Health Care Agency Identifies 10th Prostitute Exposed to AIDS Virus

An Orange County health official said Friday that there are now 10 female prostitutes who have been exposed to the AIDS virus, according to blood tests given while the women were incarcerated at the County Jail.

The 10th was identified Friday morning, said Dr. Thomas Prendergast, chief of epidemiology and disease control for the county Health Care Agency. The first nine were found during examinations conducted since last May.

“None of them has AIDS,” Prendergast told a press conference that he said was called to remove any confusion about the women’s condition. “The screening of intravenous drug users that was conducted at the jail showed only that they have antibodies against the virus, which shows they have been exposed to it.”

The blood tests have been offered to women at the jail who are known drug abusers and who have used intravenous injections--a high-risk group for contracting acquired immune deficiency syndrome, he added. One of the women who tested positive was pregnant and recently gave birth to twins at UCI Medical Center.

One Actually Has AIDS Virus

Prendergast said that so far only one of the women had been found to actually have the virus after her blood samples were examined by the National Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. However, medical experts have pointed out that merely having the AIDs virus does not guarantee that a carrier will actually develop the disease.

Pointing out that the county was attempting to limit the women’s contact with other persons, Prendergast said: “For us they are a very difficult group to work with. They are very hard to find.”

He added that while one of the women was cooperating with health authorities, several have left the Orange County area and the remainder have not been located. However, Prendergast said he was not concerned that the women could trigger an outbreak of the deadly disease.

“From everything we know, heterosexual contact is not likely to result in the disease’s being spread,” he said. “It does happen, but it’s not common. It’s just not a very efficient way to communicate it.”

Unable to Explain Difference

Prendergast said he couldn’t explain exactly why AIDS is less likely to be communicated through heterosexual rather than homosexual contact. “To learn why would require the kind of human research we can’t do at this time,” he added.

As far the twins who were born to one of the prostitutes, Prendergast said it was too early to determine the extent of the infants’ exposure.

“There is just no way with any baby that has been born in the last week or two to show if it has the virus. There’s no way to tell for quite some time,” he added.

Although he declined to discuss that specific case, Prendergast said, “We definitely don’t have any babies with AIDS.”