Developments in Brief : Teens Found Especially Vulnerable to AIDS
More than 1,300 California teen-agers have tested positive for the AIDS virus, according to state health officials who warn that teen-agers are a particularly vulnerable group.
The Times Tribune of Palo Alto reported last week that Ron Raglin, field services coordinator for the state Department of Health Services AIDS testing program, said 1,317 teen-agers tested positive for the deadly virus between June, 1985, and January this year.
Of those, Raglin said, 19 have been diagnosed as having the disease.
“You can probably assume that those teens that come in for testing are self-identified for high risk,” Raglin said. “It’s hard to say that the figure is representative of teens overall.”
Youths between the ages of 13 and 19 are a difficult group to educate about the dangers of acquired immune deficiency syndrome because they think of themselves as immortal, said Pat Christen, a medical information specialist with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
“Kids just think they’re never going to die,” she said.
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