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Article: A fever in the blood. (AIDS virus can remain undetectable for up to a year)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- October 12, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1987 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Growing numbers of Americans have been having their blood tested, hoping for assurance that they don't carry the deadly AIDS virus. Now comes a jolt of bad news: Some of the people given a clean bill of health may in fact be harboring the virus after all. Scientists reached that conclusion recently when a new study from Finland found that the virus at times remains unnoticed by the conventional tests until it has been in the system for a year or more.
The test now in use, which identifies antibodies to the AIDS virus, was thought to pick up infection within six to 12 weeks. By suggesting that the danger period extends to more than a year, the research ...