Testing for HIV

I was concerned about the impact of several statements in Susan King’s article about the new season of the CBS television show “Big Brother” (“ ‘Big Brother’ Is Emulating Its Big Brother,” July 5).

King mentions that contestants for the show “have been tested for AIDS and hepatitis.” Twenty years into the epidemic, I’m still having to remind the media that there is no “test” for AIDS; rather, the test is for HIV antibodies in the blood following exposure to HIV. Someone can be HIV-positive for years, even indefinitely, and not have AIDS. In fact, an HIV-negative person could live with 11 other people with full-blown AIDS and not be at risk of contracting HIV as long as basic precautions were followed.

The producers of the program more wisely should be testing contestants for easily transmitted conditions such as poison ivy, scabies, crabs and head lice. They might also want to test for TB. The contestants are at particular risk if one contestant has active TB and they are sharing the same air system in close quarters for many days.

KEN HOWARD

Los Angeles