VOL.101,NO.56 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY TOPEKA KS 66612 ADVERTISING:864-4358 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1991 NEWS:864-4810 HIV testing expected to increase in Lawrence Watkins and health department offer free screening options Kansan staff writer By Kerrie Gottschalk After Magic Johnson announced last week that he had tested positive for HIV, local health officials predicted an increase in the demand for HIV testing at the University of Kansas and in Lawrence. Charles Yockey, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said he already had seen an increase. Watkins had several patients walk in Friday and request to be tested. Yeoh. "I think we have done more today than we have all month," he said Friday. Johnson, who played as a guard for the Los Angeles Lakers for 12 seasons, announced Thursday that he was retiring from basketball because he had tested positive for HIV, the virus that precedes AIDS. Johnson led the Lakers to five NBA championships. The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department reported that requests for HIV testing had not increased on Friday. Health department statistics reveal a 39-percent increase in HIV tests administered in July, August and September of 1991 compared to the same months in 1990. October's statistics were not immediately available. "I do think there will be an increase in the near future," said Kay Kent, director of the health department. "We are seeing an increase, we were seeing an increase." The health department provides HIV testing to the public in which patients do not have to give their real names, Kent said. She said patients received pre- and post-test counseling appointments and receive test results within two weeks. Blood samples are tested for free by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment in Toecka. Kent said. Students can be tested two ways at Watkins, Yockey said. Watkins performs anonymous testing, which is done the same way as the program above. However, appointments for anonymous testing at Watkins are booked through the middle of the spring semester, Yockey said. The other form of testing is confidential testing. Patients can walk in and request to have an HIV test. The results are returned within five days. Confidential testing requires that personal information be given, but Yockey said the results of the confidential test could not be revealed to him as the patient signed a release form. "We do have HIV-positive students who know it and who are being treated for it," said Janine Demo, coordinator of Watkins' health education department. Watkins' health education department provides pamphlets and brochures about HIV testing and AIDS, and health educators also are available to answer student questions, Demo said. She said from 50 to 60 KU students probably were HIV-positive if national statistics that reported that one in three large students had HIV were accurate. Spectrum of HIV infection Being infected with HIV is not the same as having AIDS. HIV causes a spectrum of conditions and symptoms. Infected No symptoms Mild symptoms AIDS - The scientific name for HIV is human immunodeficiency virus. - AIDS is the most severe, life-threatening form or HIV. AIDS attacks the body's immune system and decreases the body's defense against infection. People with AIDS develop a group of related symptoms and disorders, such as cancer or pneumonia. - On the average, it takes about 10 years from the time HIV is diagnosed to the time when serious symptoms develop. - HIV may progress slowly or quickly along the spectrum of HIV infection. - Source: American College Health Association, The Associated Press Joseph LiesKANSAN - Anti-viral drug therapy can slow significantly the progression of HIV. Airborne Kansas center Greg Ostertag hold of a loose ball in an exhil Veteran Instructor says mi leadership import By Mauricio Rios