Petrelis Files

That sometimes nutty conservative gay blogger superstar Andrew Sullivan is also demanding the New York Times report the good HIV/AIDS news out of San Francisco. Good for him. He writes:

NYT DISTORTIONS II: The New York Times' medical correspondent still hasn't backed away from front-page story in July 2000, predicting a "sub-Saharan" explosion in AIDS and HIV cases in San Francisco.

I questioned his methodology at the time, spurred by the vigilance of Michael Petrelis, an HIV activist. Anyway, the latest data from San Francisco is now in on new AIDS cases in the first quarter of 2004.

Petrelis compares them to previous first quarter results from 1999 onwards. Bottom line:

1999 = 62
2000 = 49
2001 = 56
2002 = 40
2003 = 14
2004 = 8

Now, of course, AIDS cases do not correlate with new HIV cases.

Nevertheless, in five years, numbers of new AIDS cases in San Francisco in the first quarter have dropped from 62 to 8.

Until the New York Times runs this astonishingly good data on its front page, its medical reporter, Lawrence K. Altman, has some 'splaining to do.