NCJ Number
109882
Journal
Law, Medicine and Health Care Volume: 15 Issue: 1-2 Dated: (Summer 1987) Pages: 73-79
Date Published
1987
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The role of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the development of recommendations and guidelines pertaining to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has gone beyond the more traditional role of advising public health professionals to include guidance for the general public on the transmissibility of the disease in specific settings such as schools, workplaces, and hospitals.
Abstract
This trend is consistent with the statutory mission of the Public Health Service, which is not only to conduct research and collect information but also to provide practical application of the research. The earliest guidelines, which addressed person-to-person transmission and precautions for health care workers and blood donor deferral, probably had the most significant health effect. Yet they received much less public attention than the school and workplace guidelines, which have been widely discussed and even cited in legal actions. Schools and workplaces, however, are not primary sites for spread of the AIDS virus. It is difficult to predict the future of CDC AIDS guidelines and recommendations. If an AIDS vaccine or an important drug therapy is developed, then additional recommendations about its practical application will be needed immediately. A significant new epidemiologic discovery about AIDS would require presentation of such data and interpretation of the application of such information. 45 references.