Some Businessmen Run High Risk Of Catching... (Press, 8 August 1985)

A British specialist has issued a warning about the heightened risk of businessmen contracting AIDS while visiting prostitutes, suggesting this could lead to its spread among the heterosexual community in the Western world. Dr John Harris, a consultant at St Mary’s Hospital in London, made this statement during his attendance at a conference on sexually transmitted diseases in Brighton. He highlighted that businessmen with substantial expense accounts often travel to regions where AIDS is widespread and are known to frequent escort services. This behaviour poses a significant risk, as these individuals could unknowingly transmit the disease to others upon returning home. The concern surrounding AIDS has grown since it was first identified in the homosexual community in the United States. Dr Harris remarked that AIDS is evolving into a heterosexual disease in the Western world, echoing its existing prevalence in parts of central Africa. Although medical professionals are still far from finding a cure, they have made some progress regarding treatment for those infected by the HTLV-III virus that causes AIDS. At the conference, Harvard biochemist William Haseltine warned that AIDS could potentially become the worst epidemic since the Black Death in the 15th century, while reports indicated that between 10 to 20 per cent of individuals infected with the virus developed AIDS. Notably, evidence suggests the virus might also impact brain health. Dr Alvin Glasky from the Newport Institute for Medical Research mentioned promising results from clinical trials aiming to reduce the progression of pre-AIDS cases via a drug called Inosine Pranobex, which might bolster the immune system. In the United States, over 11,350 AIDS cases have been documented, with nearly half resulting in fatalities and an estimated one million Americans believed to be infected. In Western Europe, around 2,000 cases have been reported, including 176 in Britain. Dr Harris pointed out that AIDS has already been established as a heterosexual disease in Zaire and recent studies from East Africa and among New York's prostitutes align with the indication that both genders can contract and transmit the infection. He concluded that evidence from countries such as West Germany, France, and Austria — where approximately 1 per cent of sex workers tested positive for the virus — supports the conclusion that AIDS is increasingly becoming a heterosexual issue, with its presence spreading in the Western world.

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