Subject: AIDS-Like Illness Without HIV Found In 9 More Cases 
Date: Published: 8/7/92 (38 lines)
Source: Wall Street Journal. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc.

    Technology & Medicine:
    AIDS-Like Illness
    Without HIV Found
    In 9 More Cases
    ----
    By Marilyn Chase
    Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

    ATLANTA -- The Centers for Disease Control said a national search
 turned up an additional nine cases of people with AIDS-like illness
 but without the human immunodeficiency virus.
    The CDC has called a meeting for next Friday to review the
 findings.  This brings to 14 the total of such cases reported and
 confirmed by the CDC. A further 21 cases surfaced in written or
 anecdotal reports before or during last month's international AIDS
 conference.  The reports leave many questions unanswered.
    "The cause of the condition remains unknown," the CDC said in its
 report, adding that these cases may represent a group of varied
 disorders rather than a single syndrome.  Despite a preliminary
 report from Irvine, Calif., scientist Sudhir Gupta, no definite
 proof of a new virus has been found yet.  There is also no evidence
 that the condition is transmissible.
    CDC said its HIV-negative patients had at least a two-thirds
 reduction in the normal level of infection-fighting white blood
 cells known as CD4 cells.  None of them had immune weakness stemming
 from other illnesses such as cancer, nor had they taken drug
 treatments known to suppress the immune system.  About a third of the
 HIV-negative people were members of groups known to be at risk of
 contracting acquired immune deficiency syndrome because of blood
 transfusions or homosexual contact.

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