Is There an ‘AIDS Test’?

Why does The Times insist on contributing to AIDS-related ignorance by splashing the phrase “AIDS Test” all over your headlines and throughout your stories (“Public Reaction Mixed to Prenuptial AIDS Test” by Beth Ann Krier, Feb. 4)?

There is no test for AIDS. An “AIDS Test” would tell a person if he or she has AIDS, just like a test for hepatitis B or gonorrhea tells a person if he or she has hepatitis B or gonorrhea.

There is only a test for antibodies to HIV, the virus many clinicians suspect is a causative agent for AIDS. The test tells you whether or not you have developed antibodies to HIV. If the test is positive, it means only that you’ve been exposed to HIV. Maybe you’ll go on to get AIDS. Maybe you won’t.

Seem like minor points to you? Unfortunately, your misleading phrasing and headlines contribute to making our work much more difficult. When we inform people that they test positive for the HIV antibodies, we often have to work very hard to convince them that this does not mean they have AIDS.

In other locations, people have killed themselves after hearing they test positive. This is because they falsely believe that this is a test for AIDS and that--despite what the health educator on site tells them--they are doomed to die.

Please help us to present accurate information to the public. Please alter your use of the term “AIDS Test.” At this time, you are part of the problem.

ERIC E. ROFES

Executive Director

Gay and Lesbian Community

Services Center of Los Angeles