Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1986. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - September 28, 1986
The researchers reported that the younger boy contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion he received during surgery to correct a heart defect. He died of the disease at age 3 1/2.
His brother, who was three years older, was later found to have antibodies to the AIDS virus, but the other family members apparently were virus-free.
About six months before he died, the younger boy had bitten his brother on the forearm. The mother reported seeing tooth imprints on the victim's skin, but no bleeding or bruising.
"This observation suggests that even minor bites by HIV-infected children may carry the risk of virus transmission," the scientists wrote in a letter last week to the British medical journal, The Lancet.
"Parents, teachers and other people responsible for HIV-infected children should be aware of this possibility and try to prevent the spread of the virus by this route."
HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus, the internationally adopted name of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus. The virus is also referred to as HTLV-3 and LAV, its original names.
The boys' mother said the older brother had "never been seriously ill, had never been given blood or blood products, and had not been sexually abused."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control withheld comment Friday until its researchers were able to read the report and talk to the authors. Sexual contact and use of contaminated blood or needles are considered the prime routes of AIDS virus transmission. Although many families of AIDS victims have been studied, the German case was apparently a first involving a child infecting another.
It could also be the first time the virus was transmitted without any apparent break in the skin or without sexual activity.
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