Hope or hype?.

Examines Cambridge Prof. Adrian Karpas' controversial blood therapy treatment for HIV in which healthy HIV+ donors, who have antibodies to combat the virus, supply blood for monthly transfusions to HIV+ patients who are beginning to show symptoms of AIDS. Prof. Karpas believes that regular transfusions will help to kill the virus but his 1986 application for a full clinical trial was rejected by the Medical Research Council. A limited trial is taking place at Ealing Hospital, London. A small U.S. clinical trial indicated that mortality rates were 15% higher in those who received the placebo transfusion and a second study in France found a longer period of good health in those receiving the plasma transfusions. However, the MRC disputes these results and in spite of some media excitement, Prof. Karpas' approach has failed to generate much enthusiasm among HIV+ people in Britain.