Connecticut man may carry drug-resistant HIV strain

A preliminary study suggests a genetic and epidemiological link between an HIV-positive Connecticut man and the widely reported case of a New York City man with virulent multidrug-resistant HIV. Gary Blick, the Connecticut patient's physician, announced the case Thursday. The two men had unsafe sex together "during a night of sex and drugs last fall at a club in Manhattan," Blick, an AIDS specialist, told the Connecticut Post. However, that "does not by any means confirm direct person-to-person transmission" of HIV between them, he said. His patient's virus is resistant to 19 of the 21 HIV drugs on the market, Blick said. Blick noted that he is releasing information about the Connecticut patient with multidrug-resistant HIV quickly in order to prevent its spread. Blick is the founder of the Connecticut HIV/AIDS/STD Task Force and the Norwalk, Conn.-based Global Health Organization. A spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene refused to comment on any potential link between Blick's patient and the New York City case. "Our investigation is continuing and progressing," said Sandra Mullen. (AP)