A mental health patient with HIV has told doctors he may have infected women he met at two nightclubs.
Women who had unprotected sex after visiting After Dark Club, in Churchgate, Leicester – which has now closed – and the Burlington Club, a private club in St Peter's Road, Highfields, are being urged to get tested.
Public health officials said they could not reveal the number of women who may be involved, but the man has told them he visited the clubs between 2002 and 2007.
It is believed the fears only came to light in the past few weeks, after the man – who has tested HIV positive but has not been identified – told doctors.
Dr Philip Monk, a consultant for the Health Protection Agency in the East Midlands, said: "It is important that women who attended these clubs and had an encounter which led to unprotected sexual activity with someone they met that night follow our advice.
Understandably, they are likely to be extremely concerned, but it is important they seek advice as soon as possible.
"It is important for them to be tested so the infection is not being passed on.
"There is also treatment that can enable them to live near-normal healthy and full lives."
The man, who moved to Leicester in 2002, also admitted having sexual relationships with a number of women he met at the Brandon Unit, an adult inpatient mental health centre run by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.
He is being cared for by the NHS outside of Leicestershire.
Managers at the mental health trust said they had been able to identify all patients who may have been exposed.
They said there was no suggestion any of the sexual encounters took place at the unit.
A helpline has been set up for them to call for advice and counselling.
Antony Sheehan, the trust's chief executive, said: "We are confident all the women have been contacted.
"Although a person may have mental health problems, it doesn't mean they cannot take clear decisions on other aspects of their lives.
"There is no suggestion any activity was other than consensual.
"But we are mindful of the potential vulnerability of these women and have taken every step to follow up the letters through teams providing medical help and emotional support."
Anyone who thinks they may be at risk can ring a special NHS Direct number, on 0845 603 0897.
People with concerns can also visit the genitourinary medicine clinic at Leicester Royal Infirmary – which provides a walk-in service each weekday from 9am to noon – or call the sexual health and contraception clinic on 0800 756 6277.作者: taller 时间: 2008-11-14 11:55
HIV illegal immigrant 'may have infected more than 400 women'
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:31 AM on 14th November 2008
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More than 100 women may be at risk after having unprotected sex with a man with HIV
An illegal immigrant may have infected hundreds of women with HIV in a string of one-night-stands, it has emerged.
The infected Jamaican reveller prowled nightclubs to pick up women and then spent almost a year unchecked in hospital where he looked for sex with vulnerable patients.
Health officials have written to more than 400 women to warn them they might have the deadly virus after having unprotected sex with him.
The immigrant, who arrived in the UK on a visitor's visa in 2002, has admitted he cannot remember how many woman he has slept with.
He told doctors he had sex, which was often unprotected, with women he met in two nightclubs in Leicester - the now-defunct Dark Club and the Burlington Club.
Last December, he was admitted to the Brandon mental health unit at Leicester General Hospital where he slept with fellow patients - possibly even in the unit.
Doctors were told in May that his visa had expired and he was living in the UK illegally but the HIV danger only became known in the last few weeks.
A married patient confessed to sleeping with him, according to the Sun, and he then told medics about his other sexual liaisons.
A source told the paper: 'It's literally panic stations.'
The clubber also had sex with women he met at the Brandon Mental Health Unit, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust building
Dr Philip Monk, a consultant for the Health Protection Agency (HPA) East Midlands, said: 'He doesn't know (the number of women he had unprotected sex with). He was going clubbing very regularly. He didn't have a sexual encounter every time he went out, but it didn't happen infrequently.
'There is a possibility it could be more than 100. We believe it was more than a handful.'
He added: 'We are concerned that there is a risk that the HIV positive individual may have passed on the infection as a result of the sexual activity he has engaged in.
'Understandably, women who have had sexual experiences with someone they met at either of these venues are likely to be extremely concerned, but it's important that they either visit their local genito-urinary medicine clinic or family planning clinic.
'There is also treatment that can enable them to live near-normal healthy and full lives.'
The HPA confirmed the man, who moved to Leicester in 2002, was not a bouncer at either of the clubs.
A spokesman for Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, which runs the Brandon unit, said all the women he slept with from there had been contacted.
He said: 'Although a person may have mental health problems, it doesn't mean they cannot take clear decisions on other aspects of their lives.
'There is no suggestion any activity was other than consensual but we are mindful of the potential vulnerability of these women and have taken every step to follow up the letters through teams providing medical help and emotional support.'
The man is now being cared for by the NHS outside of Leicestershire.
If caught early enough, medical treatment can prevent the HIV virus from developing in to full-blown AIDS, offering patients the chance of a largely-normal life.
HIV infects the white blood cells, which normally protect people from disease. AIDS develops when the immune system becomes too weak to continue fighting the infection.
Patients with HIV typically begin to show symptoms of the infection within five to ten years in around half of all cases.
Initial symptoms are often general conditions such as tiredness, or general ill health, but in advanced cases, patients may display 'AIDS defining' symptoms such as skin tumours or even AIDS-related dementia.
Two years ago, more than a thousand patients were placed on alert after a hospital worker was diagnosed with HIV and hepatitis B.
In the first incident of its kind, the unnamed employee was diagnosed with both blood-borne viruses while working in the NHS.
1,185 patients who had been treated by the worker at five hospitals across the West Midlands and Hampshire faced blood tests to see if they had contracted either disease.
Anyone concerned can contact NHS Direct on 0845 603 0897 where staff have been briefed on the case.作者: ljjl 时间: 2008-11-14 21:22