County Confirms 231 New AIDS Cases

Los Angeles County health officials confirmed 231 new AIDS cases in June, according to county statistics released Friday. The number of confirmed AIDS cases was down slightly from the May total, when a record 244 cases of the deadly disease were reported. No new cases in children were reported.

Health officials caution against over interpretation of the monthly case totals as signifying an unexpected worsening of the epidemic. For example, many of the cases confirmed in May and June were diagnosed in 1988 or earlier years but only recently reported to the county. The monthly figures are also subject to significant chance variations.

A more accurate way to interpret the AIDS statistics is to consider the number of new AIDS cases diagnosed during six-month periods, officials say.

So far, the largest number of new AIDS diagnoses were made during the first half of 1987, when 934 cases were identified. There were 901 cases diagnosed in the second half of 1987 as well as in the first half of 1988, 851 cases in the second half of 1988, and 646 cases so far this year.

As of the end of June, there had been a 7,404 AIDS cases in Los Angeles County, including 66 cases in children. There have been 4,828 AIDS deaths.