Research published in Wednesday's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that AIDS is the major killer of men ages 25-44 in 64 cities across the country, including Salt Lake City.
In Utah's capital, AIDS or its complications claimed 18 percent of the men who died in that age bracket, according to the study. The report was based on 1990 figures provided by the federal government's National Center for Health Statistics.Utah AIDS experts aren't surprised by the findings.
"There have been over 800 reported AIDS cases in Utah," since the first known case in 1983, said Jeff Wertzberger, director of the State Bureau of HIV-AIDS.
Sauan Sukhan, AIDS program manager for the Salt Lake City-County Health Department, said HIV cases in the county alone have numbered 572 since 1983. "In addition, 614 have full-blown AIDS."
Of the AIDS victims, 317 have died. (Statewide, there have been more than 400 deaths.) These are officially reported AIDS cases only, added the department's Lewis Garrett. "We feel there are significant numbers of HIV and full-blown AIDS that don't get reported."
The figures should remind everyone that "the epidemic continues to expand and we certainly have not been immune from it here in Salt Lake City and Utah."
Wertzberger said the report "is not totally surprising to us at the Health Department, but I can see where it can be surprising to people in the general public." He added that the disease is common not only in major cities but also smaller ones like Salt Lake City.
"We have recognized for years that AIDS is a problem in Utah and that it is continuing to cause deaths - primarily among this age group - in increasing numbers."
Dr. Kristen Ries, a physician who is noted for her work with AIDS victims, said that in the past, many AIDS deaths in Utah were those of people who had come home to die."But for the first time, in the past two years or so, it's both ways," she said. Utahns who have AIDS are going back to their home towns, while people who left Utah are coming home. It's cross-migration," she said.
"It certainly is an endemic (native) disease here," she added.
The reason for the large number of cases is partly because years can pass between exposure and development of full-blown AIDS. Many people who are dying now were exposed in the 1970s or '80s, when not as many were aware of the danger.
But it's partly because not enough people are taking precautions, she added.
"It's the same way all over the globe. It's a major pandemic . . . The only way to stop this epidemic is to talk about it like it really is."
Ries recently returned from an international meeting on AIDS, held last week in Berlin. Studies presented there showed that frank discussion of issues involving sex and AIDS does not increase sexual behavior, she said.
So to save lives, she believes, Utahns should face facts and talk about AIDS openly. And AIDS is caused both by sexual behavior and drug use.
"We're seeing more and more women (with AIDS), and it's related to both. And there're a lot of married homosexuals in Utah."
Many men live double lives, acting happily married but carrying on homosexual affairs at the same time. "Luckily, most of the wives don't get it. But there are a lot of married men that get it," she said.
Poor self-esteem, based somewhat on society's condemnation of homosexuality, is at the root of some people's lack of precautions. They don't care enough about them-selves to protect themselves.
Although condoms don't work all the time, she said, often they do hinder the spread of disease.
Asked about people who engage in risky behavior, she said, "I've been trying to understand it myself. . . . People are into denial. It's just like drinking and driving and everything: They think, `It can't happen to me.' "
Ries added, "This epidemic has just taken off, the world over."
Carolyn Hunter, volunteer director with the hospice run by the Community Nursing Project in Salt Lake City, said the figures are "not at all" surprising.
"I guess a lot of it is the increase in (AIDS among) the heterosexual teen population. They `know' they are not vulnerable to anything. . . . They're not taking precautions if they're having sex with multiple partners, and IV (intravenous) drug users are sharing needles."
Sister Linda Bellemore, who works with AIDS victims through Holy Cross Hospital's outreach program, said she thinks many people don't realize how serious the epidemic is because it hasn't yet touched them personally.
"I think a lot of the young people - high school, college age - don't realize how at-risk they are. Because they can pick up the virus, transmit it and not realize they're sick."
Many people deny the danger of AIDS. "It's a miserable disease, that's the only way to say it," she said.
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(Chart)
AIDS deaths
Below is a sampling cities where AIDS and related infections were a leading cause of death in men age 25 to 44 in 1990.
City Percent of Aids Related Death
San Fransico 61%
Fort Lauderdale 51%
Seattle 39%
Denver 38%
New York City 35%
Los Angeles 31%
Portland 25%
Baltimore 20%
Philadelphia 19%
Buffalo 19%
Salt Lake City 18%
Indianapolis 16%