European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 26, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page b the stars and stripes Friday february 26,19bb some aids infected gis favor Transfer soldiers see stateside reassignment As Good Chance for new beginning i Janet d Acostino Willinger West Germany some soldiers who in Slid positive for inc aids virus while stationed in Europe fell they had a belter Chance for a new Start because they had to return to the United slates in army social researcher said. If he people were from Europe a lot of them decided of. I m going to fio Back to inc Stales and it going 10 be a new Start for me i m not going to Tell anti nov " said Mai. Darken Vernon with the army i dial research unit of the 7lh medical come. A s probably not unusual o Nolc thai a lot of these people s records did nol catch up with them until one or two months inter. Defense department policy requires soldiers who isl positive for the aids virus to be resumed to inc United Silies Hul they can remain in inc army de pending on these age of inc illness. Vernon. Who is researching How a positive Tesi result for inc virus affects individuals and units spoke. Wednesday Al the 7th medical come social work conference. Last year Vernon interviewed seven soldiers be tween 2j and -10 cars old who were in the first stages of the Faial disease in which there Are no symptom. She also interviewed the soldiers commanders. Aids which stands Forayt Muired immune deficiency syndrome is caused by a virus that weakens the body immune system leaving it vulnerable to infection and disease. It is spread through intimate Sext Al Contact and blood to food Contact such is inc sharing of syringes during drug use. Aids most often affects homosexuals and intravenous drug users. As might be expected soldiers were shocked and numbed when they first Learned of the lest mulls she said some later started denying the results. Vernon said she found that soldiers in High risk groups for the disease denied the results less often and coped belter. How soldiers dealt with the news depended on How they had handled Pasi problems and the existing per Sona and work related support system. The department of defense recently completed its initial round of testing for the aids virus in All three services. Vernon said a Soldier Wilh a positive test result is told by a doctor. The Soldier s commander also is notified. He the commander is to spearhead any kind of process that gets these people out of their european unit and Back to the slates she said. His pretty Liard to isolate one person and put All that weight on his Back. Frequently he May Tell the first sergeant. Ill Hough this is nol technically mandated by policy. White policy Calls for disclosing news of the disease Only to the person Aud the commander there Are other ways for the news to leak out Mcmon Jaid. Commanders May inadvertently Tell someone else or a piece of paper with the lest results could Cross a desk it should nol Cross the said. It is More difficult for a person diagnosed in the United Stales to keep the test results confidential be cause the person usually remains in Ine unit Vernon Taid. And in a stateside combat unit suspicion May grow if a Soldier suddenly can no longer be deployed. While commanders in Europe generally were supportive of inc Soldier they often did nol know Whit options were available to them to make the move easier and to assist the person she said. Vemon said the commanders were shocked to team thai often the men who tested positive were some of their Best soldiers. I Newi of results leaked to the unit the Impact was minimal because the Soldier was transferred to the slates in about six weeks she said. Vernon did follow up interviews of the soldiers once they were in the states and found that although Many had increased their alcohol and drug use and Denef oped other emotional problems most were Able to function to some degree. I m amazed they were Able to Cope at All she said. Their jobs helped them remain above water while fac ing Ine Uncertain course of the fatal disease. The Job satisfaction is important for Icse folks she  Wilh a positive test result can choose to leave the army but then must forfeit medical benefits she said. Aids panel chief asks $2 billion a year drive Washington not the chair Man if president Reagan s aids com Roi sithi wednesday called for a j2 Bil lion a year Effort to expand treatment programs for drug abuse and improve he ally care services to combat the grow ing epidemic. 11 a Rcd hiring 32,000 drug treatment specialists and creating of 3.300 drug centers. In issuing his first policy recommendations the chairman. Adm. James d. Walkins. Wid the aids crisis called for major changes throughout the health care system and urged thai the nation nut gel sidetracked on secondary issues such is we Cher condoms or clean drug Needles should he distributed to slow the epidemic. The report is based on testimony of More than 350 witnesses interviewed by Watkins and his 30-Mcmbcr staff. We waste a lot of rhetoric and excessive Lime on a couple of Little issues while Iho Forest behind us is burning wat Kins a former chief of naval operation who has retired from the Navy told re porters. We believe thai some major changes in course arc  Walkins ambitious recommendations on developing new treatments for aids providing he ally services to victims and la. Ilia a Tyrl Jet i ult a it Vinic task in an Effort to influence legislation in Congress and in slate Legislatures As Well As White House policy on the aids  recommend lion will be debated and voted upon by inc full 13-member aids commission next week. But wat Kins said he end Eclid no major dissent the recommendations were consid ered surprisingly bold for a commission that critics had once characterized As Ashield to protect the Reagan administration from charges thai it was insufficiently concerned with acquired immune deficiency  has not been a National slate stopping the spread of the aids virus incr a   among drug abusers were released even by to combat aids walk is a knowl a Foi e the commission Hod completed its edged wednesday. The National policy is now being built. Yes it is Law Corn however inc prospects for financing his proposals in the deficit Ridden last year of the Reagan administration appear dim Watkins estimated that his proposals wednesday would require roughly $2 Bil lion a year in new funds half supplied by the Federal government and half by stale and local governments. Some of this Money might be provided by Reagan proposed budget for fiscal year 1989, which Call for a 38 percent my Casein funds for aids to nearly s2 billion. The proposed budget also Calls for j32b Mil lion to treat drug addicts an increase of s66 million Over the current level. Human in Moi Mem reaction to Ordinary vim iwo or Kroon Nom Tiv May trifle tij9cdc.it Chat duty nol f Tow t Colt & transfusions present Remote but real risk9 of getting aids Boston a people who receive transfusions face a Onc-in-40,000 Chance of receiving ads lamed blood despite screening intended to keep the blood Supply clean according to a Federal study. Researchers emphasize that despite this Remote bul real risk people who need transfusions should not be deterred from receiving them. The blood Supply is relatively Safe dramatically safer than it was before we had and screening said the chief author of the report or. John a Ward of the 0 a. Centers for disease control in Atlanta. According to the Coli male published in inc new England journal of Medicine wednesday up to 460americans May get aids infections each year from transfusions or tainted blood. By comparison 7,200 people Are thought to have gotten the virus from Iran fusions in 1984, the year before screening began. The screening tests Check blood for Anli Bolcs Tibai the body makes in an unsuccessful Effort to fight off he aids virus. However in inc first few weeks Fleran aids infection antibody Levels ate very Low or absent. As i result blood Given during this period appears to be Tare even though it contains the his virus. The cd researchers believe that Musl infected Hood that gets through Ibe screening program is donated during  developed. Israel Hospital. In an accompanying editorial in the iou Raal or. F1 Thomas f. Zuck of the University of Cincinnati medi Cal Center wrote although continued vigilance Over inc safety of inc blood Supply is Clenti i the ask of his transmission by transfusion should be kept in  noted that the Odds of dying from influenza Are one in 5,000, while the risk of dying during a Legal abortion after the 14th week of pregnancy is  5,900. The annual risk of dying in  is one in 5,000. The cd report described the cases of seven aids infected donors whole Wood was nol spoiled by the Stan Dard aids screening lest thirteen people became infected after receiving blood from these men and women. One of them subsequently developed acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The doctors mid that about 60 percent of those in faceted from transfusions die of the diseases for which they pre being treated. More sensitive screening tests Are becoming Avail Able. Ward said they should be evaluated to see if they can shorten the period during which newly infected people have Underle Lible aids antibodies. Among the infected Donon uncovered by the stud were a homosexual Man who wanted to learn whether he was infected and a bisexual Man Olio id he fell pressured to give blood u  general blood Banks discourage donations by any Man who has had a homosexual encounter Unce 1977 Needle drug abusers and their sexual partners female sexual partner of big onus men immigrant from Haiti or Central african could brits men who have bid sex Wilh prostitutes since 1977 and Haemophiliacs