HIV and ID Observations

From the prolific folks at NATAP came this surprising announcement:

The Cardinals are stepping up to the plate against Hepatitis C. Starting Monday, August 22, fans will be able to get free Hepatitis C screenings at Busch Stadium. It’s part of a nationwide effort by Major League Baseball to bring attention to the causes and treatment of Hepatitis C.

Cardinal fans — and believe me, there are lots of them out there — will note that this opportunity comes the same month as the Willy McGee and Matt Holliday Bobblehead games, coming up this Thursday and Friday respectively.

But giveaways aside, why is MLB doing this? There are lots of diseases out there for which they could offer screening, though clearly colon cancer would be hard to pull off in a ballpark.

One possibility is that the teams that are offering it — the Cardinals, Astros, White Sox, and (of course) Cubs — need a distraction from the fact that the odds of their appearing in the post-season are fading daily.

Another is that HCV is still looking for it’s ideal Magic Johnson-like spokesperson, something John Bartlett (the Hopkins one) has always said the disease lacks. Plenty of bad candidates over the years — Evel Knieval, Jack Kevorkian, James Earl Ray, Linda Lovelace.

So is some appealing baseball superstar about to step forward?

Let’s just hope he’s not on the Brewers — beer and HCV not a great mix.