ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL STUDY OF PROSTITUTES *
*
At San Francisco General Hospital epidemiologist Dr Andrew Moss admits
that there are few hard facts on heterosexual AIDS.

DR. ANDREW MOSS: "We don't know how fast it's spreading heterosexually and
we won't know how fast it's spreading and what's likely to happen without
some more knowledge about those areas."

How do you feel about the general predictions concerning the spread of
AIDS?

DR. ANDREW MOSS: "I think most official predictions about the spread of
AIDS have been consistently wrong in this country, and in Britain and in
the world, and I think that there's two reasons for that. One is a lot of
very bad science was done, and the other is that political pressures to
have high numbers. All administrative numbers are political. And that
usually inflates from the opposite direction, and I think it's been hard
for people to back away from their high numbers."

Inflated predictions involving the transmission of HIV and AIDS through
women have had to be revised.

Prostitutes were quickly focused on but a UK survey involving 250
prostitute women over 5 years at St. Mary's Hospital in London showed only
three to be HIV positive. Two were intravenous drug users and one the
partner of an i/v drug user. The three are said to be in good healt

Prostitutes are at special risk when it comes to STDs. Consequently one
would expect a high prevalence of HIV-positive results in this population.
Interestingly a study among prostitutes in Europe found an HIV-prevalence
of 5,3%.

But most of the positive results came from prostitutes admitting i.v. drug
consumption (prevalence of 32% compared to 1,5% among the non-drug
consuming prostitutes). This is confirmed by the routine screening among
the 800 prostitutes in Vienna (1,5 Mio Inhabitants.) Since 1985 a total of
three of them was found to be HIV-positive.

Again this is incompatible with a STD spreading among the heterosexual
population nor can any effect of the prevention campaigns be
demonstrated.

Kunz, Virusepidemiologische Information, 1987-97, Wien

European Working Group on HIV Infection in Female Prostitutes; HIV
infection in European female sex workers: epidemiological link with use of
petroleum-based lubricants, AIDS, 1993; Mar; 7(3): 4.1-8