                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      December 22, 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


************************************************************
"Drug Seems to Cut AIDS Infection for Workers Stuck with Needles"
"How Blood Was Smuggled from AIDS-Ravaged Africa"
"Abbott AIDS-Drug Application"
"Nature and Apathy Destroy AIDS Vigil"
"Vatican Cautions on Sex Education"
"Hemagen in Pact to Create Diagnostic Test for AIDS"
"Washington Wire: Effects of Federal Shutdown"
"Added Challenges in Fighting AIDS: Red Tape, Delays"
"HIV Suppression by Interleukin-16"
"Sunday, the Rabbi Got AIDS"
************************************************************

"Drug Seems to Cut AIDS Infection for Workers Stuck with Needles"
New York Times (12/22/95) P. A32;  Altman, Lawrence K.
     The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports
that AZT appears to decrease by nearly 80 percent the risk of HIV
infection for health workers accidentally jabbed with needles.  
With the help of British and French health officials, the CDC 
assessed 31 health care workers who became infected after such 
injuries and who had no other AIDS risk factors.  The researchers
determined that the workers' risk of infection was increased if 
the needle went in deep, had been obviously contaminated, or had 
punctured a vein or artery.  In addition, needles taken from a 
person dying of AIDS, when HIV is frequently most concentrated, 
heightened the risk of infection.  Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding, 
head of San Francisco General Hospital's infection control 
program, noted that although there were limitations in the 
research, the resulting data was likely the most useful 
scientists would find.  The CDC intends to discuss the need for 
new guidelines on needlestick injuries, which can also transmit 
hepatitis B and C, in April.  Related Stories: Washington Times 
(12/22) P. A12; Baltimore Sun (12/22) P. 7A
      
"How Blood Was Smuggled from AIDS-Ravaged Africa"
Philadelphia Inquirer (12/22/95) P. A1;  Shaw, Donna
     Documents show that between 1985 and 1987, Armour Pharmaceutical 
Co. bought blood plasma smuggled out of Africa to Europe and then
made it into products for human use.  The shipments of plasma 
were mislabeled as animal plasma, but there are no indications 
that Armour was aware of the deed, which was done by an African 
supplier and an air-freight service to evade taxes and customs 
investigation.  Armour claims the material was bought from what 
it believed to be a reputable broker, who said that the plasma 
came from Canadian donors who had been tested for HIV, the 
documents show.  The documents were recently made public by the 
Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada, which is 
trying to determine how and why thousands of Canadians became 
HIV- and hepatitis-infected from plasma-based drugs, most of 
which were brought in from the United States.
      
"Abbott AIDS-Drug Application"
Wall Street Journal (12/22/95) P. B11
     Abbott Laboratories has filed a drug application with the U.S. 
Food and Drug Administration for its ritonavir.  The compound is 
a protease inhibitor, a class of drugs which have been shown to 
reduce viral load in HIV-infected patients and boost their immune
systems in clinical studies.
      
"Nature and Apathy Destroy AIDS Vigil"
New York Times (12/22/95) P. A22;  Ybarra, Michael J.
     San Francisco's AIDS Vigil, a tent city pitched in front of the 
Federal Building ten years ago in protest of the U.S. Food and 
Drug Administration's delays in reviewing treatments for HIV, has
come to an end.  The campers had withstood pressure from all 
sides to leave, yet stayed, distributing condoms, AIDS 
information, and bleach to drug users.  But last week, strong 
winds demolished the tents, leaving the group, which had slowly 
diminished from 12 people to two men, huddled in a doorway.  The 
campers said that as the years went by, indifference was the 
greatest problem.  The weekly mass protests in the early days 
turned into yearly events and then stopped altogether.  The 
tents, which had been flattened before and re-erected, were 
thrown away after this last storm.
      
"Vatican Cautions on Sex Education"
Washington Post (12/22/95) P. A23;  Williams, Daniel
     A new handbook from the Vatican urges parents to take their 
children out of sex-education classes that teach "safe sex" or 
deal with sex only as a health issue not-related to Christian 
values.  The guidelines were issued by the Pontifical Council for
the Family in a report called "Human Sexuality: Truth and 
Significance."  The recommendations conform to the Roman Catholic
Church's teachings, and therefore favors abstinence outside of 
marriage, opposes contraception and abortion, and terms 
homosexual activities and masturbation as "disorders."  The book 
advises containing sex within marriage to control the spread of 
AIDS.  Furthermore, the book advises parents to "refuse the 
promotion of so-called 'safe sex,' or 'safer sex,' a dangerous 
and immoral policy based on the illusory theory that a condom can
provide sufficient protection against AIDS."
      
"Hemagen in Pact to Create Diagnostic Test for AIDS"
Wall Street Journal (12/22/95) P. B4
     Sheffield Medical Technologies and Hemagen Diagnostics Inc. will 
collaborate to develop a test to forecast the speed of AIDS 
progression in patients.  According to Sheffield, impending 
licensing deals for its candidate AIDS and cancer products could 
generate profit for the firm by 1998.  The small biotechnology 
firm, which does not produce any operating revenue, acquires the 
rights to preliminary drug research projects, and then develops 
them to the level at which they can be sold to a larger company 
for more money.
      
"Washington Wire: Effects of Federal Shutdown"
Wall Street Journal (12/22/95) P. A1
     The second federal government shutdown has, among other things, 
interrupted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 
disease tracking efforts with states.
      
"Added Challenges in Fighting AIDS: Red Tape, Delays"
Miami Herald (12/21/95) P. 1B;  Rogers, Peggy
     Patients and experts say that HIV-infected Dade County, Fla., 
residents sometimes must undertake monumental struggles to obtain
public assistance.  "We see people who are very weak, very much 
in pain, who have to take very long bus rides and then wait hours
for services," said Martin Terris, director of planning and 
community development for the county's HIV/AIDS Planning and 
Management Organization.  The nonprofit group recently conducted 
a study to assess the challenges that infected residents face and
concluded that Dade can barely begin to fill the need for some 
services, especially housing.  Some patients surveyed praised 
humane doctors and heroic, tireless social workers.  Still others
reported physicians who had rejected them, including one who hid 
behind a curtain, and insensitive workers.  In addition, patients
applying for state or federal assistance were required to fill 
out extremely detailed applications for several different 
agencies because the programs are administered by separate 
agencies.  "This translates into a whole series of barriers to 
the person who needs care," noted Margaret Paternek, an associate
director of the HIV/AIDS Planning and Management Organization.
      
"HIV Suppression by Interleukin-16"
Nature (12/07/95) Vol. 378, No. 6557, P. 563;  Baier, Michael;  
Werner, Albrecht;  Bannert, Norbert; et al.
     Baier et al. of Germany's Paul-Ehrlich Institute report in the 
journal Nature that interleukin-16 (IL-16), a previously 
identified lymphocyte chemoattractant, suppresses the replication
of both HIV and the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV).  African
green monkeys that are naturally infected with SIV in the wild 
have high levels of immunodeficiency virus-suppressing lymphokine
(ISL) activity, a low level of virus in the blood, and never 
progress to simian AIDS.  The IL-16 of these monkeys is extremely
similar to its human version.  The protein may therefore play a 
role in the low viral load in healthy HIV-positive individuals 
and naturally infected African green monkeys.  The specific 
method by which IL-16 inhibits HIV replication is not clear. 
However, the researchers note that the protein is known to bind 
to the CD4 receptor, and therefore may resemble some anti-CD4 
antibodies that inhibit transcription.  Additional research is 
required to assess what part of the ISL activity is related to 
IL-16, which may have antiviral therapeutic properties, the 
researchers conclude.
      
"Sunday, the Rabbi Got AIDS"
Village Voice (12/05/95) Vol. 40, No. 49, P. 27;  Beiser, Vince
     Most Orthodox Jews are hesitant to acknowledge that AIDS exists 
in their communities.  However experts estimate that in New York,
some 15,000 of the area's 2 million Jews are HIV-infected.  No 
one knows how many cases are in the Orthodox societies because 
virtually all are kept are concealed.  Transmission routes such 
as sex with prostitutes and sex with injection drug users have 
been mentioned, but the majority of all HIV infections in these 
communities come from men having sex with men.  For Orthodox 
Jews, this is the worst possible way because the Torah condemns 
homosexuality.  Oftentimes, HIV infection--no matter how the 
virus is acquired--is seen as evidence of that person's 
homosexuality, a sin which can affect the whole family.  
Seropositive Jews often leave their communities, searching for 
more accepting ones, while others stay but guard their secret 
closely for fear of being shamed and outed.  Denial is a serious 
problem among many gay Orthodox Jews.  One Orthodox woman says 
she had to watch her homosexual brother die from AIDS with hardly
any sympathy visits from people in the community because her 
parents did not want his sexuality or his infection known.  
Sarah's outrage about the denial and ignorance led her to help 
found the Tzvi Aryeh AIDS Foundation, one of the first AIDS 
organizations specifically geared toward the Orthodox community. 
Volunteers are currently working to establish a Yiddish-language 
AIDS hot line and organize groups to visit people with HIV and 
AIDS.
      
AIDS Daily News will not be distributed Monday, December 25
and Tuesday, December 26, in observance of the Christmas holiday.
Distribution will resume Wednesday, December 27.
