ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, July 8, 1996 TAG: 9607080064
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: Associated Press
NOTE: Below
Scientists have identified a Los Angeles-area woman as the first person in the United States known to carry a rare strain of the AIDS virus, a finding that will force changes in HIV screening tests to protect the nation's blood supply.
The rare form of HIV, called Group O, escapes detection by current antibody tests in about one of every five cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.
Antibody tests failed to detect the virus in the Los Angeles County woman even though she had what appeared to be AIDS symptoms. The woman, who immigrated to the United States from West Africa in 1994, was found to be HIV-positive only after the Atlanta-based CDC performed more sophisticated tests.
``There's every indication, based on AIDS surveillance evidence, that this is an exceedingly rare condition in the United States. In fact, this is the only case that we're aware of,'' said Dr. Patrick Sullivan, a member of the CDC's HIV tracking team.
Manufacturers of HIV tests are working with the Food and Drug Administration, which licenses the tests, to produce kits that more accurately detect Group O. Current tests detect the more common form of the virus, Group M, with an accuracy greater than 99 percent.
Improved tests should be available within a year, said Dr. Jay Epstein, director of the FDA's blood research program.
``The blood supply is no less safe today than it was yesterday because of one report of one case,'' he said.
Researchers said Group O doesn't appear to be any deadlier than the more common strains of HIV.
Fewer than 100 Group O infections have been reported worldwide. The strain is most common in West Africa, where researchers believe the unidentified California woman was infected. Sullivan would not identify her native country.
There is no evidence that Group O has spread in the United States, and the woman, who is in her early 20s, has had one sexual partner since arriving in the country, Epstein said. Health officials are trying to find him so he can be tested.
Group O was first identified in West Africa in 1989. It differs genetically from the Group M strains responsible for the AIDS epidemic.
The Los Angeles County woman tested negative for HIV using the current antibody test and a DNA test, Sullivan said. Still, she exhibited AIDS symptoms such as a low level of CD4 cells, the immune-system cells that fight HIV.
Her case was confirmed by a more sophisticated test using a blood sample to grow the virus in a culture. Researchers were then able to identify the Group O virus by its genetic sequence.
There have been only 35 cases of AIDS by blood transfusions in the United States since screening of donated blood began in 1985, Epstein said. That's fewer than one case for every 450,000 pints of blood.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 linesby CNB