CENTRE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND S'l

aencr I. Atlanta Itr ueell) bullctln. the hlohdUv and M W
RrnnKyWA, ddererlbed rhr 6be rebere pnrumonla cares
ohsewed betwren October 1980 and May 1981 in three las Anselcr
horpltalr The unusual facts lustlfied thew warnlng all ptlentr uere
young men ItuenN-ane to thm-n~ years old1 rhose retual preference
war hamasexual. and ail had pncumonla attributed lo I'nramm).~ln
rurlnrr 14)
Ihe tint anlclc in the malnrtream press about AIDS appeared ~n the Nca Ynrk Ilms
July 3. 1981 Entltlcd 'Rare Cancer Seen I" 41 Homosexual Men." the anlclr cxplaln5
that
Doctors on New Yorl. and C~l!tbmln hare diagnosed among hommr.xuul
men 41 carer of a rare and "tien tjwl form of cancer [Tlhc docton
who have made the dtasnorrs. mostly I" New York Clty and San
Fmnflsco Ba) area. are alenlng other phyarlans uho treat large numbrn
ofhomasrrual men. to the problem sn an etTon to ~Bnt16 more cass and
to reduce the delay ~n olrenng chrmothriap treatment The sudden
appearance of the cancer. called Knporl Sarcoma. has promptrd a med~cai
lnvcstlgatlan that rxpns u) could haw as much sclcntllic as publac
health lmponance because of what ~t may teach about dctennmlng the
cause of more common forms of cancer [Dloctorr at ntnr medlcal
centers ~n New York and rdvm horpltals 8" Cal~bmla have ken
d~a~mostng the eond~t~on among lounger men. all of \\horn raid ln thc
oursr oldtagnost~c mterwewr that they were homorcxual Accordlns
to Dr Fnrdman-Kleln. the repaning doctors wad that mon casa tnwlked
hamarr.rual men who had mult~ple and frequent sexual encounters ulth
different pnncrr. as many as 10 sexual encounters each ntsht up lo four
tlmrr a week Cancer Is not brl~evrd to be contaglour. but condltlons
that mlght preclpltate 11. such ar pantcular vlmses or env~ronmenlal
factors. mlght account tbr an outbrrak among srngle p>r Dr Cumn
[of the Federal Center for Dlrrase Control] sand :hat there !\as no apparent
danger to nonhomorerualr from conwglon ''The best evtdence against
contapon." he sad. "is that no cares have been reponed to date outs&
the homosexual communrry or ~n women." Dr. Fnedman-Klctn said he
had tested nlne of the vnct~ms and round rebere defects In thnr
~mmunolag~eal systems. But Dr Fnedman-Klem emphasized that the
researchen dld not know whethrr the ~mmunolog~cal defects were the
underlyang problem or had developed recondanly lo the lnfectlon or drug
use (Higflnr 263)