From: cramer@optilink.COM (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: ca.politics,talk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: Gay/Lesbian Equal Rights Needed
Date: 18 Dec 92 19:28:33 GMT
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA

In article <1992Dec17.004324.20601@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>, gsh7w@fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU (Greg Hennessy) writes:
> In article <13645@optilink.COM> cramer@optilink.COM (Clayton Cramer) writes:
> #So why are so few straights getting AIDS, except through contact with
> #prostitutes and IV drug abusers?
> 
> Oh really?
> 
> From the CDC statistics, the number of heterosexuals males AIDS cases
> for the year ending Oct 1991 is 1,215, increasing to 1587 for the year
> ending Oct 1992, a 30 percent increase. The number of AIDS cases

What did I write?  "except through contact with prostitutes and IV
drug abusers."  Of those 1215 new cases through Oct. 1991, 531 were
"sex with injecting drug user", 311 were "Sex with person born in
Pattern=II country" (which everyone knows means that the person was
probably a prostitute there, but for political reasons, we will
pretend otherwise).  Of the 1587 new cases through Sept. 1992,
703 were "Sex with injecting drug user" and 281 were "Sex with
person born in Pattern-II country."  Not so impressive now, is it?

> amount homosexual men increased 0.8 percent, while the number of cases
> from IV drug users increased 2 percent. 

Notice that there are no numbers shown, only percentages.  WHY?
Because "Men who have sex with men" is MUCH larger.  Ditto for 
IV drug abusers.  Here's the whole table:
Table 3.   AIDS cases by age group, exposure category, and sex, 
  reported October 1990 through September 1991, October 1991 through
  September 1992; and cumulative totals, by age group and exposure
  category, through September 1992, United States 

                                                Males 

                                       Oct. 1990-     Oct. 1991-
ADULT/ADOLESCENT                       Sept 1991      Sept 1992 
EXPOSURE CATEGORY                      No.   (%)      No.   (%) 

Men who have sex with men           23,555  (62)   23,745  (60) 
Injecting drug use                   8,083  (21)    8,517  (22) 
Men who have sex with men 
  and inject drugs                   2,492   (7)    2,324   (6) 
Hemophilia/coagulation disorder        295   (1)      324   (1) 
Heterosexual contact:                1,215   (3)    1,587   (4) 

  Sex with injecting drug user            531            703
  Sex with bisexual male                    -              -
  Sex with person with hemophilia           4              3
  Born in Pattern-II* country             311            281
  Sex with person born in 
    Pattern-II country                     22             11
  Sex with transfusion recipient
    with HIV infection                     30             18
  Sex with person with HIV
    infection, risk not specified         317            571

Receipt of blood transfusion, 
  blood components, or tissue**        451   (1)      401   (1) 
Other/undetermined***                1,646   (4)    2,666   (7) 
Adult/adolescent subtotal           37,737 (100)   39,564 (100) 

PEDIATRIC (<13 years old) 
EXPOSURE CATEGORY 

Hemophilia/coagulation disorder         25   (7)       23   (6) 
Mother with/at risk for HIV 
  infection:                           330  (86)      319  (86) 

    Injecting drug use                    152            113
    Sex with injecting drug user           63             53
    Sex with bisexual male                  4              7
    Sex with person with hemophilia         2              5
    Born in Pattern-II country             22             18
    Sex with person born
      in Pattern-II country                 -              3
    Sex with transfusion recipient
      with HIV infection                    -              1
    Sex with person with HIV
      infection, risk not specified        22             26
    Receipt of blood transfusion, 
      blood components, or tissue           7             11
    Has HIV infection, risk not 
      specified                            58             82

Receipt of blood transfusion, 
    blood components, or tissue         22   (6)       13   (4) 
Other/undetermined                       7   (2)       14   (4) 
Pediatric subtotal                     384 (100)      369 (100) 

TOTAL                                  38,121         39,933

> Amoung women, the number of cases for heterosexuals increased from
> 1987 to 2435, a 22 percent increase, while number from IV drug use
> increased 2 percent.

Again, the sort of misleading crap I expect from Greg Hennessy.
Of the 2,435 new female heterosexual contact cases ending Sept.
1992, 1,397 are "sex with injecting drug user", 149 are "sex with
bisexual male", 646 are "Sex with person with HIV infection, risk
not specified."  Those are where the prostitutes get lumped in.

> Do you consider 4000 *NEW* AIDS cases amoung heterosexuals to be "a
> few"? 
> 
> -Greg Hennessy, University of Virginia

Subtract out the prostitutes and those having sex with IV drug
abusers, and it isn't 4000, and you know it.

-- 
Clayton E. Cramer {uunet,pyramid}!optilink!cramer  My opinions, all mine!
C++ is to C, as lung cancer is to lung.
From: Ron.Landers@f851.n102.z1.fidonet.org (Ron Landers)
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