A teary-eyed high school senior, the sixth person infected with the AIDS virus by a Florida dentist, said Friday she wanted to campaign for mandatory testing for all health-care workers.
Sherry Annette Johnson, 18, would follow the example of Kimberly Bergalis, another of Dr. David Acer's patients and the first person in the United States reported to get the virus from a health-care provider. Bergalis spoke to Congress about mandatory testing before she died in 1991."The reason I came forward is I had been told you can't be infected with the virus from your doctor," the Jensen Beach teen said through tears at a news conference with family members. "I found that was wrong."
On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta announced that a sixth person had been infected by Acer, who died of AIDS in 1990. Acer is the only doctor or dentist known to have transmitted the virus to a patient.
Health officials have investigated the Acer case on and off since 1990, but have failed to determine how he infected the patients. The new case provided no clues.
Florida health officials advised Acer's 2,500 patients in 1990 to get tested for the AIDS virus, but Johnson wasn't tested until last year when she applied to enter the military. She was last treated by Acer when she had a cavity filled at age 13 at his office in 1989. Three other members of her family, also Acer patients, tested negative.