The State - News from Jan. 27, 1985

A new study has found that fewer homosexual men in San Francisco have been exposed to the virus associated with AIDS than was previously believed. Dr. Robert Anderson of San Francisco’s Children’s Hospital reported that tests of blood samples from 200 homosexual men showed 39% of the men had antibodies for the virus, indicating that they had probably been exposed to AIDS. This figure is much lower than the 65% exposure rate for San Francisco gay men reported by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta last year. Anderson said results from the earlier study may have been biased because blood samples analyzed were taken at a venereal disease clinic from patients who reported an unusually high rate of sexual activity. The disease is believed to be spread largely through sexual contact. The study by Anderson and Jay A. Levy was published in the British medical journal Lancet.