                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      January 30, 1995

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 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"AIDS Data Missing, Family Suits Likely"
"Body Has Mechanisms to Contain HIV--Researchers"
"Mother with AIDS Determined to See Children Grow Up"
"Cleveland Launches Drug Needle Exchange to Fight AIDS"
"Boston Clinic Slated to Take Part in Tests of an AIDS Vaccine"
"AIDS Activists Call Needle-Exchange Program Ineffective"
"Brief Report: Absence of Intact nef Sequences in a Long-Term 
Survivor with Nonprogressive HIV-1 Infection"
"Clinical Aspects of Psychoneuroimmunology"
"Some Vitamins Associated with Decreased Risk of AIDS and Death"
"Does New York Have a Drinking Problem?"
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"AIDS Data Missing, Family Suits Likely"
New York Times (01/30/95) P. A11
     An appeals court has ruled that a family can sue a hospital for 
not telling them a relative was HIV-positive.  Herbert Lemon 
Sr.'s family claims that the Liberty Medical Center in Baltimore 
knew that Lemon was infected when he was admitted in July 1991.  
"Upon his discharge from the hospital, Lemon was not only 
HIV-positive but suffering from AIDS," the Court of Special 
Appeals said on Friday.  According to court papers, however, 
neither the hospital nor the doctor told Lemon or his family.  
Related Stories: Philadelphia Inquirer (01/30) P. B4; Baltimore 
Sun (01/30) P. 16B
      
"Body Has Mechanisms to Contain HIV--Researchers"
Reuters (01/30/95)
     Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious 
Diseases (NIAID) have found that the body has potent mechanisms 
for containing HIV that may be more effective than any current 
drug treatment.  CD8 T cells appear to play a critical part in 
suppressing HIV replication, an effect which is noticeable in the
weeks following HIV infection.  "Recent studies of...HIV-infected
individuals who show no sign of decline in immune function for 
many years, demonstrate that certain immune responses can be very
effective at containing the replication and spread of HIV," said 
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the institute.  The NIAID 
researchers treated a small number of patients with intravenous 
infusions of interleukin-2 (IL-2), a signalling molecule in the 
immune system which acts as a potent inducer of the CD8 T cell 
suppressor phenomenon.  HIV-infected patients received IL-2 for 
five consecutive days every two months over a period of two to 
three years, in addition to antiretroviral therapy, and the 
preliminary results have been encouraging.
      
"Mother with AIDS Determined to See Children Grow Up"
Washington Post (01/30/95) P. B3;  Gaines, Patrice
     Theresa Lofswold is determined to see each of her children reach 
age 18.  Since Lofswold's life with AIDS and preparations for 
death were chronicled in a Washington Post story almost four 
years ago, she has dealt with hepatitis and other illnesses, and 
has tried to find guardians for her five children.  The publicity
about her life has led Lofswold, who contracted HIV through a 
blood transfusion, to speak to groups about living with AIDS.  
"I've talked to companies about AIDS in the workplace, to public 
schools and colleges.  I destroy their idea of what AIDS looks 
like, and it's exhilarating for me to help them," she says.
      
"Cleveland Launches Drug Needle Exchange to Fight AIDS"
Reuters (01/29/95)
     In response to what he called an alarming increase in HIV 
infection among drug users, Cleveland Mayor Michael White has 
declared a health emergency.  He has offered drug users the 
opportunity to exchange their needles in hopes of stemming the 
spread of HIV.  "The gravity of this emergency compels us to take
extreme action in the face of the AIDS epidemic," said White on 
Saturday.  He announced city grants totaling $100,000 to a local 
AIDS task force and five clinics and service organizations to 
fund HIV/AIDS prevention, education, and services.  White also 
urged employers to adopt a workplace HIV/AIDS policy similar to 
Cleveland's, which prohibits discrimination and provides 
education programs.  Of the 1,597 AIDS patients in greater 
Cleveland, 391 identified themselves as injection drug 
users--almost three times the number in 1990.
      
"Boston Clinic Slated to Take Part in Tests of an AIDS Vaccine"
Boston Globe (01/27/95) P. 26;  Kong, Dolores
     In preparation for the widespread testing of a preventive AIDS 
vaccine, the Fenway Community Health Center in Boston, Mass., has
been selected by the U.S. government as one of eight sites to 
enroll people at high risk of HIV-infection for such a study.  A 
total of 300 uninfected gay and bisexual men in Boston and 200 
uninfected women in Rhode Island will be given the chance to 
participate in the study.  Although a large clinical trial of a 
potential AIDS prevention vaccine is at least a year away, 
officials say the preparatory enrollment will expedite the 
process.  The Fenway health center, which will work with Memorial
and Miriam hospitals in Rhode Island, is the only New England 
site selected for the four-year federal contract, which is worth 
$5 million this first year.  If none of the potential preventive 
vaccines are ready for a large scale trial, the preparatory 
enrollment of 4,000 uninfected but high risk people at Fenway and
across the country will not be a wasted effort, according to Dr. 
Kenneth Mayer, Fenway's medical director, and Michael Gross, 
senior scientist for Abt Associates Inc. and project director for
the eventual nationwide study.  Instead, the government may study
new behavioral prevention approaches to get high-risk individuals
to reduce their chances of becoming infected.
      
"AIDS Activists Call Needle-Exchange Program Ineffective"
Boston Globe (01/27/95) P. 26;  Walker, Adrian
     Approximately 50 activists, many of them HIV-positive,  on 
Thursday denounced Boston's needle-exchange program as 
ineffective.  Members of the National AIDS Brigade said they do 
not believe city estimates that 1,200 hypodermic needles had been
distributed by the city during the past year as part of a 
state-funded pilot program.  They asked for Mayor Menino's 
"blessing" in distributing needles to drug addicts themselves.  
Although possession or distribution of needles is illegal in 
Massachusetts except within a legally approved program, the 
brigade and other groups distribute needles and the police do not
arrest them for it, said city officials.  Activists criticized 
Menino, who has often pledged his support for needle-exchange 
programs, insisting that they could do a better job themselves.  
Gary Sandison, the mayor's AIDS advisor, acknowledged that the 
city did not know how many needles had been distributed, but 
insisted the program has been effective.  He also said that 
members of the AIDS Brigade would be subject to arrest if the 
group attempts to run its own exchange program.
      
"Brief Report: Absence of Intact nef Sequences in a Long-Term 
Survivor with Nonprogressive HIV-1 Infection"
New England Journal of Medicine (01/26/95) Vol. 332, No. 4, P. 
228;  Kirchhoff, Frank;  Greenough, Thomas C.;  Brettler, Doreen 
B. et al.
     Studying persons with long-term nonprogressive HIV-1 infection 
may help researchers to understand the mechanisms by which HIV-1 
can be controlled.  Kirchhoff et al. focused their initial 
studies on nef, the HIV-1 auxiliary gene which is not required 
for cell replication in cell culture but is needed in simian 
immunodeficiency virus (SIV) for the development of AIDS in 
rhesus monkeys.  They amplified HIV-1 nef sequences from five 
patients with long-term nonprogressive HIV-1 infection.  In one 
patient, all 34 positive reactions from blood samples obtained 
over 10 years produced only defective forms of nef.  The 
patient's clinical and virologic characteristics of HIV-1 
infection were extremely similar to the infection characteristics
in rhesus monkeys with a strain of SIV missing nef.  The findings
suggest that in some individuals, infection with attenuated forms
of HIV-1 contributes to the absence of disease progression.  The 
results also provide additional justification for considering the
use of HIV-1 mutants with deletions as live attenuated vaccines
      
"Clinical Aspects of Psychoneuroimmunology"
Lancet (01/21/95) Vol. 345, No. 8943, P. 183;  Goodkin, Karl;  
Fletcher, Mary Ann;  Cohen, Nicholas
     In November, the first session of the Psychoneuroimmunology 
Research Society centered on discussions of how the neural, 
behavioral, and immune systems interact.  A workshop on 
methodological issues in psychoneuroimmune studies of HIV-1 
infection provided the basis for behavioral intervention 
strategies, such as bereavement support groups.  Areas identified
for further study include the relations between psychoneuroimmune
changes, HIV-1 viral load, and clinical outcomes; putative 
stressor-associated neuroendocrine mechanisms; and immunological 
mediating mechanisms.
      
"Some Vitamins Associated with Decreased Risk of AIDS and Death"
AIDS Treatment News (01/06/95) No. 214, P. 3;  James, John S.
     Researchers from Johns Hopkins University studied 5,000 
HIV-positive and HIV-negative gay men, and found that the dietary
intake of certain vitamins was associated with a substantially 
reduced risk of AIDS progression.  Micronutrient data was 
obtained through a food questionnaire asking the men which 
supplements they used.  The data for each nutrient was analyzed 
by dividing the volunteers into four equal groups based on their 
total intake of the nutrient--from both foods and supplements.  
For example, the men in the middle two quartiles for vitamin 
A--with intake between 9,062 international units (IU) and 20,268 
IU--had only 55 percent of the risk of AIDS progression, compared
to those in the lower quartile.  The risk of progression for the 
upper quartile was about equal to the lower one, making those in 
the two middle groups the most successful.  The third quartile of
intake of beta carotene was associated with increased survival, 
while increasing amounts of zinc were linked with poorer 
survival.  To definitively prove that the supplements are causing
the changes in AIDS progression, clinical trials are needed.
      
"Does New York Have a Drinking Problem?"
New York (01/16/95) Vol. 28, No. 3, P. 24;  Bai, Matt;  Baker, 
David;  Borgman, Anna et al
     New York City's tap water could be dangerous to thousands of New 
Yorkers, says microbiologist Walter Faber Jr.  The danger, he 
says, is because the city has few barriers to keep 
cryptosporidium from entering the water supply.  Cryptosporidium 
is the microscopic organism found in animal feces that killed 
more than 100 AIDS and cancer patients and others with weakened 
immune systems when it appeared in Milwaukee's water supply in 
1993.  The microbe is not killed by chlorine and New York does 
not filter its water--in Milwaukee's case, however, filters did 
not keep the organisms out.  Faber argues that the New York 
Department of Environmental Protection should warn people with 
weakened immune systems, such as AIDS patients and the elderly, 
to boil their water before drinking it.  The water, plagued by 
lesser-known pathogens and stray bacteria, is also contaminated 
in some places by dangerously high levels of lead.  The issue of 
filtration has sparked great debate in New York.  New York is 
intensely opposed to filtration because while it may protect 
residents' health, it is also very expensive.  The filtration 
system for the Croton water supply, for example, only provides 10
percent of the city's total and will cost $600 million.
      
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