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It is especially difficult for the virus to move from an infected woman to an uninfected man, as a study published last September in the Journal of the American Medical Association makes clear. A team of scientists, led by Nancy Padian of the University of California at San Francisco, studied AIDS-virus transmission among 379 heterosexual couples. While the scientists found 61 cases in which an HIV-infected man gave the virus to a woman, they saw only one case of an infected woman's giving it to a man. And in that case, the couple engaged in some particularly unsafe practices, including unprotected anal sex and swapping sex partners with members of a "swinging" club.
The initial skepticism that greeted Magic Johnson's explanation of how he had contracted the AIDS virus stemmed from such studies -- and from his reluctance to speak directly to the rumors of bisexual activities in the past. Johnson finally addressed those rumors last week. "I have never had a homosexual encounter," he wrote in SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. "Never."
Such denials are sometimes questioned by medical professionals. Doctors and nurses who minister to AIDS patients say that a heterosexual man who has contracted HIV will often tell his wife and children he got it from a prostitute. But close to death, these same men will sometimes confide that they did have a homosexual experience. Or that they flirted, many years ago, with intravenous drugs. At Sherman Oaks Hospital in California, which has been caring for AIDS patients since 1980, the nurses are no longer surprised. "When a guy says he got it from a woman, we just nod," says a nurse. "It's probably not true, but that's the way most of them want to handle it. And that's fine."
In the end, it doesn't matter whether Magic Johnson got the AIDS virus through heterosexual or homosexual sex. The fact remains that people can get infected through heterosexual contact and that a few simple precautions can sharply reduce -- or eliminate -- those risks. If Johnson can get that message across to those who need it most -- sexually active teens and young adults -- then his outspokenness will have done an immeasurable public service.
There were signs last week that Johnson has already started to make a difference. In schools across the country, teachers hastily organized classes and assemblies to answer the flood of student questions. At Inglewood High School near Los Angeles, where the Lakers frequently practice and Magic's name is magical, Jesse Jackson spoke to the students about AIDS, and the school passed out free condoms. "I hope everyone got one," says Rashieda Lane, 16. "I don't want my friends to catch it."
Americans are likely to hear a lot more about condoms in the coming months. Fox Broadcasting, the fourth largest TV network, reversed a long-standing policy and became the first national broadcaster willing to accept paid condom advertising -- provided the ads stress the health benefits and not birth control. CBS is also reviewing its condom-ad policies.