Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1985. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The New York Times - November 13, 1985
Officials in the Public Health Service said tonight that the guidelines focus on occupations such as food handlers, cosmetologists, manicurists and other service personnel who have close contact with the public.
The officials, agreeing with most health experts, say that screening employees or restricting individuals known to be exposed to the virus is unwarranted because there is no evidence that casual contact spreads the disease.
AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is a viral infection that attacks the body's immune system, leaving it unable to fight off disease. There is no effective treatment for the ailment, which has been reported in more than 14,000 Americans and has already claimed the lives of more than half of them.
While the guidelines warn health care workers to take precautions in dealing with blood or bodily fluids in which AIDS might be transmitted, they emphasize that the kind of contact associated with most jobs is unlikely to spread the disease. The precautions recommended for health care workers are similar to precautions now taken in dealing with other infectious diseases, like hepatitis B. The guidelines suggest that people who work with food should not be restricted from work even if they are known to have been exposed to AIDS, unless they have another infection or illness that would warrant restriction. Health experts say AIDS is not transmitted through food preparation.
Test Is Controversial
Most victims of the disease have been homosexual men or intravenous drug users, who often share contaminated needles. The virus appears to be transmitted only through blood or semen.
A number of public officials around the country have urged that workers in certain fields, including food handling, health care and classroom teaching, should be required to undergo a test that can determine the presence of antibodies to the AIDS virus in the bloodstream.
Presence of the antibody indicates that a person has been infected by the AIDS virus at some point. Scientists are unable to say how many of those people will actually develop the fatal ailment, but it is believed that carriers who show no symptoms may spread the disease to others through the sharing of blood or through sexual relations.
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