Fifth actor tests positive for HIV in Californian porn industry as alarm sets in

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 06 May 2004 - 0:00 PDT


A health care official confirmed that five people so far have tested positive for HIV in the Californian porn industry. The industry has been in virtual shutdown since last month when the first actor was tested positive. The latest one is a veteran porn actress. Her name was not made public, but she is 'an actress working in the industry for several years'.

She had worked directly with Darren James, the first HIV positive case, who is thought to be the source of the current outbreak. Darren James is thought to have contracted AIDS while filming in Brazil. During the Brazilian shoot he had full unprotected sex on screen with various actresses.

The Brazilian pornographic actors association said in a statement last week that it is amazed the American porn actors still have full intercourse on screen without condoms, this indicates that unprotected sex is not common as in the industry in Brazil as it is in the USA.

This current outbreak in California's porn industry is the largest for six years.

This outbreak has brought the whole industry in California to a standstill as studios have voluntarily stopped filming for sixty days.

A spokesperson for the industry's health association said about the latest case 'She had a good head on shoulders and was well prepared for this diagnosis. She did realize that HIV was an occupational hazard."

60 actors are on a 60-day quarantine. They had worked directly with Darren James or with women who had full intercourse while filming with him. The partners of these actors have all tested negative. However, they will be carefully monitored for the next month to make sure they are not carriers.

Although most film studios have imposed a 60-day shut down, some are still working. The worry is that as actors feel the economic squeeze they will be tempted to carry on working before total testing and monitoring is complete.

Many people would like to see the industry come under tighter regulations and monitoring. They would like to have compulsory condom use during filming. Others say that this would drive many studios underground, which would make monitoring almost impossible.

• Additional
• References
• Citations