Tests Pending in Cases Tied to Fierce H.I.V.
By MARC SANTORA
Published: March 30, 2005
Investigators looking into the possible spread of a virulent strain of H.I.V. detected in a New York City man have identified several patients who may have a related strain of the virus, but the investigators have cautioned that they cannot yet say if the cases are connected, health officials said yesterday.
Because of the complexity of the lab testing involved in matching strains of the virus, it could be months before health officials will be able to determine if others have indeed been infected with the dangerous strain, the officials said....
"The extent to which this strain has spread remains under investigation," said the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in its first public statement since issuing a public warning last month about the man's case.
That warning, on Feb. 11, was provoked by the case of a gay man in his late 40's who engaged in unsafe sex with many partners while he was using crystal methamphetamine, and whose strain of the virus was at once quickly advancing and resistant to many drugs. The announcement brought an immediate backlash from some prominent AIDS researchers who believed that too much was being made of a single case.
Since that time, investigators have been able to trace all of the sexual partners the man could remember by name and have now closed that part of the investigation, said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the city's health commissioner....
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/nyregion/30aids.html