Irreversible Neurological Ailments May Be Added to AIDS Definition
Federal health officials, recognizing increasing evidence of “severe, irreversible and life-threatening” neurological disorders associated with AIDS, are expected to expand their definition of AIDS to include diseases of the central nervous system caused by infection with the AIDS virus.
Although researchers have long been aware that the AIDS virus invades the brain and spinal fluid, AIDS currently is identified only by those diseases that result from a damaged immune system. Those diseases primarily include the respiratory infection pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and Kaposi’s sarcoma, a capillary cancer.
“It now seems worthwhile to investigate the implications of reporting other serious consequences of (AIDS) infection that are severe, irreversible and life-threatening,” Dr. Tim Dondero, chief of the surveillance section of the AIDS program for the federal Centers for Disease Control, said in an interview Tuesday from his Atlanta office.
Cases May Increase
The total number of reported AIDS cases may increase as a result, although “we don’t know how often” AIDS-induced neurological disorders occur independent of the other characteristic diseases, Dondero said. “We just don’t know whether to expect more than we already have.”
Four main kinds of neurological disorders are linked to AIDS infection, according to Dr. Harold Jaffe, chief of the epidemiology branch of CDC’s AIDS program. These include peripheral neuropathy, a nerve disease that results in loss of sensation or weakness of the extremities; spinal cord infection, which can lead to a variety of neurological symptoms; aseptic meningitis, and dementia.
Dondero said the AIDS definition established after the first AIDS cases were identified in 1981, “was extremely useful in the early days when the causative agent was not known and there was no specific lab test (to detect infection by the virus).” Jaffe added that “we would hope that the (new) definition would reflect the most recent knowledge about the diseases caused by (the AIDS virus.)”
ARC Not Included
An estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Americans suffer from AIDS Related Complex, or ARC, considered a milder form of AIDS, but are not included in case reporting of AIDS.
AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is transmitted through intimate sexual contact and through the sharing of unsterilized hypodermic needles. Those at highest risk have been male homosexuals and bisexuals, intravenous drug users and their sexual partners.
As of Monday, 23,700 cases had been reported in the United States, with 12,966 deaths.
