Aids Cases

Maryland has the highest percentage of confirmed prison AIDS cases in the nation, according to a new study by the U.S. Justice Department. The study, based on statistics reported by 41 states at the end of 2005, states that the number of confirmed AIDS cases among inmates in Maryland doubled between 2004 and 2005 - from 204 to 408. State prison officials had no explanation late yesterday of why the number of AIDS cases might have doubled in the span...

Mike Hartnett is one of hundreds laid off from Sparrows Point this month as the steel mill's owner looks for a buyer. He came back Tuesday in search of a Plan B: What to do if the Baltimore County plant closes for good. "This place can make money and we know it," the Dundalk man said. But he can't afford to sit back and assume all will be well. "I've got a daughter in college," he said. Hartnett and dozens of laid-off colleagues met at the Sparrows Point complex Tuesday for the first session of a two-day resource fair, put on by state and local officials to help workers start their job search and connect them with assistance, including food stamps and foreclosure prevention services.

The number of people diagnosed with AIDS in Baltimore jumped sevenfold from 1985 through 1990, and the number of infected people in the surrounding counties more than tripled, according to statistics compiled by the state."

When the Rev. Keron Sadler of the NAACP tried to persuade churches around the country to play a more active role in HIV/AIDS education, she drew some hostile reactions. One pastor said his congregants might think he was gay. Another said AIDS is a curse. Yet another walked out of the room rather than discuss the topic. Those reactions highlight the challenges facing Baltimore as it enlists church outreach for its ambitious goal of curbing new HIV/AIDS cases by 25 percent in the next four years.

A forum on AIDS among blacks and Hispanics has presented statistics from 1991 showing that, for the first time ever in Baltimore County, the number of acquired immune deficiency syndrome cases among minority people exceeded the number of cases among whites.The Minority AIDS Forum was attended last night by about 100 local black and Hispanic leaders. Their stated goal is stemming the spread of the disease among minorities, largely by establishing community-based AIDS awareness programs.The program at the Liberty Family Resource Center in Randallstown was sponsored by the AIDS division of the county Department of Health and the AIDS administration of the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The number of new AIDS cases in this epicenter of the epidemic is expected to peak this year after more than a decade of spiraling increase.That's the good news.The bad news is that financial costs of acquired immune deficiency syndrome will continue to mushroom at a time the city can least afford it. Without a huge infusion of federal money, the epidemic soon may overwhelm local health agencies and trigger an ugly tug-of-war among the many who compete for shrinking city funds.

Even as AIDS assaults black communities nationwide, hope is emerging that the deadly disease is retreating in Baltimore and Maryland as a result of the missionary deeds of nonprofit agencies, medical institutions and, now, the church.In 1996, the last year for which figures are available, 872 new AIDS cases among African-Americans were reported in Baltimore the third straight year showing a decline. The state has experienced a similar trend.Despite recent criticism of national efforts by public health officials, ministers and civil rights leaders say their efforts locally to address AIDS in workshops, seminars and from the pulpit are succeeding.

When the Rev. Keron Sadler of the NAACP tried to persuade churches around the country to play a more active role in HIV/AIDS education, she drew some hostile reactions. One pastor said his congregants might think he was gay. Another said AIDS is a curse. Yet another walked out of the room rather than discuss the topic. Those reactions highlight the challenges facing Baltimore as it enlists church outreach for its ambitious goal of curbing new HIV/AIDS cases by 25 percent in the next four years.

WASHINGTON -- While male homosexuals still account for the majority of AIDS cases, the disease is spreading most rapidly among heterosexuals, the government reported yesterday.More than 206,000 Americans have contracted AIDS since 1981, including an estimated 133,000 AIDS patients who have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.And the pace of AIDS diagnoses is accelerating rapidly. The first 100,000 cases in the United States were diagnosed over nearly eight years; the second 100,000 cases came in two years, between September 1989 and November 1991.

The number of people diagnosed with AIDS in Baltimore jumped sevenfold from 1985 through 1990, and the number of infected people in the surrounding counties more than tripled, according to statistics compiled by the state."

In the 1980s, when researchers first identified the virus that causes AIDS, a positive HIV test was a virtual death sentence. There was no cure for the disease and no effective treatment; patients usually died within a few months or years of being diagnosed. But beginning in the 1990s, with the development of powerful antiretroviral drugs, that began to change. AIDS became a manageable, chronic illness rather than an invariably fatal disorder. Today, people infected with the virus are living longer even as their numbers have grown and the rate of new infections has declined.

Imploring residents to "talk, test and treat," local and state leaders and health officials gathered in the city Wednesday to mark World AIDS Day, remember past victims of HIV/AIDS and honor those living with the disease. The event, held at the Central Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, featured song, dance and poetry interspersed with the presentation of statistics: For instance, about 30,000 Marylanders are living with HIV/AIDS and are aware of it, and an additional 6,000-9,000 are unaware that they are HIV-positive.

Two Baltimore men indicted in a Georgia assisted-suicide investigation waived their right to an extradition hearing yesterday morning, hoping to accelerate their release from custody as they await trial. Attorneys for Dr. Lawrence D. Egbert, 81, and Nicholas Alec Sheridan, 60, who were arrested Wednesday in an eight-state probe of the Marietta, Ga.-based Final Exit Network, asked that the men be allowed to transport themselves to Georgia, where authorities say they plan to allow the men to be released on $60,000 bond.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The good news on AIDS: Nearly a million people began life-prolonging drug treatment in developing countries last year. The bad news: 2.5 million people were newly infected with HIV. As new infections continue to far outstrip efforts to treat the sick, the United Nations released a progress report yesterday that highlighted both the notable gains in combating the AIDS epidemic and the daunting scale of what remains to be...

Six years after city officials declared a "state of emergency" over Baltimore's AIDS problem, a commission is calling for stronger prevention efforts to reverse an epidemic that remains one of the nation's worst. In a report released yesterday, the advisory panel said Baltimore is beset by rising infection rates among adults in their 20s. Meanwhile, African-Americans continue to bear the brunt of the disease, accounting for 90 percent of new HIV and AIDS cases. "Baltimore as a whole is not doing well," said Dr. William Blattner, an epidemiologist who heads the Baltimore City Commission on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment.

WASHINGTON -- More people in the United States are infected each year with the AIDS virus than previously thought, according to federal health officials, in a finding that could roil the debate over how much money should be spent on prevention efforts. While the new numbers are sobering, no one is yet sure whether more people have actually been infected in recent years or the figures are simply a better estimate than the old ones. Two more years of data are needed to answer that question.

With a candlelight vigil tonight and a countywide conference tomorrow, Howard County health officials and members of the interfaith community will join HIV carriers and their families to commemorate World AIDS Day, which is tomorrow.The events will focus on the rights and treatment of those who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), also called the AIDS virus."This is not just a health issue," said the Rev. Douglas Hunt, pastor of Columbia United Christian Church, which is the host for tonight's vigil at the Oakland Mills Meeting House at 5885 Robert Oliver Place.

By next year AIDS will be the fifth leading cause of death among women, the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta reports, thus making women the fastest-growing segment of the population infected with AIDS. This is ominous news indeed: After years of being confined largely among homosexual males, the AIDS virus appears to be breaking out into the general population via heterosexual relations between intravenous drug abusers and their sexual partners.The consequences of this development are potentially devastating.

Baltimore officials said yesterday that the city will join the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to increase awareness and education about AIDS. Arts, business and civic leaders met at City Hall for a workshop to talk about ways to reduce the incidence of HIV and AIDS in the city. City health officials said the Baltimore metropolitan area has the second-highest rate of AIDS cases in the country, behind Miami. "We have a serious problem in Baltimore," Mayor Sheila Dixon said before the meeting.

Maryland has the highest percentage of confirmed prison AIDS cases in the nation, according to a new study by the U.S. Justice Department. The study, based on statistics reported by 41 states at the end of 2005, states that the number of confirmed AIDS cases among inmates in Maryland doubled between 2004 and 2005 - from 204 to 408. State prison officials had no explanation late yesterday of why the number of AIDS cases might have doubled in the span...