Wistar investigating AIDS allegations

The Wistar Institute is currently investigating allegations that a vaccine developed in the late 1950s by former Director Hilary Koprowski may have caused AIDS in human beings, Wistar officials said this week. The allegations stem from an article in Rolling Stone magazine in which the author, Tom Curtis, hypothesized that Koprowski's oral polio vaccine contained an undetected monkey retrovirus which created the AIDS virus. The article states that the vaccine was grown in the kidney tissues of monkeys and then orally administered to human beings in parts of Africa. It also alleges that samples of the test vaccine are currently stored at Wistar. But a statement issued by the Wistar Institute last month said that while viruses similar to the HIV virus have been identified in monkeys, none has ever been found which is identical to the virus that causes AIDS in humans. Warren Cheston, director of external affairs at Wister, said Monday that Curtis' hypothesis is based soley on circumstantial evidence. "There has been a rather complex series of conjectures," Cheston said. "We're trying to see if there is any validity in these allegations. Things ought to be checked out -- we have a responsibility to investigate." Cheston also said that samples of the vaccine have not been located at Wistar, because "[the vaccine was developed] a very long time ago." Wistar Director Giovanni Rovera plans to establish a committee to evaluate Curtis' speculations, the official statement says. "We are identifying a group of scientists who are knowledgable about infectious diseases," Cheston said. "They will meet with us and discuss what went on during the late 1950s. They will advise our direction on what we should do, if anything." Wistar officials said the investigating committee members will be named shortly, and will include prominent scientists from outside Wistar as well as within. Koprowski, who could not be reached for comment, denied Rolling Stone's allegations about his vaccine in a statement to Science magazine last month. He also stressed the scientific benefits which resulted from the success of his vaccine. "Immunization of children in Africa against polio could be used as a model for the approach to the mass immunization against AIDS once a vaccine becomes available," Koprowski said. "It is a pity in a sense that instead of using his journalistic skills to show this, Curtis chose to misconstrue the information . . . to propagate a hypothesis without basis in fact."

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