Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - November 24, 2007
Cecilia M. Vega, cvega@sfchronicle.com.
Sande died Nov. 14 of multiple myeloma at his home in Seattle, according to his family. He was 68.
In 1981, he was just six months on the job as chief of medicine at San Francisco General Hospital when the mysterious cases began to arrive.
Gay men showed up at the city's leading trauma center with purple skin lesions. One man died from toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection rarely seen in patients with a healthy immune systems.
Within two years of treating the first AIDS cases, Sande successfully lobbied for a ward at San Francisco General dedicated to AIDS patients - the first of its kind in the world - and also helped found an outpatient AIDS clinic at the hospital.
"It was probably the most frustrating, challenging, depressing and exciting period all wrapped into one," said Dr. Mervyn Silverman, who was San Francisco's public health director from 1977 to 1985. "At that time, especially for people like Merle and the others at the hospital, none of us knew what the hell it was."
Sande, along with fellow physician Paul A. Volberding and others, developed what became known as the "San Francisco model" for AIDS treatment. He co-wrote the first AIDS infection control guidelines, which taught health care workers not only how to care for AIDS patients, but also how to protect themselves from the disease.
He and Volberding also edited the best selling text book, "The Medical Management of AIDS," and Sande eventually became the president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He received numerous awards, including the Alexander Fleming Award - the highest award bestowed by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
The early days of AIDS were the most frightening, Sande told The Chronicle in 1996 when he left San Francisco General to become chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Utah.
"When we wrote the first infection control guidelines for AIDS, we had no idea what we were doing," he said. "Had we been wrong, there would have been lots of doctors and nurses infected today. I guess we were lucky."
His proudest accomplishment in San Francisco, he recalled, was his battle to win funding for the Gladstone Institute of Virology & Immunology. Founded in 1993, the center affiliated with UCSF went on to earn a reputation as one of the nation's premier hubs for AIDS research.
"He was a lot of fun. He like to joke around," Silverman remembered. "And when we started this, you really needed your batteries recharged. ... It was very depressing. These were not people in their 80s and 90s dying. These were people younger than you were, or the same age. You were seeing yourself there."
Sande later turned his attention to the spread of AIDS in Africa and helped create the Infectious Diseases Institute at the Makerere College of Health Sciences in Kampala, Uganda. The institute trains African health workers in AIDS care and prevention and has treated more than 19,000 patients since it opened in 2004, according to its Web site.
Raised in Mount Vernon, Wash., Sande received his medical degree from the University of Washington. He joined the faculty at the University of Virginia, where he headed the Department of Medicine until he moved to San Francisco. During his career, he also served as the vice chair of UCSF's Department of Medicine and as professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
He is survived by his wife, Jenny Lo; son Eric of Alameda; daughters Suzanne Sande Mrlik of San Francisco, Missy Sande Collins of Lake Stevens, Wash., and Sarah Sande of Glen Ellen; sister Carri Nielsen of Williamsburg, Va.; and eight grandchildren.
Services will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Fir-Conway Lutheran Church in Mount Vernon, Wash.
Donations in his honor may be made to the Dr. Merle A. Sande Memorial Fund, Academic Alliance Foundation, 1611 North Kent Street, Suite 202, Arlington, VA 22209 or through the Web site at www.academicalliancefoundation.org.
071124
SC071105
Copyright © 2007 - San Francisco Chronicle Press. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the San Francisco Chronicle, Permissions Desk, 901 Mission Street, San Franciso, CA 94103. You may also send a fax to (415) 495-3843, or an email message to chronperm@sfgate.com. http://www.sfgate.com.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2007. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2007. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .