Local News in Brief : Orange : Program Helps Turn Up Child With AIDS Virus

Using a program to alert parents of patients who might have been exposed to AIDS virus, Childrens Hospital of Orange County has located a fourth child infected by the virus through a blood transfusion, a spokeswoman said.

Maureen Williams said that in response to a notice sent by the hospital, the child’s family informed CHOC officials that their child had tested positive for the AIDS virus.

The hospital last July launched the program by mailing 2,800 letters to parents of children who received blood transfusions between 1978 and March, 1985, a time when the AIDS virus was present in a slight number of blood units. Since March, 1985, a test has screened out AIDS-infected blood.

Of the 2,800 letters sent, 330 parents responded that their children had been tested for the AIDS virus. The previous three children exposed to the virus were discovered before CHOC started the program, Williams said.