
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, December 2, 1994                   TAG: 9412020079
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: ATLANTA                                 LENGTH: Short

HETEROSEXUAL AIDS REPORTED ON THE RISE

Declaring AIDS to be the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 25 and 44, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday the disease has moved dramatically into the heterosexual community and that the transmission rate there is growing.

``In the history of epidemics, AIDS is among the worst in the world,'' CDC Director David Satcher told a gathering of Atlanta business and labor leaders. He said knowledge of the extent of HIV infection is ``imperfect and incomplete,'' but added that ``every day we're learning something new about the virus and moving closer to a cure.''

In the United States, 400,000 people have contracted AIDS since 1981 and 250,000 people have died from it. Increasingly, the victims are intravenous drug users and their sexual partners.

``In December 1984, three-fourths of AIDS cases were men who have sex with men,'' Satcher said. ``This year, this group makes up only a little more than half of all cases, so you see the epidemic is changing.''

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome is the leading cause of death among men in the 25-44 age group and the fourth leading cause in women in that same group - behind cancer, accidental injuries and heart disease, according to preliminary 1993 data compiled by the CDC.

Among young black women, who make up 82 percent of American women with AIDS, it is the leading cause of death.

From 1985 to 1993, the proportion of people with AIDS acquired through heterosexual transmission increased from 2 percent to 7 percent.

by CNB