Faculty Bibliography

In certain areas of Africa, one in four adults is infected with the virus that causes AIDS, and around the world the disease now rivals the greatest epidemics of history, says a United Nations report issued Tuesday. In the first country-by-country analysis of the disease, the United Nations said that last year 30 million people worldwide were infected with HIV, the AIDS virus, and that 21 million were in Africa. Countries south of the Sahara account for the world's 21 highest rates of HIV among adults age 15 to 49 years, the most sexually active segment of the population. In 13 of those countries, HIV has infected at least 10 percent of adults, and in Botswana and Zimbabwe, a quarter of adults are infected, a rate that even an expert described as 'shocking.'

The scourge of AIDS now rivals the greatest epidemics of history, particularly in areas of Africa where as many as one in four adults is infected with HIV, according to a U.N. report on Tuesday. In the first country-by-country analysis of the disease, the United Nations said 30 million people worldwide last year were infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and 21 million of them were in Africa. Countries south of the Sahara account for the world's 21 highest rates of HIV among adults ages 15 to 49, the most sexually active segment of the population. In 13 of those countries, HIV has infected at least 10 percent of adults, and in Botswana and Zimbabwe, a quarter of adults are infected, a rate that even an expert described as 'shocking.'

Little can rival the misery of a medical researcher who discovers that a co-author has committed scientific misconduct. One who feels that most keenly is Dr. Cameron Bowie, emeritus director of public health in Somerset, England. Last week, Bowie retracted a published paper that had been influential in developing health policy on community care in England and that was incorporated in national testing of public health doctors. The paper, on the need for and cost-effectiveness of community-based care for the disabled, had won acclaim for Bowie and his co-author, Dr. Mark H. Williams. Fellow researchers had called it a fundamental report. Bowie had trumpeted the findings with gusto until British officials found that Williams had committed scientific misconduct, including falsifying statistics in another research paper. Williams, a trusted friend, had put Bowie's scientific credentials into question, and in an interview last week, Bowie said his 'reaction was one of disbelief that it could have happened.'

The Food and Drug Administration has given approval to a Bay area company to conduct the world's first full-scale test of a vaccine to prevent infection with the AIDS virus, the company announced Wednesday. The announcement brought expressions of cautious hope among health officials and advocates for people with AIDS. HIV, the AIDS virus, has infected an estimated 30 million people in the world, and many experts say it will take a vaccine to stop the worsening epidemic. But scientists are sharply divided over when and which experimental vaccines to approve for full-scale testing. No vaccine is 100 percent effective. Some experts favor testing any promising vaccine, even if it is likely to protect only a small proportion of recipients, arguing that something is better than nothing in a health emergency

The Food and Drug Administration has given a California company approval to conduct the world's first full-scale test of a vaccine to prevent infection with the AIDS virus, the company announced Wednesday. The experiment is to involve 5,000 uninfected individuals in up to 40 clinics in the United States and Canada and 2,500 volunteers in 16 clinics in Thailand over the next four years, the company, VaxGen Inc. of South San Francisco, said. The announcement brought expressions of cautious hope among health officials and advocates for people with AIDS. HIV, the AIDS virus, has infected an estimated 30 million people in the world, and many experts say it will take a vaccine to stop the worsening epidemic

The Food and Drug Administration has given a California company approval to conduct the world's first full-scale test of a vaccine to prevent infection by the virus that causes AIDS, the company announced on Wednesday. Florida will almost surely be chosen as one of the sites where the vaccine will be tested, VaxGen spokeswoman Nicole Lynch said. South Florida, with its diverse mix of AIDS patients, is a prime location, she said. The announcement brought expressions of cautious hope among health officials and advocates for people with AIDS. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has infected an estimated 30 million people in the world, and many experts say it will take a vaccine to stop the worsening epidemic

The Food and Drug Administration has given a California company approval to conduct the world's first full-scale test of a vaccine to prevent infection with the AIDS virus, the company announced Wednesday. The experiment is to involve 5,000 uninfected individuals in as many as 40 clinics in the United States and Canada and 2,500 volunteers in 16 clinics in Thailand during the next four years, VaxGen Inc. said. The South San Francisco company said it expects to receive approval from Thai health officials to begin testing in that country later this year. The VaxGen vaccine was safe in earlier tests involving 1,200 volunteers beginning in March 1992 and induced antibodies in more than 99 percent of the vaccinated participants, the company said. The question the new tests aim to answer is how effective the experimental vaccine will be among people who are exposed to HIV because of high-risk sexual practices or from injecting drugs