GERRI@IBM.COM (Gerri Oppedisano) (01/24/91)
More on scuba and HIV+ or AIDS active people.. gerri@ibm.com ****** The following is a COPY ***************************** Date: Wed, 23 Jan 91 14:15:27 EST From: njs@cpunk.watson.ibm.com (Nicholas J. Simicich) To: phil@wubios.wustl.edu Subject: AIDS drugs under pressure Reply-To: Nick Simicich <njs@watson> Someone in my group forwarded something you posted to sci.med.aids to me, since I am a Scuba instructor. This was regarding the use of AZT under pressure. I expect that Dan's advice was on the mark. I'd like to add this further caution: There are a number of bacteria that inhabit water that people dive in, which are relatively unknown to most everyone's immune system. I attended a medical lecture last year, and the doctor there told the people in the audience to be sure to let any doctor who treated them for a infection after diving know that they might have been exposed to different bacteria than one might be likely to catch on the surface. I think that the specific name for the bacteria was V. vibro, but don't quote me. I'm not near my notes. Another example of this is diving with contact lenses. It is possible to get an eye infection because water has gotten into your mask. This is considered to be a significant risk increase over walking around with lenses in, because of the extra bacteria. Thus, I'd add another caveat to diving with HIV. If one's immune system is compromised such that one can't fight off normal infections, there is an increased risk to diving, just as there is to entering any environment known to be rich in hungry bacteria. I have no way of accessing the risk on an individual basis, and the potential diver should assess the risk for themselves, perhaps with the aid of their doctor. I doubt it would be significantly different from simply swimming in that same water, but frankly I can't offer an opinion on that. A final, nasty sort of thing: I have a friend who is a SCUBA instructor in Florida who had to give CPR to someone who was foaming blood at the mouth after a lung overexpansion injury. I think I'd let my instructor know I was HIV positive, if I were. If one of my students told me this, I'd keep a pocket mask with me in case CPR was required. (I usually keep a pocket mask in my first aid kit). Nick Simicich (NJS at WATSON, njs@ibm.com) ---SSI AOWI #3958, HSA #318 Seen on a button at an SF Convention: Copy from one, it's plagiarism; copy from two, it's research.
rob@mtdiablo.Concord.CA.US (Rob Bernardo) (01/25/91)
GERRI@IBM.COM (Gerri Oppedisano) wrote: >More on scuba and HIV+ or AIDS active people.. ... >I'd like to add this further caution: There are a number of bacteria >that inhabit water that people dive in, which are relatively unknown ... >Thus, I'd add another caveat to diving with HIV. If one's immune >system is compromised such that one can't fight off normal infections, >there is an increased risk to diving, just as there is to entering any >environment known to be rich in hungry bacteria. I have no way of The part of the immune system that is degraded by HIV is not the part that fights bacterial infections. --