., ., ,- , -- :., ,, « -_ _ , ..f, ,£ t zx < ' , n s,' E CDSLJ S a community health newsletter Vol.4, No. 1 Winter 1986 CPR: The Difference Beem ife and Deah Catherine McAuley Health Center is co-sponsoring CPR Days, free three-hour cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training pro- . grams Saturday and Sunday Feb. 15-16. The programs begin at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday. After completing one of the three sessions, you will receive your Red Cross CPR certification. All sessions will be at the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Education Center on the Huron River Drive campus of Catherine McAuley Health Center. Pre-registration is required by calling the Red Cross at 971-5396. Free Ann Arbor Transit Authori- ty (AATA) bus transportation will be provided (your fare will be reim- bursed at the program). Child care will also be offered free of charge for children ages two through 10 at the 1:30 p.m. sessions Saturday and Sunday. There is a 75-child limit for each session, so early pre-registration is advised. Ru. For Your Life-A Catherine McAuley Health Center is sponsoring its second annual McAuley Spring Tune-Up and Health Fair on Saturday, May 17. This 8K (5 mile) race, which starts and finishes at the Reichert Health Building on the Health Center's Huron River Drive campus, is a good warm-up for the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run the following week. Last year more than 1,000 peo- ple participated in the race and the Health Fair. There will also be a 1-mile walk for those who crave the exercise but not the competition. Look for an application in the spring issue of Capsules in April and start tuning-up for the Tune-Up now! For more information on the Run and Health Fair, please call the Community Relations Department at 572-3979. The hysteria over AIDS - which escalated with the death of Rock Hudson-is unjusti- fied, say physicians at Catherine McAuley' Health Center. David Katz, MD, an internist specializing in infectious diseases at St. : Joseph Mercy Hospital, says that much of the , hysteria about acquired immune deficiency syn- drome (AIDS) stems from the uncertainty surround- ing the disease and the r fact that, at this time, it is incurable. "Everybody is afraid1 because it is 100 percent fatal," Dr. Katz says. "The average, general population doesn't have to be afraid of AIDS. If you're not in one of the high-risk groups and you don't have intimate contact with someone in one of those groups, then the chances are negligible that you'll get it." AIDS is a disease caused by a virus that weakens the immune system leaving it unable to fight infection. The disease, which is believed to have originated in Africa, was first diagnosed in the United States in 1981 at UCLA Medical Center near los Angeles. Since then, some 14,000 AIDS victims have been diagnosed, about half of whom have died. Who Gets AIDS and How Do They Get It? AIDS is transmitted by sexual contact, by sharing an infected hypodermic needle, from infected mother to newborn infant or, less often, through blood or blood products. There is no evidence that AIDS is transmitted through casual contact or through the air. "There must be some sort of intimate contact be- fore you can get AIDS," says Dr. Katz. "This means sexual contact with someone who has the disease or direct contact through open wounds or mucous membranes." While there are ex- ceptions to the rule, the majority (about 92 per- cent) of AIDS victims fall r into three categories: homosexual and bisexual men (73 percent), intra- venous drug abusers (17 percent) and hemophil- iacs (1.85 percent). Since the blood test for the AIDS antibody (HTLV-III) was developed last March, the number of people who get AIDS through hblood trans- 1AR It fusions should eventually drop to zero because it 7r -will stop the spread of contaminated blood, according to Pathologist Jerry Gray, MD, head of St. Joseph Mercy Hospi- tal's blood bank. Studies have shown the antibody test is accurate in determining whether or not blood is con- taminated with AIDS, he says. Dr. Gray says of the 101 known AIDS victims in Michigan, there have been two hemophiliacs who have gotten AIDS and two additional people who fit the description of AIDS victims through a blood trans- fusion. These people fell victim to the disease prior to the development of the blood test, however. Nationwide, less than two percent of AIDS cases are transfusion related. "I don't expect any cases of transfusion-related AIDS after March 1985," Dr. Gray says, referring to when the blood test was developed. "Eventually, be- cause of this test, hemophiliacs will no longer be con- sidered one of the high-risk groups." According to Dr. Gray, more than 18,000 units of blood were given to some 10,000 patients at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in 1984. There have been no cases of AIDS at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital as a result of a transfusion, Dr. Gray says. Dr. Katz also stresses that patients admitted with- out AIDS to a hospital, should not worry about leaving Continued on next page HealthGerler Sponsored by the Religious Sisters of Mercy foundedrin 1831 by Catherine McAuley 5301 East Huron River Drive P.O. Box 992 Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 POSTAL CUSTOMER Please share this copy with a friend.