
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 15, 1990                   TAG: 9006150179
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ATLANTA                                LENGTH: Medium

STUDY: TEEN SEX, DRUG PRACTICES RISK AIDS

About 20 percent of U.S. high school students have had more than three sex partners and about 3 percent have injected drugs - putting them at risk for AIDS, according to surveys from the federal government.

The 42 surveys, similar to others conducted in recent years, also found continued ignorance among a large number of high school students regarding what does and doesn't cause AIDS. For example, less than half, on average, knew that mosquito bites don't cause the disease.

"The levels of misinformation are truly concerning, but not knowing that a mosquito bite does not cause AIDS doesn't put a student at risk for AIDS," said Dr. Laura Kann of the Centers for Disease Control. "We are most concerned about the findings related to sex and drug use."

The 1989 surveys reported Thursday by the CDC were conducted in 30 states, 10 U.S. cities and two U.S. territories.

Between 7 percent and 40 percent of the students reported having four or more sex partners; the median was 21 percent. And between 2 percent and 5 percent said they had injected cocaine, heroin or other intravenous drugs.

"There are a large number of students throughout the United States that are at risk for HIV infection because of the behaviors they practice," said Kann, an adolescent-health research specialist. "We need to do a better job of providing students with HIV education that would help them avoid behaviors that put them at risk."

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. The disease is transmitted chiefly by drug needles and sexual contact. Although gay males make up the largest proportion of AIDS cases, the high school surveys did not indicate the prevalence of homosexual activity.

The surveys indicated that at least some students knew the dangers of injecting drugs and having unsafe sex, but did it anyway. Between 93 and 100 percent of the students in the surveys knew that AIDS can be transmitted by drug needles, and between 74 percent and 98 percent knew that it can be spread by sex without use of condoms.

Misconceptions about AIDS are still common, however. Only between 32 percent and 75 percent - 58 percent on average - said correctly that AIDS cannot be acquired by giving blood. Between 22 percent and 67 percent - or a 48 percent median - knew that AIDS doesn't come from mosquito bites. And between 44 percent and 85 percent - a 73 percent median - knew that public toilets don't spread AIDS.

The findings, both in behavior and awareness, were similar to those in a smaller group of surveys conducted in 1988.

by CNB