Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1986. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - October 29, 1986
Dr. Timothy J. Dondero of the Federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta says the proposed changes would include patients who "do not meet the fairly rigorous case definition now required."
The definition now covers patients with depressed immune systems together with one major specific illness tied to the syndrome; for example, Karposi's sarcoma, a skin cancer. Or they must show evidence of a suppressed immune system, a positive AIDS antibody blood test and one disease from a Federal list of lesser infections.
A patient might be gravely ill, have a positive test for AIDS antibodies in the blood and show symptoms that have been determined, but only recently, to be early signs of AIDS, and yet not be listed as an AIDS victim under the present definition. This would be because the patient does not show evidence of any of the diseases listed by the Government. #26,566 Cases Reported As of Oct. 20, there were 26,566 cases of AIDS reported in the United States, and 14,977 people, or 56 percent, had died, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
One problem with defining AIDS is that different patients fall ill with different things once the immune system is attacked, according to Dr. Sheldon Landesman of the State University of New York-Brooklyn Downstate Medical Center. He gave his opinion in an interview published Sunday in The Los Angeles Herald Examiner.
Dr. Landesman and a colleague, Dr. Eugene W. Straus, estimated that a revised definition would raise the total number of recorded AIDS victims by 14 percent, to nearly 30,000.
Definition changes are first debated by specialists at the Centers for Disease Control, then by a panel of experts from around the nation. Changes must be approved by the Federal Office of Management and Budget; then they go to state epidemiologists.
In addition, a separate definition of pediatric AIDS, already adopted by the Centers for Disease Control but not yet in effect, will almost certainly pick up cases that do not meet the current criteria, Dr. Joseph Church of Children's Hospital in Los Angeles said. </txt> <sub> ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME (AIDS); RESEARCH </sub> <nexsqn> 205551861029 </nexsqn> <edt> Late City Final Edition </edt> <sec> A </sec> <pg> 21 </pg> <sortpg> 0021 </sortpg> <cl> 3 </cl> <dsk> National Desk </dsk> <nexpd> 19861029080000 </nexpd> <pdate> 19861029 </pdate> <day> Wednesday </day> <pdm> 10 </pdm> <pdd> 29 </pdd> <pdy> 1986 </pdy> <sqn> 555186 </sqn>
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