Diary Prequel Package — page 123

Senator Arlen Specter Senator Patrick Leahy September 1, 2005 Background In the summer and fall of 1985, the nation was swept up in a tide of hysteria about th presence of children with AIDS in public schools. Parents and school authorities worried th AIDS might be transmitted through casual contact among children and widespread panic ha begun to set in. That summer, an Indiana school had barred 13-year-old Ryan White, a hemophiliac with AIDS, from returning to school.' Protesters organized mass boycotts of N York schools that had decided to allow children with AIDS to attend." It was a time of grea and confusion. At the same time, however, scientific evidence had emerged to demonstrate that the of transmission from casual contact was certainly remote and very likely nonexistent. Basec this evidence, public health experts drew up comprehensive guidelines on the issue of AIDS children in schools. The goal of the effort was to counter the prevailing hysteria with the fa actual risk. On August 30, 1985, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued t first public health recommendations for children with AIDS.' The recommendations began reviewing available evidence to date. According to CDC, not a single case of AIDS in the United States was known to have been transmitted in "school, day care, or foster-care settin; through other casual person-to-person contact." The agency also pointed out that not a sing! one of the family members of over 12,000 AIDS patients had been reported to have AIDS. / agency concluded that "casual person-to-person contact as would occur among schoolchildr appears to pose no risk." CDC recommended that most children with AIDS "should be allo to attend school and after-school day-care and to be placed in a foster home in an unrestricte setting." In drafting and publicizing the guidelines, leading public health experts attempted to parents' fears by raising public awareness of overwhelming scientific evidence that AIDS cx not be transmitted through casual contact. Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease Dr. Anthony Fauci stated, ""There's no evidence the virus is spread by ca: contact, by saliva, by coughing, by any of the normal contact children might have in the ' 4IDS Victim Kept From School in Indiana, New York Times (Aug. 1, 1985). ? The New Untouchables; Anxiety over AIDS is Verging on Hysteria in Some Parts 0 Country, Time (Sept. 23, 1985). 3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Current Trends Education and Foster