Doctors in San Francisco are seeing the reappearance of Kaposi’s sarcoma—a once-common AIDS-related condition that afflicted roughly one third of patients—among a handful of longtime HIV patients. The doctors do not know why Karposi’s sarcoma (KS) is being seen again in patients.
Kaposi’s sarcoma, a lesion-causing skin cancer, became less prominent in the Western world with the introduction of improved antiretroviral treatment. However, nine cases have been reported in San Francisco between 2004 and 2006 among people diagnosed an average of 18 years ago and who have taken antiretroviral drugs for around seven years.
While none of these cases of KS are severe or untreatable, the reasons for the reoccurrence remains a mystery.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
