HIV hysteria is it about to engulf the UK?

[jimslip]

As usual a publicised HIV case discovered in LA and contracted by a performer who was working in straight AND gay porn, brings out the hysteria and the flaming torches in the UK. This is nothing new, there have been dozens of unreported HIV cases in LA over the last few years.



Everyone should calm down. From a virology point of view it's quite simple. If you are really concerned, then you should check the passport of any performer that you are about to work with and look for a recent US Immigration stamp and decide whether you wish to work with this person or not. Any performer that has worked recently in LA should ideally quarantine themselves for the next 3 months (The generally accepted incubation time for HIV)and then await the outcome of an HIV test at that point, before re-entering the UK industry.

I am sure the industry in LA would invoke such a protocol on us Brits without a seconds thought, if there were such a case discovered here.

However, people should remember that casual sex OUTSIDE the porn industry has far greater risks than inside our heavily tested environment.

So put out the flaming torches, calm down and just be vigilant and don't let this matter wreck our business.

[Secretease]

It's not just HIV - I know one model who isn't able to have children because of an STD she contracted from a performer.

Hopefully, the least that comes from this is that anybody who thinks about faking their certs thinks twice and is responsibe towards others.

Lives, and peoples way of life, are put at risk otherwise.

[bigAl]

Depending on the individual circumstances of the case there could be grounds for legal action - has she sought professional advice?

[frankthring]

Reading Jim Slip`s comments and having worked for 7 solid years based
in LA - 1996 - 2003 - let me commend his good common sense.
Everything he says is true, though I remain un-convinced about the
number of other cases (quoted in his newspaper report) since the LA
Health Dept is notoriously anti porn and I have no doubt the figure
anyway relates primarily to gay porn performers (the Aim Clinic polices
the straight side of our business very very thoroughly).
But basically spot on Jimbo - you tell it as it is !!

[paul jones]

Really? - Most people who are infertile don't know it until they try to have children, and that can be years after the damage done.

Even a case of Gonorrhea (hardest word to spell, ever) induced PID would only be a suspected cause, real cause might well have been an asymptomatic chlamydia dating back to soon after she became sexually active and long before she joined the industry.

Some numbers, for those who like stats.

http://www.avert.org/std-statistics-uk.htm#tab-2

STDs are a risk of the occupation.

We have certs, and while I support OEJ (he convinced me some time ago that the privacy stuff was solved) there is no sign that anything more advanced is likely as no one is willing to pay for it.

It's down to the small scale of the Uk biz.

[bigAl]

Yeah, really. Do you not read properly. I said could be, depending on the individual circumstances of the case in question, which you don't know and I don't know.

You'll also appreciate that when a producer makes a contract with someone by virtue of a model release form that could be construed as employing them. Any liability as such could therefore ultimately rest with the producer as opposed to the performer (who I assume will have the protection of EL insurance, bearing in mind it's a compulsory requirement). So if you follow this through to it's logical conclusion, it's not going to be a problem, is it!

[jimslip]

As we all know the American clinics state that their DNA/PCR testing can possibly show the presence of the HIV bviral proteins after 28 days. However, I believe during the last scare a few years ago, in the end there was talk of following the 3 month or so, window to be 99% conclusive. I think there are all sorts of pre conditions that make these quick tests more or less accurate and therefore the old fashioned procedure of looking for antibodies when they appear, ie over the course of time, seems to be the most accurate in the end or at least the most conclusive, as far as I know.

Here's an excerpt from some info on PCR tests vs Elisa and Western Blot (Our NHS tests) Basically, it would appear that, in the PCR test if you show up negative, then you probably are, if you show up positive, you have to wait 3 months then have a Western Blot or Elisa test to be sure.

"PCR TESTING................
A (PCR) test is used to measure the (VIRAL LOAD) in a person that is already infected with the hiv virus .
A pcr looks for the (VIRAL PROTIENS) directly . In the case of some 1 using a (PCR-TEST) as an early warning for hiv detection after 4 weeks of exposure the (VIRAL PROTIENS) should be detectable .
In the case of a positive (PCR) testing will still need to have follow up test with the (ELISA) and (WESTERN BLOT) test at the 3 month mark just to confirm the (PCR) test.
In the case of a negative result on the (PCR) test chances are you are negative but I would still strongely recomend a follow up with the (ELISA) and (WESTERN BLOT) just to make absolute sure you are in fact negative and leave nothing to chance ."

So it would seem if the Americans waited for 28 days and had a PCR test and showed negative all would be OK. We wouldn't know for 3 months on our Elisa/Western Blot tests.

I am not a clinician so this is just some info for guidance, please feel free to correct me on any points if I am wrong.

[jimslip]

You are indeed correct Herr Thring, what better way to slowly destroy the porn industry than publicise HIV cases and simply let us simply "Self implode". A Christian Fundamentalists dream!