The Nation - News from July 29, 1987

Laboratory studies show that interferon inhibits multiplication of the AIDS virus and its ability to kill cells, but the drug’s side effects may limit its use, a researcher told a gathering of geneticists at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Me. Paula Pitha, a cancer specialist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said that interferon, an anti-viral substance produced by the body to fight disease, does not cure acquired immune deficiency syndrome, but slows its progression. Interferon produces flu-like symptoms and alterations in immune systems, she said.