European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 2, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday september 2, 1987 the stars and stripes Pat aids exposure rate stable Over past 18 months Pentagon finds Washington apr the defense department  a Washington a the defense department a now tested More than 3 million people Tor expo sure to the aids virus and identified 4,300 who have been infected with the deadly disease an exposure Rale Hal has changed Little in More than 1 i years or testing. The latest statistics obtained monday by the associated press show an Overall infection rate of roughly 1,6 cases per 1,000 individuals tested. As has been the Case with previous testing results the Rale for recruit applicants generally younger men and women continues to run at roughly  cases per 1,000, while the rate Tor Active duty person incl is holding steady at slightly More than 1.6 per1,000. Aids acquired immune deficiency syndrome a Tiarks the body s immune system and its ability to resist infection. No cure has been found Tor the Dis ease which can be spread through sexual Contact and tainted blood. The Pentagon s aids screening program is by farther largest in the world and has provided medical re searchers with much of the statistical data they use in tracking the disease. The defense department decided in the fall of i98s to begin testing All recruit applicants As Well As All Active duty personnel citing the need to protect Mili tary blood supplies. Under the Pentagon s regulations any recruit applicant who tests positively for the disease is automatically refused entry into the military. Active duty person Nel who test positively Are allowed to remain in the service As Long As they show no signs of the actual disease but they Are restricted from taking any Over seas duty assignments and their condition is closely monitored. According to the latest statistics for recruit applicants the Pentagon has now tested 1.18 million Poten tial enlistees in the process identifying 1,166 men and women who tested positively. Those figures covering the period from october 1985 through july produce an infection rate of 1.49 cases per 1,000 tested. On the Active duty Side figures compiled by each of the four services show the Pentagon is steadily making headway in the drive to test every Man and woman already in the service. There Are about 2.1 million deaths from aids average deaths per Day percent change from previous six month period 70.6 cumulative total deaths percent change from Previ six month period 99,5% ious 51.9 60.7 46.1 35.1 of / Chicago Tribune graphic source Tribuz analysis of data from National Canart for Oltean control people on Active duty and 1.87 million have now Bee tested. Combining All four services 3,035 a people have tested positively for the disease producing a Rale of 1.63 cases per 1,000 tested. The four services show a wide variance in the infection Rale. For example the Navy said monday it had tested 531,262 Active duty personnel As of the end of  1,320 positives for a Rale of 2.48 cases per 1,000. The army said that As of aug. It had tested709,056 men and women and discovered 1,031 cases fora rate of i.4s per 1,000. The air Force said that As of the end of August it had tested 441,119 Active duty personnel and found 497 cases of infection for a rate of 1.13 per 1,000. And the Marine corps said that As of the end of june it had tested 185,591 men and women and found 187 cases for a rate of .0 per 1,000. In june military researchers told the third International conference on aids that they thought the Navy s infection rate exceeded those of the other serv ices because Navy bases were located in those pads of the country where the disease is most common. Our bases Are coastal or. Robert Rcd Leld of the Waller Reed army Institute told the conference. And the East coast and West coast is where the heart of the epidemic  f the our base 709,05 1,03 Walle for the the i epidemic cd revising aids figures to include hidden cases Atlanta a the nation s aids count now at ,4. A ill to i deficiency syndrome. There is no known cure for themore than 40,000, was certain to Lake a noticeable jump \. Disease which destroys the immune system. Tuesday As Federal health officials begin counting thou Sass is. Is a the Bottom line Dondero said is that there Are Sands of cases they had never before recognized. A a a a limited number of conditions thai Are so. Clinical the increase will come from a change in the Federal �3 to i to by  by characteristic Hal in combination with antibody t Tak tuesday As Federal healt officials Bega Countin thou of Case the a never before recognized. Will fro i the l centers for disease control definition of what aids is in medical terms. There will be no dramatic announcement that thou Sands of americans believed to have suffered from other diseases actually had aids. And the disease would not suddenly be found to be attacking groups not previously considered at risk. Rather the cd began listing in its aids statistics patients whose physicians May have presumed they had the deadly disease but whose cases did not meet the Agency s definition. As those cases Are added into the total More Ameri cans than Ever before will be deemed aids patients and aids fatalities which now number More than 23,000. Federal health officials estimate that the Case count could jump by 10 percent to 15 percent. I expect there will be a jump Over the course of a month or iwo said or. Tim Dondero chief of the surveillance and evaluation Branch for the cd said program. We know that a number of Stales have a backlog of cases initially picked up and labelled suspect cases or ads like disease that will now qualify As aids under the new definition. How Long it lakes to report them we Don t  the goal is to give stale and Federal health officials Amore accurate picture of How widespread aids is. Dondro said researchers have since the disease was first reported in 1981, been careful not to be Loo Quick to pronounce a Case aids. The new definition approved by state epidemiologists earlier this year adds a number of cases that previously acre diagnosed Only presumptively in a clinic setting but without Laboratory confirmation. Pulp Nufflo cuts with gift certificate for aids ints ire being sold by the Seattle bund consulting firm str Almark consulting and the women s healthcare Center. Also added will be certain cases of aids a called emaciation tuberculosis infection or dementia. What we worry about is being sufficiently specific Noi calling things that Are not aids aids. Dondero said. The Advent of the test that signals infection with the virus that causes aids has enabled doctors and re searchers to belter confirm cases of acquired immune deficiency disease the said i tha a t l that evidence the lest that s  reporting aids cases to stale and Federal health officials takes Lime and paperwork. And in some Stales where the disease is most prevalent the new definition will mean More work for Busy doctors and researchers. Some of our physicians Are already pretty Over whelmed reporting aids cases that meet the current definition said or. Deborah Hollzman an aids program epidemiologist with the Florida department of health and rehabilitation services. Florida has reported 2,754 cases of aids third highest in the nation. Florida will review a number of cases that just Haven t met the old definition she said. But our physicians Are overwhelmed As it is she said. Getting their cooperation in this Effort will be Abig part of ii. Texas which has reported 2,738 aids cases fourth highest in the nation has on file information on at least a couple of Hundred cases Hal were previously suspected to be aids and now May be added to the National total said Darla Mel calf data manager for the Texas office of epidemiology s aids program. In will take a Little time to gel All the numbers entered but we have information on most of those cases now she said. New York with 11,656 cases rants first California at 9,419, is second. Such states probably will see in addition of hundreds of cases. But in states with fewer aids cases the new definition will have Little effect. We be Only had a couple of suspected cases that did t Meel the old definition said Martha Tanuz surveillance coordinator for Pic stale office of epidemiology in new Mexico which has reported 66 aids cases