The New York Times - November 19, 1985
Jeffrey Schmalz

But the panel did find that the child has been infected with the AIDS virus and suffers from a related immune-system deficiency.

Dr. David J. Sencer, the city's Health Commissioner, who announced the finding yesterday, said it did not change the basic facts in the case. He said the decision whether to label the case as AIDS was more one of semantics than of substance.

"The important thing is that this child has the virus that causes AIDS," Dr. Sencer said. "The child is immune-depressed; its immune system is not working well. If the child has the virus, that means the child's blood would be infectious to other people if injected, or if the child were old enough to have sexual intercourse, that act would be infectious."

Infection Disappeared

But Dr. Sencer reiterated his belief that in the course of normal school activity, a child who has developed AIDS or a child who has the AIDS virus would not pose a threat to the health of other students.

The seven-member panel, which had been appointed by Dr. Sencer, based its decision on Federal Centers for Disease Control guidelines on AIDS that require, in part, the prolonged presence of an opportunistic infection as a result of a patient's weakened immune system.

In this case, that of an unidentified second-grader, such an infection, not specified by Dr. Sencer, was present for a time, but disappeared.

The Health Department set off a panic among many parents of public-school children in September when it announced that a pupil had AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Many boycotted classes, and a suit, which is pending, was brought in State Supreme Court in Queens to block the admission of pupils with AIDS.

Reported as 'Possible Case'

Dr. Sencer said yesterday that the original announcement of AIDS was based on reports by the child's physician. But the child's lawyer, David Ellenhorn, said later that the physician had reported only "a possible case of AIDS."

After the outcry by parents, the Koch administration appointed a panel composed of a parent, a social worker, a school administrator and a doctor to recommend whether the student should attend school. That panel, which said the child should be admitted to class, never disputed whether the child had an outright case of AIDS.

Dr. Sencer said yesterday that the panel had relied on information supplied by the child's physician.

The second panel, whose decision was made public yesterday, was named after it was disclosed during the Queens trial that the pupil might not have AIDS. Its members also did not examine the child, Dr. Sencer said.

The panel must still issue its recommendation on whether the child should be allowed to continue in school.

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