2 More Patients of AIDS-Stricken Dentist Carry Virus

Two more patients of a dentist who died of AIDS have tested positive for the virus, but a state health official said Friday that it was not known how they became infected.

Both people were told Friday by counselors from the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services that they carry the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, agency spokesman Steve Konicki said.

“For us right now, this is a very serious concern,” Konicki said. “We need to be able to begin gathering information about what, if any, risk groups these folks may be part of, and we don’t have any answers to that right now.”

The names of the former patients were not released.

David J. Acer, a dentist in Stuart, Fla., died of AIDS-related cancer on Sept. 3, three days after he wrote to his patients to tell them he was dying of acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Acer wrote the letter after the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said that a dentist had passed the virus to a 21-year-old woman when pulling two of her teeth. The CDC did not name the dentist or the patient.

Soon after Acer died, Kimberly Bergalis of Ft. Pierce said she was the patient in the CDC report and that Acer was her dentist.

In the letter, Acer said he followed safety guidelines--such as wearing a mask and gloves while treating patients--and doubted that he had transmitted the disease. But he urged former patients to be tested to allay their fears.

Konicki said 364 of Acer’s patients have been tested and 100 more await testing.