A.I.D.S. may cause mental illnesses

Press, 24 April 1987, Page 38

A.I.D.S. may cause mental illnesses

NZPA-AAP Melbourne Australian A.I.D.S. experts fear a mental illness epidemic could be a long term effect of infection with the A.I.D.S. virus. The National A.I.D.S. Task Force’s chairman, Professor David Penington, said it was “entirely possible” that 20 per cent of Australians infected with the A.I.D.S. virus would, in the next 15 to 20 years, develop diseases not associated with the fatal form now known. He said evidence from the United States showed that up to 50 per cent of people infected with the latent form of the virus had some complications with their brain and central nervous system. Some of these people were likely to develop severe psychological disturbances and dementia in the next 20 years,’he said. Professor Penington said development of men-

tai illnesses from infection with the A.I.D.S. virus appeared to be less likely than development of fullblown A.I.D.S. from the virus. “But that may be just because we have only been aware of the virus for about 10 years. “It may be just a function of time.” Professor Penington said A.I.D.S. experts had no idea what proportion of people infected with the virus would develop mental illnesses. “But it is going to become a significant problem.” At least 50,000 Australians were estimated to be carrying the A.I.D.S. virus and this figure was rising rapidly, he said. About 35 per cent of these carriers would develop full-blown A.I.D.S. “Even if an effective vaccine were to be available and administered to the whole Australian

population today, we would see large growth in the number of cases of A.I.D.S. of people with brain damage due to the infection and of several other ' complications over the next 10 years because of the long latent period between infection and serious physical consequences.” While little evidence of manifestations of the virus other than fullblown A.I.D.S. had appeared in Australia, Professor Penington said he expected to start seeing cases in the next few years.

Professor Penington said the likelihood of large scale brain damage had severe implications for health care in Australia. He said health authorities had been alerted to the problem and would have to ensure facilities were available to treat sufferers.