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A national surveillance system has been set up by federal health officials to track cases of an AIDS-like illness for people who show no evidence of infection with the HIV virus. A total of 14 patients have been found to have the mysterious illness

[Ludwik Gross]' caution adds an unusual twist to the bizarre tale of mysterious AIDS-like cases recounted last month at an international AIDS conference in Amsterdam. American and European scientists spoke about a few dozen cases of an AIDS-like illness among individuals who showed no evidence of infection with HIV-1 or HIV-2. [Sudhir Gupta] reported that he had detected a virus unlike any of the known human retroviruses in a 66-year-old woman with an AIDS-like illness. Her only apparent risk factor was a blood transfusion she received in 1949 or 1950. Gupta said he also had found the virus in the woman's 38-year-old daughter. Gupta said he has not said the virus is new or linked to AIDS. He said he did not know how the virus was transmitted, although in the paper he raised the possibility of transmission through blood transfusions

[Ludwik Gross]' caution adds an unusual twist to the bizarre tale of mysterious AIDS-like cases that was recounted last month at an international AIDS conference in Amsterdam. There American and European scientists spoke about a few dozen cases of an AIDS-like illness among individuals who showed no evidence of infection with HIV-1 or HIV-2. Dr. Luc Montagnier, the French researcher who played crucial roles in the discovery of the two viruses that cause AIDS, HIV-1 and HIV-2, said in an interview at the Pasteur Institute here that he shares Gross' concern and doubts. [Sudhir Gupta] reported that he had detected a virus unlike any of the known human retroviruses in a 66-year-old woman with an AIDS-like illness. Her only apparent risk factor was a blood transfusion she received in 1949 or 1950. Gupta said he had also found the virus in the woman's 38-year-old, healthy daughter

[Ludwik Gross]' caution adds an unusual twist to the tale of mysterious AIDS-like cases that was recounted last month at an international AIDS conference in Amsterdam. There American and European scientists spoke about a few dozen cases of an AIDS-like illness among individuals who showed no evidence of infection with HIV-1 or HIV-2. Gross said he decided to introduce [Sudhir Gupta]'s paper to the proceedings after the findings were reviewed by two independent researchers. Although the reviewers expressed reservations about Gupta's technique and scientific controls, they recommended publication because they found the findings fascinating. Gupta reported that he had detected a virus unlike any of the known human retroviruses in a 66-year-old woman with an AIDS-like illness. Her only apparent risk factor was a blood transfusion she received in 1949 or 1950. Gupta said he had also found the virus in the woman's 38-year-old, healthy daughter

[Ludwik Gross], 88, said that he ''wanted to brake the scare'' that resulted from publicity about the report and allay ''unwarranted conclusions'' that led the public to fear that an AIDS-like virus is on the loose. Gross' caution adds an unusual twist to the bizarre tale of mysterious AIDS-like cases that was recounted last month at an international AIDS conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands. [Sudhir Gupta] said he detected a virus unlike any known human retroviruses in a 66-year-old woman with an AIDS-like illness. Her only apparent risk factor was a blood transfusion she received in 1949 or 1950

A report by Sudhir Gupta citing a possible new HIV-like virus, which is being published in the Aug 1992 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and has stirred public fear of an unsafe blood supply, is being questioned by two scientists, Ludwik Gross, who sponsored Gupta's report, and Luc Montagnier, head of France's Pasteur Institute

Dr. [Ludwik Gross]' caution adds an unusual twist to the bizarre tale of AIDS-like cases that was recounted last month at an international AIDS conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where U.S. and European scientists spoke about a few dozen cases of an AIDS-like illness among people who showed no evidence of infection with HIV-1 or HIV-2. Dr. [Sudhir Gupta] reported that he had detected a virus unlike any of the known human retroviruses in a 66-year-old woman with an AIDS-like illness. Her only apparent risk factor was a blood transfusion she received in 1949 or 1950. Dr. Gupta said he had also found the virus in the woman's healthy 38-year-old daughter. Dr. Gupta insisted in an interview that he has not said that the virus is new or linked to AIDS. He said he did not know how the virus was transmitted

The cases involve an AIDS-like illness without evidence of infection with H.I.V., the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS. The alarm centers on a threat to the nation's blood supply from what may be a new AIDS-like virus and alarm over how such a virus might spread. Dr. James Curran, the C.D.C.'s leading AIDS expert, followed, adding the agency's six cases. He asked aloud whether the C.D.C. should have published them earlier in its widely read weekly report, and he also put out a call for doctors to report additional cases. Participants shouted, 'Yes!' because earlier reporting could have speeded up the recognition and investigation of the problem. 'It is so easy to slip into this AIDS mentality because we are talking about it at an AIDS conference and we have AIDS researchers doing the work,' Dr. Curran said, adding, 'This is not AIDS caused by something else.'

Dr. Anthony Pinching, an AIDS expert at St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School in London, said that in learning to deal with AIDS in the long term, the world had to fight unrealistic expectations of a technological quick fix, and that scientists had to acknowledge the limits of their knowledge. Dr. Sam Broder, the head of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, warned against expecting a miracle cure for AIDS soon. He said progress was more likely to come from learning how to use combinations of existing drugs, which could be more effective and safer than using most AIDS drugs alone. PHOTO; This magnified white blood cell is infected with a new virus found in nine people who have AIDS symptoms but who aren't infected with two known AIDS viruses.; Credit: AP

The sobering reality that scientists have failed to slow the spread of AIDS, a point that became very clear at the 1992 AIDS conference in Amsterdam, is discussed and AIDS research efforts are analyzed