Few Found Periled in Texas AIDS Case

DALLAS —  Health officials say they now believe a man suspected of having sex with dozens of boys carried the AIDS virus for at most a month before he died and probably could not have infected many of them with the disease.

Dr. Charles Petty, the Dallas County medical examiner, said Friday that his office was preparing to test the accuracy of an experimental test for the acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus performed during an autopsy on Jimmy Glenn Ethridge.

Negative Results

Ethridge’s blood showed negative results when tested for AIDS antibodies but was positive for the disease virus itself, Petty said. Authorities say that means that, if Ethridge did carry the virus, he had done so for less than a month. Otherwise, his body would have developed the antibodies.

“It could be a false positive,” Petty said. “It could be the test wasn’t done right. It could be one of several things. That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

Ethridge, 37, of Marlin, was shot to death on June 30, allegedly by a 16-year-old boy described as a house mate. Falls County Dist. Atty. Thomas Sehon has said the youth will not be prosecuted.