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The Sunday Times, the leading newspaper in Britain, has been publishing articles which emphasize that the HIV has no relationship to AIDS. Although the exact relation between HIV and AIDS have not been established, spreading false information among the public is disastrous. The newspaper also encourages teen-agers to discard the use of condoms and states that several deaths of AIDS victims in Africa are not caused by the HIV but by malaria and other diseases.

Peter Duesberg argued ineffectively against the view that the HIV virus causes AIDS. Duesberg, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, spoke at a conference called 'AIDS: A Different View,' aimed at presenting alternative opinions on AIDS. Duesberg contends that recreational drug use is the true cause of AIDS, but his case against HIV as the cause was circumstantial and unconvincing even to most of his supporters in the audience. Other conference speakers presented less extreme views of AIDS, such as the idea HIV may be only a co-factor in the disease.

Peter Duesberg continues to extol his notion that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cannot be the cause of AIDS. At first, his objections were within the spirit of scientific inquiry and prompted scientists to carefully examine notions which they might have taken for granted. Despite the fact that the scientific community has largely rejected his ideas, Duesberg has gained sympathizers in the media. What could be a better subject for the news media? Massive hordes of bright but unimaginative scientists doggedly following the wrong trail while the lone hero seeks to shed light on the truth! However, Duesberg's ideas are simply without merit. His case is largely based on the failure of HIV to fulfil Koch's postulates, which is a strict set of criteria which needs to be met before a disease is considered infectious. What seems quaint, however, is seeking to hold to a century-old set of criteria and ignore a wealth of data acquired since then. We understand now that a virus infection is different from a virus disease; only a fraction of those infected with poliovirus come down with polio. We now know that the results of infection may take years to develop, as is the case with tertiary syphilis. Certainly many viruses infecting the nervous system cause disease only after long latency periods; the visna virus in sheep is a good example. We also know that antibodies against a virus do not automatically confer freedom from disease. Indeed, in cases like Dengue fever, humoral immunity can actually exacerbate an infection. In exploring the biology of AIDS, as in any new scientific enterprise, as important as it is to be guided by principles learned in the past, it is equally important not to be blinded by them. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

The AIDS crisis has stimulated an explosion of data about the lentiviruses, which is the group of viruses that includes HIV. The techniques of molecular biology have been brought to bear on the problems of AIDS virus research, and have resulted in impressive gains. Two research groups have now reported the molecular cloning of SIV, which is considered the simian, or ape, version of the AIDS virus. Kestler et al., reporting in a recent issue of the journal Science, and Dewhurst et al., discussing their findings in the June 14, 1990 issue of Nature, have provided a means for quickly learning a great deal about this virus. They obtained DNA clones that contain all the necessary information for the production of new virus particles. This permits the development of viruses that are tailored to specific criterion, allowing investigators to carefully evaluate the contribution of each individual viral gene to the overall disease process. One particularly striking aspect of the viral clones is their ability to produce acute disease. Unlike natural AIDS, in which the low-level viral infection slowly undermines the immune system until the patient dies of an infection, some strains of SIV produce a rapidly fatal infection in which the experimental animals die directly from the effects of the virus itself. The fact that this rapid infection can be produced from a molecularly cloned virus is positive proof that the infection cannot be attributed to some viral contaminant, but is a direct effect of SIV. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Author(s): Karen Birmingham [1] During an opening ceremony more akin to that seen at sporting events than scientific conferences, and one that was screened on national television and punctuated by [...]

A direct virus-influenced cytopathology does not cause AIDS, and a frequency of 1% inflamed lymph node cells is small, when compared to the tendency of the immune system to degenerate. The presence of laser infected cells attracts human immuno deficiency virus. Criticisms have been advanced at Sheppherd's studies on the causal factor of AIDS, which underestimates the impact of acute HIV cytopathology on CD4+ cell loss.

Recent press reports of a new virus that causes AIDS-like symptoms in patients with neither the HIV-1 nor HIV-2 viruses may have been premature. The press trumpeted the preliminary findings of three research teams that some immunosuppressed patients with the low levels of CD4 T cells characteristic of AIDS showed no sign of either HIV virus and therefore might be infected with a third, hitherto unknown virus. However, participants at a conference of AIDS researchers called to deal with the matter cautioned that the syndrome may actually have long been in existence without implying the existence of a new virus.

In June 1990, the Sixth International Conference on AIDS was held in San Francisco. Luc Montagnier, discoverer of the AIDS virus, announced the isolation of a second infectious agent which he believes is associated with the development of AIDS. Montagnier claims that a mycoplasma may be involved in facilitating the growth of the AIDS virus, human deficiency virus (HIV), and enhancing the cell-killing properties of HIV. Mycoplasma, sometimes called pleuropneumonia-like organisms, are ubiquitous tiny bacteria, often found in the respiratory tract. As a result, many researchers have found experiments to be contaminated with mycoplasma from the laboratory staff. Therefore, any claim of connection of mycoplasma to AIDS, or any other disease, is likely to meet with skepticism. Although Montagnier's announcement has been met with skepticism, he stands by his claim and denies that laboratory contamination was the source of the mycoplasma in his experiments. However, he admits that demonstrating a specific relationship between the AIDS virus and mycoplasma has not yet been accomplished. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)