Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1985. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - Thursday, April 18, 1985
Scientists have found at least six drugs that inhibit the growth of the virus that causes it, Dr. Martin S. Hirsch, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, told an international AIDS symposium.
Hirsch said that researchers in several countries, using infected patients, are trying the drugs against the HTLV-3 virus, which scientists believe causes AIDS.
"We have a long way to go before AIDS is preventable or even treatable, but I think we are on our way," Hirsch said.
The drugs being tested include interferon; Suramin, used against sleeping sickness in Africa; HPA-23; trisodium phosphonoformate; ribivarin, used against severe influenza and Lassa fever; and Ansamycin.
AIDS -- acquired immune deficiency syndrome -- destroys the body's immune system, clearing the way for a host of fatal infections. Since 1979, the disease has claimed 9,500 victims in the United States and nearly 1,700 in other nations.
Also at the symposium:
* Dr. Robert Redfield, a specialist at the Walter Reed Institute of Research in Washington, D.C., proclaimed: "This is a general disease now. Get rid of the high-risk groups (homosexuals, hemophiliacs and intravenous drug abusers) -- anyone can get it." But the Centers for Disease Control's Dr. Walter Dowdle said he doesn't expect the virus to spread as quickly among heterosexuals as it has among gay people.
* Charles Rabkin of the New York City Department of Health identified 14 men with AIDS who had had no contact with anyone in the high-risk groups. Eleven said they had had sex with prostitutes; four reported 175 or more sexual partners.
* New York Hospital psychologist Susan Tross reported her survey found that 85 percent of gay men with lymphadenopathy -- chroinic swollen lymph glands, a major AIDS warning signal -- suffer from major anxiety and stress, compared to 54 percent of men who know they have AIDS and 31 percent of healthy gay men.
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