Researchers have discovered two rare cases of AIDS virus transmission between children living together.
New Jersey researchers report in the Dec. 16 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine that a preschool-age boy transmitted the H.I.V. virus to a younger girl living in the same house.
The researchers speculated that transmission may have occurred when blood from the boy’s frequent nosebleeds or an open cut came in contact with the girl’s skin rash. The boy, who experiences bleeding gums, also may have shared a toothbrush with the other child.
In a separate article, to be published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers suggest that the sharing of a bloodied razor caused the transmission of the virus between two teenage brothers.
The C.D.C. and the Journal have stated that the incidents should not affect the eligibility of H.I.V.-positive children for regular child care and school classes.
“We’re not intending to alter our recommendation that, in general, H.I.V. children should not be banned from these settings,’' said Dr. Martha Rogers, the chief of the epidemiology branch of the C.D.C.'s H.I.V./AIDS division.
The number of alcohol-related driving fatalities has decreased by 30 percent since 1982, according to a report by the C.D.C.
Deaths fell from 25,165 in 1982 to 17,699 in 1992.
The decrease in fatalities among drivers ages 15 to 20 was greater than the decrease for older drivers.
The study, which used data reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 1982 to 1992, found that the most dramatic dips in the incidence of alcohol-related accidents occurred in 1991 and 1992.
The overall incidence declined from 9.8 deaths per 100,000 persons in 1987 to 6.9--below the goal of 8.5 set out in Healthy People 2000, the federal government’s national health objectives.
The study says that the number of driver fatalities decreased even among what the C.D.C. identified as “hard to reach’’ populations, including motorcyclists, pickup-truck drivers, and teenagers.
To explain the decrease in fatalities, the report’s authors cite such efforts as the lowering of legally permissible blood content, license suspension for offenders, and media campaigns against drunken driving.--SARA SKLAROFF
