Was the young man the first victim of the killer virus? HEALTH / The symptoms suffered by the 18-year-old: high fever, weakness... ARMAND MERO TIRANE – An Albanian HIV-positive man dies. Perhaps of AIDS. The victim, P. B., is an 18-year-old boy from the Vlora district who died only a few weeks ago. According to specialists, the signs shown by him fully match the clinical signs of AIDS as a disease. The doctors now at the Ministry of Health have begun the necessary medical checks — the files have been gathered at least, with the possibility of tracing step by step the onset of the illness in the 18-year-old, who before his death had been identified only as the seventh HIV-positive case in Albania. Now he will perhaps be the first case to have lost his life under the terrible shadow of AIDS, which now weighs even more fearfully. The 18-year-old from Vlora — he had previously worked for a long time in Greece until June, when he returned home sick and in a very serious condition. At first he was admitted to Hospital No. 1 in Tirana — he had a high temperature of 38.5-39 degrees that would not go down and diarrhea — in the Hepatology-Gastroenterology department the stomach, intestinal and liver diseases were treated. After spending several days in this ward, the doctors concluded that it could not be an intestinal disease, so they transferred him to the Infectious Diseases Hospital. Even here his condition did not improve; in fact, it kept getting worse. The fever remained high and the signs of severe diarrhea did not ease. Meanwhile the young man from Vlora kept weakening, his body no longer accepted food and he suffered a very large loss of weight. Finally, in his medical file the specialists noted the diagnosis “secondary anemia, diarrheal syndrome, uremic malabsorption and grade-three cachexia.” But something else was added to this sad condition. The tests carried out confirmed that the 18-year-old boy was infected with AIDS. From that moment everything was seen differently. Could the signs of his illness be those of a clinical case? A full answer can still not be given. But according to the specialists, his diagnosis is the classic complicated case of AIDS, since in fact AIDS itself is not a specific disease. Rather, it appears in the most varied forms. Its characteristic is that it destroys the body’s immunity and the person no longer has the strength to fight off the diseases that appear in him and the organism no longer reacts. On 11 June the young man from Vlora left the hospital and returned home in a somewhat improved condition. But this improvement was only an illusion. Less than two weeks passed and he lost his life. A death that caused great concern in Albanian medical circles. This time AIDS seems to have struck much harder, taking a human life. The death of this 18-year-old, perhaps the first from AIDS, does not represent the first case in which this disease appears in the medical press, since the sick person, another individual, or the second Albanian HIV-positive person, suffered from hepatitis. In this latter case it appeared in the form of jaundice or hepatitis; it was only one of two weeks and he lost his life. A death that caused great concern in Albanian medical circles. This time AIDS seems to have struck much harder, taking a human life. A patient with AIDS TIRANE — The first presentation in Albania of AIDS was made in June 1993. The HIV-positive person was a boy from Italy. Only a month later it reappeared and was found in two districts of the city of Durrës. Only a short time will pass and thus the cases will emerge again. There are cases in Greece — and he turns out to be infected. Meanwhile, at the end of November the first AIDS patient is recorded. Tragically, the life of a boy from Shkodra is cut short. He had lived for some time in Italy. Over the following months the presence increased to nearly 170 other people. In addition, at one point a person who had undergone a transfusion spread it through sexual relations. One of these had not been proven to have an influence, but according to the specialists of AIDS. And which was not entirely... Thus the strict establishment of AIDS began to be implemented. And the latest first victim of this century’s disease: the 18-year-old Lulashi from Vlora, who has now lost his life. (Ar. Me.)

Only in 1994, 37 cases of illegal weapons trafficking and 11 of drug cultivation were uncovered Minister Musaraj presents the figures Statistics of criminal activity recorded in the first half-year periods of 1992, 1993, 1994 CRIMINAL OFFENCES First 6 months of 1992 First 6 months of 1993 First 6 months of 1994 Crimes against the person Murder Attempted murder Aggravated assault Minor assault Rapes Crimes against property Theft of state property Theft of private property Damage to private property Robbery of private property Robbery of state property Crimes against state activity Crimes against MRP personnel Other crimes TOTAL TIRANE — The indicators of the fight against criminality in Albania have been published. It was the Minister of Public Order, Agron Musaraj, who at a press conference presented comparative statistical data for the last three years regarding the trends in criminal offences and the degree of their detection. And it turns out — first, a comparison of the figures for the first six months of the three years — that the overall level of criminality during this year has fallen by 38 percent compared with 1992 and by 28 percent compared with 1993. This has been accompanied by a “dramatic increase in detection rates for offences, as well as the strengthening of the police’s preventive and detection work.” The figures, of course, do not confirm the evidence that during the first period of 1994 the detection rate against criminality by the public order forces was 84.1 percent. For the same half-year period of 1993 it was 83 percent, while in 1992 it was 75.8 percent. Meanwhile, from the examination of the detection rate for each type of crime, the conclusions are clear — for 8 types of crime the detection rate in the first half compared with that of 1993 increased, while in 6 others a decrease in the percentage is noted. It is observed that in absolute figures the public order forces managed to uncover in the first half of 1994 a larger number of breaches of public order and criminal offences compared with the same period of 1993. Thus 25 fewer cases of “crimes against the person,” 773 fewer cases of “crimes against property,” and 303 fewer cases of “theft of private property” were uncovered. Nearly all the other indicators also show a decrease. So while the number of crimes has fallen, the number of cases uncovered by the public order forces has also fallen. Perhaps this is an indication that crime in Albania has also begun to become more sophisticated, which seems to have made the work of the forces even more difficult, despite the results achieved in 1993. Meanwhile, it is a well-known fact — as was also stated at the conference — that the broader spread is being accompanied by new criminal figures such as counterfeiting money, trafficking in drugs, weapons, and illegal migrants, etc. Such offences, only during this year, include 11 cases of cultivation of narcotic plants and 37 cases of arms trafficking uncovered (ante).

CURSIVE REALITY ELBASAN — A middle-aged woman was the victim of an adventure by the taxi driver in whose vehicle she was traveling from Ura e Krastës to Elbasan. Now, hit by a bullet in the shoulder, 40-year-old Fatime Myftari is hospitalized in Elbasan Hospital, fortunately out of danger. Everything began with a control carried out by the district police at the entrance to Elbasan, after which a heated discussion started between the taxi-van driver and the police. Both sides had opposing views about the taxi documents. As the argument continued, the driver apparently took off in the van at high speed, carrying the passengers with him. The policemen meanwhile set off in pursuit and at one point one of them fired, apparently hitting the car’s tyre. But the bullet, instead of piercing the tyre, grazed the woman’s body. A criminal case has now been opened against the police officer who missed the target; meanwhile the driver himself, along with the injured woman, is considered another innocent person, while perhaps the luckiest of all was the passenger from Ura. The fired bullet could have hit any one of them. Me. K. In the Financial Police vehicle

At a repair shop GJIROKASTER — An attack by thieves on a repair shop in Gjirokastër and the police attempt to block them caused it to burn completely. The incident happened at night when a group of thieves broke through the wall of the repair shop section while trying to steal the materials stored in its warehouse. Meanwhile a guard who was in the neighboring warehouse immediately raised the alarm. A criminal police unit had set out for the scene. In the panic, in order to escape, the thieves set fire to the repair shop. The guard injured during the incident was treated and is out of danger. Ra. Ko.

TIRANE — Tense situation over the hunger strike declared by the association of the formerly persecuted throughout the country. On Friday the Tirana Court declared this strike illegal after a lawsuit was filed by the government. On the other hand, that same Friday evening Kurt Kola, chairman of the association, told Gazeta Shqiptare that they would take the case to the Constitutional Court, considering the court’s decision unjust and illegal. Meanwhile the first day of the strike was accompanied by violence. In Shijak, hundreds of police officers and police forces intervened to stop the strike. Thus in Durrës, during confrontations with the public order forces — after the protesters were carrying out the strike in one of the city’s bars — five people were injured and hospitalized, while the rest continued at the police station. (a.m.)

THE NEWSPAPER STRIKE COMMITTEE MET WITH THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE — The meeting of the strike committee of the publishing of several Albanian newspapers with the Deputy Minister of Finance, Robert Çekut, lasted almost an hour. While agreement was reached on several demands of the newspapers — the reduction of the tax on paper, the distribution of subsidies to all newspapers as well as the publications and advertisements of the National Publishing Entity, which until now are done only in some party organs, and the reinstatement of the tax on advertisements as the government representatives did not categorically oppose the abolition of the 15 percent turnover tax. However, it was agreed that on 15 August another meeting would be held between representatives of both sides. ARTIANE PRIME MINISTERS OF THE TURKISH MAJORITY — One of the best-known personalities of Turkish politics, Tÿrezan i Atalësis e Madhe Husanin Çindoruk, is in Albania. Çindoruk was invited by the chairman of the People’s Assembly, Pjeter Arbnori. The Turkish politician will be received in a meeting by the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, and other personalities of the Albanian state. LIXHE, A 32-YEAR-OLD FALLS FROM THE FLOOR — The 32-year-old, whose name has not yet been identified, was found unconscious yesterday beneath a hill near his home in the centre of the city. The circumstances of the event are still unknown and the victim’s name had been in...”

All Albanian newspapers are back on sale today, after the 3-day strike against certain taxes on the press. The committee of journalists on strike has another meeting on 15 August. To readers Because of an unexpected interruption in international links, Gazeta Shqiptare went to press yesterday. We apologize to readers. The newspaper will resume today.

NATO planes condemn the Serbs Positions around Sarajevo are bombed ON PAGE 2 Storm over the referees, two excluded ON PAGE 7

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