View AIDS Infection as Disease: Panel : Presence of Virus Itself, Not Symptoms, Considered Critical

The National Academy of Sciences said today that the hundreds of thousands of Americans unknowingly infected with the AIDS virus should be considered as suffering from a disease even if they do not have full-scale AIDS.

“Viewing HIV infection as a disease is important because it may eventually be amenable to treatment, and patients will need to be diagnosed and treated as early as possible,” the academy said in a report.

The report based its recommendation on what is now “scientifically conclusive” evidence that the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

‘The Important Event’

“From a public health perspective the important event is infection rather than full-blown disease because even asymptomatic infected persons are capable of infecting others,” it said.

But the report also called for a federal law to prevent discrimination against people with the AIDS virus, a measure opposed by the Reagan Administration.

And although it encouraged more voluntary testing to get better information on the magnitude of the epidemic, the report said mandatory testing “is currently appropriate only for blood, tissue and organ donations” and specifically says testing should not be a requirement for getting a marriage license.

Theodore Cooper, chairman of the committee, told a news conference the call for anti-discrimination legislation “might be the first among equals” of several recommendations because it is at the root of so many other objectives.

For example, he said, one thing holding back more voluntary testing is the fear of discrimination. And one of the results of limited testing is lack of accurate data to make good projections about the number of people infected with the virus.

Chairman of Upjohn Co.

Cooper, who also is chairman and chief executive officer of the Upjohn Co., said the message calling for federal anti-discrimination must be brought to the “attention of both the President and Congress, reiterated and made strong enough.”

The report also called for establishment of a semi-permanent federal commission to oversee the nation’s response to the epidemic after the present White House commission goes out of business this month.

The report was prepared by a joint committee of the academy and one of its operating arms, the Institute of Medicine, and was presented as “an update of and a supplement” to the academy’s initial 1986 report on AIDS.