Faculty Bibliography

Gene M. Shearer, a researcher at the National Cancer Institute, reported in the journal Science on Dec 10, 1993 that test-tube experiments have restored normal immune responses in cells from people affected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Restoration of the immune function was achieved by adding a natural blood substance known as IL-12 to the cells

A major unanswered question about AIDS is whether the immune system can be restored once the virus has damaged it. With evidence that IL-12 can restore immune functions, plans are under way to begin safety tests by next summer on a small number of infected patients, the National Cancer Institute said. In the new study, [Gene Shearer]'s team added several antigens to cultures of white blood cells from 40 people infected with HIV and from nine who were not. Among the antigens used in the study were an influenza virus and synthetic versions of proteins contained in the outer coat of HIV. When IL-12 was added to the cultures in which the cells were grown, the cells displayed a normal response to antigens

Facing great economic and political pressures to overhaul health care, two prestigious Boston teaching hospitals, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, said on Dec 8, 1993 that they had agreed to merge

Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospitals in Boston MA are expected to approve the merger of the hospitals when the board meets on Dec 8, 1993. The merger of the two hospitals grows out of an effort by the dean of Harvard Medical School, Daniel Tosteson, who had prodded the school's five teaching hospitals to come up with ways to control costs and at the same time preserve the quality of their teaching programs and patient care

Scientists have detected two cases in which the AIDS virus has been transmitted from one child and one adolescent to others but apparently not by the usual routes. The most likely cause is believed to be that infected blood from one entered the other through a cut or disease that broke the skin. Although the cases can be expected to raise questions about the policy of admitting infected children to schools and day-care centers, experts familiar with the two cases say they strongly believe that there is no reason to change public policy because of the rarity of such transmission. In each case, the child and adolescent are believed to have acquired HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from another child or teenager living in the same household

Scientists have detected two cases in which HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has been transmitted from one child and one adolescent to others but apparently not by the usual routes. In each case, the child and adolescent is believed to have acquired HIV from another child or teen-ager living in the same household. The most likely cause is believed to be that infected blood from one entered the other through a cut or disease that broke the skin

Experts point to more than a dozen careful studies reported in medical journals that have shown that HIV does not spread among members of the same household except through the established routes of transmission, such as sexual intercourse and sharing contaminated needles. These studies followed 1,100 family members for an average of more than a year. The National Institutes of Health, a federal agency, said, 'Studies of families of HIV-infected people have clearly shown that HIV is not spread through casual contact such as the sharing of food utensils, towels and bedding, swimming pools, telephones, or toilet seats.' The experts have also considered another possibility: That HIV, a virus that is mutating all the time, might have developed a form that is more easily transmitted. But experts said there is no evidence from laboratory studies that the HIV strains in the two cases are substantially different from other strains

In the New Jersey case, the older, infected child had frequent nosebleeds and the younger child had dermatitis, a condition that breaks the surface of the skin. The infected boy had a cut at one point, which might have served as a source of virus-laden blood. Also, though probably less important, the boys slept in the same bed and sometimes shared a toothbrush. The New Jersey boys are not biologically related. The older boy was infected by his mother at the time of birth. Shortly after birth, the younger boy tested positive for HIV, but the test became negative as the infant grew older. The virus could not be detected by culture and by a special technique known as polymerase chain reaction. In the case of the two brothers with hemophilia, the older boy was known to have been infected in 1985 through a hemophilia drug that was processed before the HIV test was marketed. The younger boy, who received a heat-treated drug that is believed to be free of HIV, remained HIV negative until two years ago. Tests showed the two brothers had virtually the same virus

Scientists have detected two cases in which the AIDS virus has been transmitted from one child and one adolescent to others by other than the usual routes. The most likely cause is believed to be that infected blood from one entered the other through a cut or disease that broke the skin. Although the cases can be expected to raise questions about infected children being in day cares or schools, experts say they believe there is no reason to change public policy because of the rarity of such transmission

In a report to be published on Dec 4, 1993 in the Lancet, a team of scientists says it has discovered the cause of Kawasaki syndrome, an ailment that often leads to heart disease in children. Experts estimate there are 5,000 cases of the disease each year in the US and many more elsewhere