Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 28, 1990                   TAG: 9007280295
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ATLANTA                                LENGTH: Medium

DENTIST-TRANSMITTED AIDS CASE MAY NEVER BE PROVED

A report was issued Thursday from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control that a young woman apparently was infected by her dentist while having two molars pulled. The report made headlines across the country and drew criticism from the American Dental Association. Dental association officials said the agency may have jumped to conclusions.

Dr. Harold Jaffe, deputy director for science at the CDC's HIV-AIDS program, said Friday there's no way researchers will ever prove that the woman was infected during the dental procedure, although all available evidence points to that conclusion.

"We don't really expect we will get more information," Jaffe said.

The CDC's weekly report, which carried details of the case, routinely informs physicians and public health officials about noteworthy developments concerning infectious disease. It is not unusual for the report to note - as this week's report did - that the source of a specific illness cannot be proved with 100-percent certainty.

But Dr. Enid Neidle, director of scientific affairs for the Chicago-based ADA, said the association thought it was not a conclusive case of transmission.

"We are not happy at any report that could raise fears on the part of the public that the dental office is a place of danger and infection," Neidle said.

Responding to the ADA's criticism, Jaffe said, "I don't think we'd be serving the public interest to not publish this case."

The agency said a lengthy investigation of the woman's case found no other risk factors for AIDS.