Aids Patient Resting After Transplant

An AIDS patient who received an experimental baboon bone marrow transplant rested in isolation Friday while medical experts and advocates debated the value of the treatment that could kill him.

Jeff Getty, 38, was on his feet and joking soon after undergoing the 30-minute process Thursday, said Ruthann Richter, spokeswoman for San Francisco General Hospital.

Getty, of Oakland, received the transplant because baboons are immune to AIDS, and doctors hope the animal’s disease-fighting cells will take root in his body. It will be several months before they know if the transplant succeeded.

“No matter what happens,” Getty said, “the study will provide information which could benefit all people living with AIDS, as well as people living with other life-threatening diseases.”