European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine time running out 4s medical treatments improve american doctors say they Are seeing More people living longer with the aids virus. Not aids in the suburb changing face of an epidemic the United states aids epidemic Csc cases by year of report deaths in thousands 1983 1989 source centers for disease contralto your health by Michelle Slatalla new Day on the 11th floor of the Nassau county medical Center in East Meadow n.y., in the Only Wing where patients last names Aren t posted outside their rooms a 34-year-old Man who started shooting heroin about the same time he dropped out of High school lies in bed taking inventory of his body skin starting to Slacken losing More weight is that a Bruise Dan wonders How Long he can continue to hide his Long acquaintance with the aids virus. A few Miles North but a world away from the hospitals sterile quiet a waitress puts a plate of pasta tossed with walnuts on the Marble topped table in front of Joan. The 47-year-old Hicksville n.y., woman flips her Blond hair off her shoulders and digs in. She is hungry after spending the Day before lying on the Couch nauseated a Side effect of aids. Meanwhile the phones Are ringing in the real estate office where Mary works. The mail brings insurance checks to reimburse employees for medical expenses. Although Mary 31, sees a doctor every month for a checkup and to get More at pills none of the checks is for her. She uses her father s insurance plan so her co workers wont know she is infected with the aids virus. These Are some of the faces of aids As the deadly disease enters its second decade in the hardest hit of America s suburbs Long Island in new York. Experts say that what suburban Nassau and Suffolk counties now confront is the future for suburbs across the nation As aids grows beyond the cities changing the face of the epidemic and How it is fought. Some of the problems Are common to cities and suburbs As they Cope with an aids population that is broadening from Gay male to drug abuser to heterosexual woman. Despite inadequate facilities patients try to Cope often in isolation and secrecy afraid that the stigma of aids will be enough to cause them to lose their jobs their medical insurance their friends. But aids patients in the suburbs face unique problems simply because they Are in the suburbs a with no Central government and limited Public transportation system. The areas few aids hospitals Are overburdened and geographically inconvenient for Many patients. There is no single neighbourhood whose plight symbolizes the magnitude of the disease and serves As a rallying cry the Way Greenwich Village did in the Early 1980s in new York City. Rather it is still a handful of patients living in virtually every Long Island Community though the numbers Are growing As people return to their parents suburban Homes to die. A a we re seeing a major epidemic Quot says or. Aaron Glatt assistant chief of infectious diseases at Nassau county medical Center one of three Long Island hospitals with specially designated aids units. Quot and its not going to go  a few months ago Mary Learned she was continued on Page 14 tuesday june 19, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13