What were they thinking?

[Rene778]

I found this information about the porn industry scary... "AIDS spreading in porn industry despite testing L.A. health officials report four new cases of HIV among adult film actors Fact file HIV and AIDS More than 830,000 cases of AIDS have been reported in the United States since 1981. And as many as 950,000 Americans may be infected with HIV, one-quarter of whom are unaware of their infection. Every year, there are an estimated 40,000 new HIV/AIDS cases in the United States. Source: The Associated Press, CDC, NIH • Print this Updated: 7:43 p.m. ET Sept. 22, 2005 NEW YORK - Investigators at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services recently became aware of four cases of HIV infection related to work in the adult film industry. The infections occurred despite a widely adopted voluntary program of HIV and STD testing in the industry. As reported in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the first identified case was a 40-year-old man who tested HIV-negative on February 12 and March 17, 2004, but tested positive on April 9. Dr. H. Rotblatt, with the Los Angeles Department of Public Health, and colleagues report that, on April 20, the LA County Department of Health Services started an investigation to identify HIV transmission from this case. During the time between his two negative tests, the patient had engaged in unprotected sex while producing a film in Brazil. After returning to California he engaged in unprotected sex with 13 female partners, three of whom tested HIV-positive in April and May after negative tests results were obtained one month previously. HIV strains obtained from the four patients and sequenced by the CDC showed that they were all identical, supporting the conclusion that the male patient was the source of the HIV infection. In September, the California Department of industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health, cited employers of the workers for failing to comply with the state’s bloodborne disease standard, failing to report a serious work-related illness, and failing to prepare and follow a written occupational injury and illness prevention program. MMWR editors comment that in Los Angeles County there are approximately 200 production companies employing 1200 workers who engage in direct work-related sexual contact, which is often prolonged and performed without condom use. “In addition to the testing program being inadequate as the sole source of protection from HIV transmission, the costs of testing are typically borne by the workers themselves,” the authors note. “The cost burden of health services could cause some workers to reduce the range and frequency of HIV and STD screening or to avoid or delay pursuing vaccination for hepatitis B virus.” They conclude that “workers in this industry need to be made aware of the risks associated with participation in various acts, to be able to participate in decision-making about their health and safety at work, and to benefit from prevention practices.” Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters." [url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9443957/[/url] What should be done about this if anything? :eek:

[btmlltt]

Note to self: don't have sex with people who have sex for a living. Meh, it strikes me as self-contained. If they're dumb enough to risk it, I'm not going to feel particularly sorry for them.

[Roger Kaputnik]

There was a similar scare last year involving a porn star who had done some work in Brazil. The state and the industry responded by having a voluntary condom use policy. Some studios require it, some refuse to do so. The dilemma is that if they require condom use in California, the industry will film in Third World countries were AIDS is rampant among sex workers which will lead to more infections. It is a catch-22. Here are some sources on the AIDS scare of 2004: [url]http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/21/health/main612917.shtml[/url] [url]http://www.aegis.com/news/suntimes/2004/ST040406.html[/url] [url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/aids/story/0,7369,1194314,00.html[/url] [url]http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-05-05-fourth-porn-star_x.htm[/url] This is a link to an organization devoted to the heath of porn stars founded by former porn star Sharon Mitchell. They had the most up to date information on who was effected last year (I think they actually did the testing). [url]http://aim-med.org/[/url]

[Rene778]

Its hard for me, so to speak, to feel sorry for workers in the sex industry who get diseases primarily from their own behavior. I think that required condom use should be the minimal standard of behavior for those who want to pursue this type of work. If "stars" are stupid enough to put their lives on the line in the 3rd world I believe it is their right to do so. I do want to be compassionate and help these folks, but I wonder just how far we should go to protect them.