Chicago Tribune (CT) - Friday, August 30, 1985, Page: 5
Jon Van, Science writer

Dr. Gordon Dreesman of the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, in San Antonio, said Thursday that his lab had synthesized a sequence of 18 amino acids that match a portion of the virus, known as HTLV-III.

Scientists consider this a significant achievement and an important first step toward developing a vaccine and better tests to diagnose AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Dreesman and his colleagues have begun experiments to determine if the synthetic protein they have made could protect people against AIDS. The lab has injected the protein material, called a peptide, into laboratory mice and rabbits to see if it elicits antibodies against the virus.

If the animals produce antibodies, and if those antibodies neutralize the HTLV-III virus, Dreesman plans to inject his synthetic peptides into chimpanzees and then challenge them with injections of the virus. This could occur as early as November, he said.

"After the challenge, we would have to monitor the animals for a long time, perhaps 12 months, to see if they develop an infection," Dreesman said. "This disease has such a long incubation period, you have to wait a long time for anything to happen."

If the chimpanzees were protected against AIDS infection, Dreesman said, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could decide whether vaccine tests should be performed on humans at high risk of developing AIDS. That decision could be made in 1987, if all tests on animals were successful.

Dreesman, whose work is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, said the segment of HTLV-III virus chosen for synthesis apparently remains stable in the virus.

Dreesman's peptide synthesis was described as important research by Dr. George Nemo of the National Institutes of Health. It was done in collaboration with Dr. Myron Essex of Harvard University.

In another development Thursday, the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta urged that children with AIDS be allowed to attend regular school classes in most cases.

"Casual person-to-person contact, as would occur among schoolchildren, appears to pose no risk," the agency said.

The disease, which cripples a person's ability to fight infections, is transmitted through blood, semen or other bodily fluids and not through casual contact, said Dr. Martha Rogers of the agency.

At least 183 people younger than 18 have been diagnosed with AIDS, Rogers said. Despite the lack of a good reason for keeping them out of school, none has been allowed to attend, as far as researchers know, she said.

A more restricted environment is recommended for infected children if they are younger than school age, are handicapped and cannot control their body secretions or if they might bite other children.

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