                     AIDS Daily Summary
                      December 5, 1994

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public
service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement
by the CDC, the CDC Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction
of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


************************************************************
"Man with HIV Held for Intent to Murder"
"Elizabeth Glaser Dies at 47; Crusader for Pediatric AIDS"
"SEPTA Manager with AIDS Says He Was 'Consumed' by Fear"
"AIDS Epidemic Spreads"
"US Firms Are Faulted on AIDS Awareness"
"West Covering Up AIDS Infection Rate, Zambia Says"
"Egypt Reports 375 AIDS Cases"
"HIV-1 Subtype C in Brazil"
"HIV RNA--Time to Wake Up and Save Lives"
"Medical Briefs: Cell-Based Therapy on Trial"
************************************************************

"Man with HIV Held for Intent to Murder"
Washington Times (12/05/94) P. C3
     Charges of assault with intent to murder have been filed against 
an HIV-positive man from Carroll County, Md., who police claim 
raped his eight-year-old step-grandson.  The case represents the 
first time in the county that prosecutors have used the charge 
against someone who they said knew he was infected with HIV.  In 
addition, the 46-year-old man faces 11 sexual-abuse charges and 
could be sentenced to more than 80 years in prison.  The boy has 
been tested for HIV, but the results are not yet known.  
According to court documents, the boy wrote a note to his mother 
describing an afternoon of sex acts in the accused's attic.  He 
also told the police that he had been assaulted for four hours.  
The suspect's attorney said that her client "adamantly denies the
allegations."  Related Story: Baltimore Sun (12/03) P. 1B
      
"Elizabeth Glaser Dies at 47; Crusader for Pediatric AIDS"
New York Times (12/05/94) P. B10;  Kennedy, Randy
     Pediatric AIDS activist Elizabeth Glaser has died of AIDS-related
complications at the age of 47.  Glaser, who contracted HIV 
through a blood transfusion in 1981, unknowingly passed the virus
on to her two children.  At the Democratic National Convention 
during the 1992 Presidential campaign, Glaser told of the death 
in 1988 of her seven-year-old daughter from AIDS.  "She taught me
to love when all I wanted to do was hate," Glaser said.  "She 
taught me to help others when all I wanted to do was help 
myself."  Glaser co-founded the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, which 
has raised more than $30 million for pediatric education and 
research, in 1988.  Her autobiography, "In the Absence of 
Angels," described her frustration with the lack of information 
on children who have AIDS.  It also described how she mobilized 
legislators, such as Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Howard
M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio).  Glaser is survived by her husband, actor
and director Paul Glaser, and her son.  Related Stories: USA 
Today (12/05) P. 4D; Washington Times (12/05) P. A2
      
"SEPTA Manager with AIDS Says He Was 'Consumed' by Fear"
Philadelphia Inquirer (12/03/94) P. B3;  Slobodzian, Joseph A.
     A SEPTA manager, identified only as "John Doe," told a federal 
jury on Friday that since he discovered that a top administrator 
learned he has AIDS while reviewing employee prescription 
records, he has been "consumed" by fear and depression.  Doe 
completed the final day of testimony in his invasion-of-privacy 
suit against SEPTA.  Officials at SEPTA maintain that the 
discovery of Doe's HIV-positive status was accidental, and that 
the prescription review that happened to include the names of 
workers  was legitimate.  Doe said that while he told only a few 
of his co-workers that he was infected, the one SEPTA official he
did not want to tell was Judith Pierce--who conducted the 
prescription review--because he considered her "capricious."  She
had also previously divulged Doe's sexual orientation to another 
person without his permission.
      
"AIDS Epidemic Spreads"
Houston Chronicle (12/02/94) P. 7A
     David Satcher, director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC), announced Thursday that AIDS is the leading 
cause of death among Americans between the ages of 25 and 44.  
Satcher also said that the disease has moved dramatically into 
the heterosexual community and that the transmission rate there 
is increasing.  The proportion of people who acquired AIDS 
through heterosexual transmission increased from 2 percent in 
1985 to 7 percent in 1993.  Preliminary data compiled by the CDC 
found that AIDS is the primary cause of death among men between 
the ages of 25 and 44 and is the fourth-leading cause of death 
among women in the same age group.  "In the history of epidemics,
AIDS is among the worst in the world," he told a meeting of 
Atlanta business and labor leaders.  A total of 400,000 people in
the United States have contracted AIDS since 1981 and 250,000 
people have died from it.
      
"US Firms Are Faulted on AIDS Awareness"
Boston Globe (12/02/94) P. 65;  Lewis, Diane E.
     AIDS activists said on Thursday that only one-third of U.S. 
companies have provided employees with AIDS awareness 
training--some of which were one-time events.  At a World AIDS 
Day breakfast, Larry Kessler--founder and director of the AIDS 
Action Committee in Boston--said, "There are still 
companies--most of them small ones--where the feeling is: 'We'll 
wait until we have someone with it, or worse yet, get [that 
worker] out of here.'"  The breakfast was sponsored by the New 
England Corporate Consortium for Aids Education, which was 
created by the Bank of Boston seven years ago to provide AIDS 
education to employees.  When the consortium was formed in 1987, 
employees with friends or family members with AIDS were likely to
remain silent because of the stigma attached to the disease.  
Now, AIDS is the second highest cause of significant illness 
among Bank of Boston employees between the ages of 24 and 44 
years.
      
"West Covering Up AIDS Infection Rate, Zambia Says"
Reuters (12/01/94);  Winton, Neil
     Industrialized nations have experienced a greater spread of AIDS 
among people, and the true rate of infection in these countries 
is actually much higher than official figures suggest, Zambian 
Health Minister Michael Sata accused on Thursday.  "We in Africa 
are not ashamed to admit the extent of AIDS," he said.  "We do 
not hide behind statistics that are much higher in the West than 
admitted."  Asked to back up his statements, Sata said that tons 
of blood had been destroyed in Western countries because they 
were contaminated with HIV, and challenged the health ministers 
of industrialized nations to deny his statement.  In addition, 
Sata called for increased local control of AIDS programs in 
developing countries like his own Zambia, which, according to 
data from the British health ministry, has the highest rate of 
infection.  He said that plans to help poor countries fight the 
disease tend to be designed in Washington, London, or Paris, and 
were ineffective because they paid little attention to local 
conditions.
      
"Egypt Reports 375 AIDS Cases"
Reuters (12/01/94)
     Egypt has documented 375 AIDS cases since the disease was first 
identified there about 15 years ago, and about 178 Egyptians have
died from the disease, reports Ali Abdel-Fattah el-Makhzanji, the
country's health minister.  Foreigners living in Egypt must pass 
an AIDS test, and are deported if the test results come back 
positive.
      
"HIV-1 Subtype C in Brazil"
Lancet (11/12/94) Vol. 344, No. 8933, P. 1354;  Csillag, Claudio
     Four cases of HIV-1 type C have been identified in Brazil.  The 
discovery is important, says Ester Sabino--who discovered the one
C case in Sao Paulo--because the C subtype might be more easily 
heterosexually transmitted than other strains.  Transmission is 
predominantly heterosexual in India, where the C subtype is 
commonly found.  "The virus could be spreading itself in this 
manner because of a high incidence of sexually transmitted 
disease [in India], which increases HIV infection through sexual 
contact," says Jose Esparza of the World Health Organization's 
AIDS program.  The finding will affect vaccine development 
because the majority of vaccines being tested are for the B 
subtype, which is the most common form in the United States, 
Europe, and Brazil, says Sabino.  Sabino expects to present the 
finding at a Jan. 28 AIDS conference in Washington.
      
"HIV RNA--Time to Wake Up and Save Lives"
AIDS Treatment News (11/04/94) No. 210, P. 3;  James, John S.
     HIV RNA tests should be used in numerous small, rapid trials to 
learn how to better use the drugs already available and others 
which could be made available, writes John S. James, editor of 
AIDS Treatment News.  Although many researchers agree with this 
strategy, most want to first conduct other trials to prove that 
HIV RNA testing is useful for testing drugs--which could take 
years, if they can be conducted at all.  HIV RNA is a much better
gauge of HIV in the bloodstream than any other test available, 
James contends.  It is necessary to learn to combine drugs and 
other treatments to keep HIV inactive indefinitely, he says.  
Substances that should be included in HIV RNA testing are the 
approved antiretrovirals AZT and ddC, acyclovir, and 
"alternative" treatments such as herbs and nutritional 
supplements.  Although new technology that would make trials 
faster, less expensive, and more reliable is available, James 
says the necessary trials are not being performed for reasons 
that include a lack of commercial incentive and the neglect of 
treatment and research by the leadership of AIDS organizations.
      
"Medical Briefs: Cell-Based Therapy on Trial"
Advocate (11/15/94) No. 668, P. 44
     Researchers from Activated Cell Therapy Inc. and the Stanford 
University School of Medicine will study a cell-based therapy 
created to boost the immune systems of people with HIV.  The 
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Strategic 
Program for Innovative Research on AIDS Treatment has provided a 
grant for this research.  The scientists will infuse extremely 
strong antigen-presenting cells from uninfected siblings--treated
with HIV antigens--into the patients.  By conducting this study, 
the researchers hope to prime the patient's T cells against HIV 
and increase their immunity to the virus.
      
