                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                     September 15, 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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"Study Finds Other AIDS-Fighting Treatments Superior to AZT"
"For Those Facing Terminal Illness, Here's a Guide to Handling 
Finances"
"Across the USA: Missouri"
"In Mayor's Report on City, an Emphasis on the Positive"
"Chronicle: Actor Continues to Help in Fight Against AIDS"
"Activists Seek Needle Program in New Bedford"
"Health Officials Say No Proof for Irish AIDS Scare"
"Update on Treatment of CMV Retinitis"
"CD26 Expression Correlates with Entry, Replication and 
Cytopathicity of Monocytotropic HIV-1 Strains in a T-Cell Line"
"Health Watch: 'The Woman's HIV Sourcebook'"
************************************************************

"Study Finds Other AIDS-Fighting Treatments Superior to AZT"
Washington Post (09/15/95) P. A19;  Okie, Susan
     The anti-AIDS drug AZT appears to be less effective than an 
alternative drug or than therapies that combine AZT with either 
of two other drugs, a new government study concluded.  The 
findings of the study, which involved nearly 2,500 people with 
moderately impaired immune systems, may change the current 
recommendation that doctors use AZT as the first-line treatment 
in AIDS patients, according to Anthony S. Fauci, director of the 
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  The study
is also important because it is the first to show that a drug or 
combination of drugs can increase survival or delay disease 
progression in people with early HIV infection, Fauci said.  
Overall, the researchers determined that "ddI alone, ddI plus 
AZT, and ddC plus AZT were each superior to AZT alone" in 
preventing death, progression to AIDS, or a substantial reduction
in CD4 cells.  Related Stories: New York Times (09/15) P. A20; 
Wall Street Journal (09/15) P. B3; Washington Times (09/15) P. A6
      
"For Those Facing Terminal Illness, Here's a Guide to Handling 
Finances"
Wall Street Journal (09/15/95) P. C1;  Asinof, Lynn
     People diagnosed with a terminal illness must face the daunting 
financial questions of how their medical bills will be paid, how 
they will take care of their families, and how these people will 
survive after the patient's death.  Although it is possible to 
defeat the illness, it is important to arrange your financial 
plans in case that you do not.  "If you plan for the best case 
and the worst case happens, you are in bad shape," notes David 
Petersen of Affording Care, a New York non-profit group that 
helps the seriously ill.  For many, the first move may be to 
ensure that estate plans are in place--including wills, a durable
power of attorney for financial decisions, as well as a 
health-care power of attorney for medical decisions.  However, 
another aspect of financial planning involves cash flow.  Six 
useful places to look for additional funds are: government 
entitlement programs, medical insurance, life insurance, 
disability insurance, employee benefits, and credit.
      
"Across the USA: Missouri"
USA Today (09/15/95) P. 8A
     The state of Missouri may be held accountable for $1.5 million in
debts from an AIDS program that went broke, according to state 
Sen. Harry Wiggins.
      
"In Mayor's Report on City, an Emphasis on the Positive"
New York Times (09/15/95) P. B6;  Firestone, David
     A self-evaluation released Thursday by New York city Mayor 
Rudolph W. Giuliani revealed the damaging effects of budget cuts.
Some people criticized the upbeat nature of the requisite annual 
management report, which demonstrated several areas of 
improvement, but did not emphasize problem areas where city 
agencies need to improve.  "It reads like a campaign document and
not a sober reflection of how the city performed last year," 
commented Chris Meyer, staff attorney for the New York Public 
Interest Research Group.  Included in the report are the fact 
that the number of new tuberculosis cases in New York City 
dropped from 3,123 to 2,911 and that the city found only half as 
many apartments for people with AIDS as it did last year.
      
"Chronicle: Actor Continues to Help in Fight Against AIDS"
New York Times (09/15/95) P. B7;  Brozan, Nadine
     For two years, Doug Savant, an actor best known for his character
Matt, a gay social worker on "Melrose Place," has worked as a 
volunteer in the AIDS ride from Los Angeles to San Francisco.  
This weekend, Savant will help 3,500 cyclists as they travel from
Boston to New York City, distributing food and drink at rest 
stops.  He will also host Sunday's closing ceremonies.  The bike 
ride is expected to raise close to $5 million for the New York 
Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center and for the Fenway 
Community Health Center in Boston.  The actor said he wanted 
people to know "that Doug Savant, who is so blessed to play the 
character of Matt, has a real commitment to the community as 
well."
      
"Activists Seek Needle Program in New Bedford"
Boston Globe (09/14/95) P. 23;  Nealon, Patricia
     Activists gathered on the steps of the New Bedford, Mass., City 
Hall on Thursday to commemorate the 200 city residents who have 
died from AIDS.  Because almost three-quarters of New Bedford's 
AIDS cases are related to injection drug use, the activists will 
urge the City Council to support a pilot needle-exchange program 
by a wide enough margin to override an expected veto from the 
mayor.  The city is second to Boston in the number of AIDS cases 
per capita in Massachusetts, and injection drug use has caused 
New Bedford to have the highest percentage of AIDS cases  in the 
state.
      
"Health Officials Say No Proof for Irish AIDS Scare"
Reuters (09/14/95);  Hill, Andrew
     Health officials in Ireland announced Thursday that they had no 
medical evidence to support Father Michael Kennedy's claims that 
a vengeful woman infected as many as 80 local men with HIV.  
"Having checked with Irish and UK laboratories, we can confirm 
that there has bee no documented increase in HIV infection or 
AIDS in the south-east in the last year," the South Eastern 
Health board said.  John Cooney, the board's CEO, he added that 
Kennedy had failed to fulfill a promise to name five individuals 
he said were proved to be HIV-positive or the laboratories where 
the men were tested.  Cooney said there was a remote possibility 
that neither Irish nor British laboratories had been given the 
correct names by locals seeking HIV tests, but added that it 
would be impossible to verify unless the curate revealed the name
of the woman or the five infected men.
      
"Update on Treatment of CMV Retinitis"
AIDS Clinical Care (09/95) Vol. 7, No. 9, P. 71;  Feinberg, 
Judith
     Recently, several new developments in the treatment and 
prevention of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis have been reported.
The first discovery is a permeable implant that delivers 
intraocular ganciclovir over a period of 33 to 39 weeks.  A 
small, two-center study of the device in peripheral CMV retinitis
patients found that the implant was effective in controlling the 
disease.  Follow-up, however, revealed a high rate of CMV disease
elsewhere in the body, and the researchers concluded that the 
significant number of adverse effects could be related to the 
implant.  A second trial compared the efficacy of intraocular and
intravenous ganciclovir.  The researchers determined that the 
patients in the implant groups fared better than those who 
received only standard intravenous ganciclovir therapy, and that 
the implant recipients had a substantially longer time until 
retinitis progression.  Other studies have evaluated the use of 
intravenous and intravitreal cidofovir.  Together, they indicate 
that a single intravitreal injection of cidofovir may provide 
extended control of retinitis.  In addition, the researchers 
attributed a long period between injections to an increased 
degree of safety in terms of ocular toxicity.  A question that 
now needs to be answered with the advent of these therapies is 
how to identify high-risk patients so that specific prophylaxis 
can be administered.
      
"CD26 Expression Correlates with Entry, Replication and 
Cytopathicity of Monocytotropic HIV-1 Strains in a T-Cell Line"
Nature Medicine (09/95) Vol. 1, No. 9, P. 919;  Oravecz, Tamas;  
Roderiquez, Gregory;  Koffi, Justin et al.
     Oravecz et al. discovered a specific decrease in CD26 expression 
at the protein and messenger RNA level after monocytotropic 
(M-tropic), but not T-cell line-tropic (T-tropic) infection when 
comparing the role of certain cell surface receptors in M-tropic 
and T-tropic HIV-1 infection.  In addition, the researchers found
a correlation between CD26 expression and susceptibility to 
M-tropic viral variants that was not apparent in the T-tropic 
viruses.  The low CD26 expression in PM1 T-cell cultures 
repeatedly infected with M-tropic HIV-1 marks the preferential 
elimination of cells with high CD26 expression.  The researchers,
therefore, propose a model in which differences in the V3 loop 
sequence that affect cell tropism and viral cytopathicity also 
result in varied selective pressures on infected groups of cells.
The researchers concluded that CD26, is an important marker of 
M-tropic HIV-1 infection and that the research suggests a 
mechanism for the premature loss of CD26-expressing cells in 
patients infected with HIV-1.
      
"Health Watch: 'The Woman's HIV Sourcebook'"
Upscale (08/95) Vol. 7, No. 1, P. 60
     Jane MacLean Craig's "The Woman's HIV Sourcebook," from Taylor 
Publishing, describes the medical details and prevention methods 
of HIV.  The book also provides information on current 
treatments, as well as a discussion of several legal and 
financial issues--including health insurance, housing, and job 
discrimination.
      
"Correction on the AIDS Daily Summary"
CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse (09/14/95)
     This is a clarification to the Industry Week article that
was posted in the AIDS Daily Summary dated September 11, 1995 (
"Your Health: AIDS Guidelines" Industry Week, Vol 244, No 15,
p19). The HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Service (ATIS) is a
coordinated Public Health Service effort that is offered through
the CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse. The PHS agencies supporting
this service are: Agency for Health Care Policy and Research,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Resources and
Services Administration, Indian Health Service, National
Institutes of Health, Office of HIV/AIDS Policy and the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

ATIS is a free telephone reference service that provides timely,
accurate treatment information on HIV and AIDS. The staff is
working with many different HIV/AIDS information services to
build a comprehensive treatment information referral network.
This network will be used to link callers to appropriate
information resources.

Call  : 800-HIV-0440   VOICE
       (800-448-0440)

       800-243-7012   TTY/Deaf Access
           

Write: P.O. Box 6303
       Rockville, MD 20849-6303   
 
       atis@cdcnac.aspensys.com  INTERNET



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