Calif. Porn Actress Tests Positive for HIV

Health officials call for industry to improve safety measures
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 11, 2009 9:30 AM CDT
Calif. Porn Actress Tests Positive for HIV
Adult film stars pose for photos at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas earlier this year. LA County officials say they are told of 60 to 80 cases of STDs in the industry each month.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

California's pornography industry has confirmed its first case of HIV since 2004, the Los Angeles Times reports. The female performer worked infrequently, according to a rep for the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, who denied rumors of an outbreak. LA County health officials said they planned to investigate and renewed calls for the self-policing industry to improve performer safety.

"You wouldn't send someone to work on a high-rise building without a hard hat," the county's chief medical officer said, "so why are we allowing these performers to perform without condoms?" He said the industry's current policy of testing performers is inadequate and unsafe because it takes around 10 days for exposure to HIV to show up on test results.
(More porn star stories.)

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