd. They Are putting themselves at risk for aids. If you use that As a Marker Thon them certainly Are people not getting the message. Until they feel in come Home to them hey Aren t going to change their behaviour and rial s been the problem with venereal disease education Benenson said the Public must continuously be told How they can protect themselves against aids such As by using condoms limiting the number of sexual partners and staying away from drugs. Mac conceptions about aids include he belief the disease can be contracted by donating blood said Benenson. It is impossible for sowing donating blood to catch aids because the Needles used to draw the blood Are used Only once. Benenson said it is difficult to predict the future of the disease because no one knows How Many people continue to be infected. If the military screening program continues for a second year it will indicate How Many new cases Are occurring he said. The defense department has not decided what degree of testing will take place after the first round is completed. If people Start changing their behaviour we can Stop the spread of the disease because we know How ii is transmitted he said. Perhaps As aids starts to hit Home to people we really will sch some change. It s jus a matter of time before everybody knows somebody who has educational programs but makes information available to commanders according to Cape. Mark , the aids project officer Lor the Safe command surgeon publications about aids Are provided to commanders of All services throughout the european come and unit newspapers occasionally print articles about the disease according to a Neucom spokesman in Stuttgart. Special aids programs have aired on an and other command information broadcast networks or. Wolfgang stills and medical officials talk about the disease to military units and Community groups when requested. Of Zakiewicz has met with German health representatives in Bonn to share information about How the germans and the us military Are dealing with aids. She is now making plans to meet with the German health minister in Bonn to learn what German National and state Laws Are being developed to manage aids she said a spokesman for the German health ministry said cooperative efforts Between the germans and americans can Only help strengthen the Hughl against aids. German aids campaigns Are sponsored by the government and private organizations and Are conducted via television posters billboards and in the print Media. They Are designed to make people aware of what they can do to protect themselves. With the spread of aids among heterosexuals. Stille said educational campaigns must to Tor everyone who a sexually Active not just for those in High risk groups. We have numbers of heterosexual people who Are infected too every Day boys and girls and not always sexual extremists who have 400 partners a year. We even have one girl who became infected by the Only Man she had Ever been the University Hospital in fran Lurl has a Ward to care Lor aids patients and runs outpatient services where germans or foreigners can be tested anonymously and receive information about aids. Lille and his team of eight doctors diagnosed the first Case of aids in Germany in the summer of 1932. He and the others Are specialist in infectious diseases but they now spend halt of their time caring for people with aids and researching ways to Light the disease that eventually kills All of its victims. Aids is caused by a virus that destroys the body s immune system making in vulnerable to infection and disease. It is spread by sexual Intercourse and blood to blood Contact such As during transfusions or the sharing of contaminated syringes. It can also be passed from a pregnant Mother to her baby. Aids has two motors Stille said. The one is drug addiction and the other is promiscuity. The fight against drug addiction is much More difficult than the fight against promiscuity. With promiscuity you can at Leas use condoms. To influence drug addiction is very very aids is an International problem that to Deal Wilh in an open society where people Are free to travel and do As they wish he said. But Stille said he is against registering people who Are elected with aids a move that has been advocated by the state government of Bavaria registration would inhibit people from seeking treatment and those people who did Register would face discrimination he said. There Are about 1,000 known cases of aids in Germany and an estimated people Are infected Stille predicts the number of infected people will grow to about 1 million in two to three years Smie said it is possible a vaccine will never a found to prevent aids because the virus mutates rapidly. Four different kinds of aids viruses can be found in the same person because the virus apparently splits after entering the body he said. Scientists also cannot exclude the possibility that the virus May change in Structure so that in can be transmitted through the air although he said the Chance of that happening is unlikely. Aids is difficult to diagnose because patients can have a variety of symptoms that Are similar to other diseases. Aids will change the Way doctors diagnose and treat patients he said. In the future every doctor has to pose the question can it be aids when he sees a new patient " Stille said. Tuesday Mays 19b7 the stars and stripes Page 17
