100 Kerry people in danger of developing full AIDS

December 1991

AN estimated 100 people in Kerry are infected with the HIV virus which develops into the the killer disease AIDS — but this figure is only the tip of the iceberg, Director of Community Care Dr Timothy Jackson said this week.

Dr Jackson said that in a tourist county like Kerry where both emigrants and visitors are constantly coming and going, it was likely that the number of carriers of the virus is far higher than in other parts of the country.

And he warned that young heterosexual people in particular would have to change their sexual behaviour if they want to be sure of avoiding contact with the disease.

“The problem is that the HIV virus has an incubation period of up to nine years, so even if people have changed their behaviour in the past few years since the disease was discovered, it may already be too late, he said.

For that reason he said that the figure of 100 HIV positive people in Kerry was probably too modest. In reality the figure is probably far greater as there are probably hundreds of other carriers who have not come forward.

Dr Jackson said that medical people are now more concerned about heterosexual people than homosexuals or intravenous drugs users. The number of heterosexuals infected with the virus in this country has increased three times in the past 18 months, he said.

“Because Kerry is a tourist county and has such a high emigration rate, there are constantly people coming and going and when you consider that there are now at least 3,000 HIV carriers in the country, it is frightening.”

He said that heterosexual people could no longer rely on the condom as a safeguard against contracting the HIV virus.

“There is an image that the condom gives an absolute safeguard but that is not so. It does reduce the risk of contacting the virus but it must be remembered that one in twenty fail anyway.”

Since the disease was diagnosed in the ‘80s, four people in Kerry have developed full blown AIDS and three of these have died from it.

Dr Jackson believes that many more people will develop the disease in the county over the next few years, and many will die unless a cure is found.

“In a few years time, every one of us will know someone who has AIDS,” he said.