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More HIV cases confirmed in adult film performers

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-13 11:43

LOS ANGELES -- At least 16 additional unpublicized cases of HIV have been confirmed in adult film performers following a porn actress' recent positive HIV test, it was reported on Friday.

The newly released data by the Los Angeles Department of Public Health brought the number of HIV cases in porn performers in the last five years to 22, including the case disclosed this week, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The confirmation came despite the porn industry assurances that the film actress was the first HIV-infected case since a 2004 outbreak shut down production for a month, the paper said.

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The disclosure is bringing renewed scrutiny to the estimated US$12-billion-a-year industry's long history of resisting regulation and condom use, the paper noted.

The Adult Industry Medical (AIM) Healthcare, which tests porn performers for sexually transmitted diseases, has been stonewalling the true picture behind the porn industry, said the report.

"AIM Healthcare has never been cooperative with us and our investigations," said Dean Fryer, a spokesman for the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health. So far, the clinic has declined to tell county or state officials the name of the performer or her employer.

"You'd think they'd want to be a full partner in trying to prevent the spread of this disease," said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, health officer for Los Angeles County.

The female performer first tested positive on June 4, said Dr. Colin Hamblin, AIM's medical director. She worked the following day -- June 5 -- for reasons Hamblin said are still being investigated. A second positive result came back on June 6. And the clinic is awaiting results of a third and final confirmatory test, he said.

The actress had two recent sexual partners, according to AIM. One is a porn actor, now under work quarantine, who performed with the woman on June 5. The other is her boyfriend. Those men have had sexual intercourse with an additional six people, who have all been notified and offered testing, Hamblin said in remarks published by the paper.

So far, no one known to have had contact with the woman or her partners has tested positive for HIV, Hamblin said.

He said the clinic is following all reporting rules, but because of patient privacy concerns cannot legally disclose the patient's name or employer to the county. "They also have to realize we have limitations too," Hamblin said. "We'd be happy to work with the county in any other capacity."

Attorney Kim Martin, special counsel to the state health and worker safety agency, said that the state health department and other public health agencies are exempt from those privacy laws and that they will continue seeking cooperation from the clinic.

In a statement published on AIM's website, Sharon Mitchell, the clinic's co-founder and a former porn star who appeared in more than 2,000 films, said the media was "like a moth to a flame."

"Rumor is rampant when the words 'HIV' and 'porn' are in the same sentence," she said.

Mitchell said AIM's clinic has been a leader in promoting prevention and testing. But, she added, "we are not the police department of the industry nor wish to be."