***OT***
Syphilis outbreak traced to Internet chat room
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Health officials tracking
an outbreak of syphilis cases have followed the virus into
cyberspace, identifying an Internet chat room as ground zero
for infection.
Jeffrey Klausner, director of the sexually transmitted
disease unit at the San Francisco Department of Health, said
investigators quizzing the last seven homosexual men reporting
syphilis infections were surprised to find that all seven found
their most recent sexual contacts through a chat room on
America Online <AOL.N> : SFM4M, or San Francisco Men-For-Men.
The outbreak rang alarm bells for Klausner, who noted that
venereal diseases like syphilis can boost a person's
vulnerability to HIV, the virus which causes AIDS.
Clearly, the remaining visitors in the SFM4M needed to be
warned -- but how to fight a cyberspace health threat in a chat
room where anonymity is prized and people are known only by
their on-line nicknames?
"The challenge for us has been to contact, notify and
inform individuals (when) we only have their Internet screen
handles," Klausner said Monday.
America Online declined to alter its privacy policy and
reveal the identities of the chat room regulars, but it did put
Klausner in touch with PlanetOut, an online gay and lesbian
community.
"The health department did contact us looking for advice on
how to use the online medium to deal with this public health
issue," said Rich D'Amato, an AOL spokesman.
PlanetOut staff spent two weeks visiting the chat room and
warning users about the outbreak, urging them to take syphilis
tests and to practice safe sex.
While the chatters' anonymity has been protected, officials
hope they have got the message. Klausner said the experience
has been an eye-opener, and that future public health campaigns
would certainly take into account the growing role that the
Internet plays in human relationships.
"We've learned that Internet contacts are an important
sexual network," he told the San Francisco Examiner Monday.
REUTERS
Rtr 18:35 08-23-99 |
