San Francisco Chronicle - Saturday, August 15, 1992

"We must remember the lessons of AIDS," said Dr. Donald Armstrong of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, who in 1983 issued the first call to screen the nation's blood supply for HIV. Hospitals and blood banks began routinely testing blood for AIDS two years later.

"The most important thing is the safety of our blood supply," he said. "I don't want to be behind once again."

However, officials from the federal Centers for Disease Control said researchers lack evidence that the illness is spread through blood, as AIDS is.

"We don't know enough to make a recommendation on blood safety," said Dr. Harold Jaffe, acting director of the CDC's AIDS division.

Although some experts seconded Armstrong's recommendation, others supported the CDC.

FIRST SUCH MEETING

The daylong meeting of AIDS experts from the United States and Canada marked the first time doctors and researchers have formally shared their findings to try to find common links in the patients. About 300 people attended.

Reports of the illness surfaced last month while the world's AIDS experts were meeting in the Netherlands. The CDC began investigating the illness in 1989, but it did not report its initial findings until last month because the illness was not believed to be widespread or a threat, said Dr. James Curran.

The CDC has confirmed 30 cases in the United States, and there are at least 11 others worldwide.

All 41 patients have a low number of the body's master immune cell, white blood cells called CD4s -- a characteristic of AIDS -- but do not have the known AIDS virus, HIV.

Some also have diseases commonly associated with AIDS, such as pneumonia and fungal infections.

More than half of the 30 American patients reported none of the known risk factors for AIDS, the CDC said.

MYSTERIOUS ILLNESS

Although many aspects of the new illness remain a mystery, it could be tracked by screening blood for low CD4s, experts say.

When AIDS was first diagnosed in the early 1980s, doctors immediately saw many common threads: cases were clustered in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles; all the patients reported similar risks -- sex with multiple or homosexual partners or intravenous drug use.

The 30 non-HIV U.S. patients, who range in age from 18 to 70, are scattered over 15 states and have few things in common. Some have had multiple sex partners, some have had blood transfusions, and a few have reported intravenous drug use.

In the early 1980s, AIDS victims generally died within a few months of diagnosis. Only one of the 30 U.S. patients with this new disorder has died, and some remain in generally good health seven years after diagnosis.

"It makes me think we're dealing with a very different situation here," said Dr. Martin Hirsch of Harvard Medical School.

However, Dr. John Brundage of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research said the illness is probably not new.

"We have to keep in mind that HIV testing wasn't routinely done by blood banks until 1985," he said. "CD4 counts weren't routinely done until much later. We're just seeing the results of new clinical testing methods."

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1992. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

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