                     AIDS Daily Summary
                     December 29, 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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"Tracing the Trail of Tainted Blood"
"Less HIV Found in Donated Blood"
"Employee with AIDS Loses Award on Appeal"
"Isis Drops Human Trials of a Genetic Drug"
"Budget Talks May Continue into Weekend"
"BFTI Receives Peruvian Naval Approval to Conduct Trials for Its 
Rapid Immunochromatographic Assay for Detection of the HIV 1/2 
Viruses"
"Treatment with Lamivudine, Zidovudine, or Both in HIV-Positive 
Patients with 200 to 500 CD4+ Cells per Cubic Millimeter"
"Some Members of APHA Interested in Forming Caucus on AIDS"
"Finding New Uses for Thalidomide"
"No Thanks"
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"Tracing the Trail of Tainted Blood"
Philadelphia Inquirer (12/29/95) P. A1;  Shaw, Donna
     Thousands of documents emerging in Canada's tainted-blood
inquiry
indicate that the plasma industry was reliant on high-risk blood 
donors than it had previously admitted.  Specifically, these 
donors include prisoners, drug addicts, and poor people from the 
United States, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Asia, 
and southern Africa.  Lawyers representing HIV- and 
hepatitis-infected hemophiliacs say that this reliance gave the 
industry a critical obligation to destroy viruses in 
blood-clotting products long before the first heat-treated 
medicines were approved in the United States.  Today's 
plasma-based medicines are safer than ever, but blood experts 
admit that it is unrealistic to expect these medicines to ever be
completely without risk.  Factors related to this issue include 
the size of the plasma pool, the belief that paid donors are at 
greater risk for blood-borne diseases than volunteers, and the 
fact that the United States' method of viral inactivation does 
not eliminate all viruses.
      
"Less HIV Found in Donated Blood"
Boston Globe (12/28/95) P. 1;  Saltus, Richard
     More accurate HIV tests and increased education of potential 
blood donors have made the risk of receiving an HIV-infected 
blood transfusion very low, according to a new report from the 
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Only 18 to 27 
donations out of the 12 million given each year are tainted with 
HIV, the study found.  To further improve the odds, the Food and 
Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered U.S. blood banks to 
implement a new HIV test that may detect some 10 more infected 
donations each year.  The additional testing, which will cost the
health care system about $65 million annually, will also "add 
additional complexity, increase the opportunity for error, and 
create more false-positive test results," said Dr. Christopher 
Howell, director of the blood transfusion service at 
Massachusetts General Hospital.  An FDA spokesman, however, noted
that the agency must safeguard public health, and that cost 
therefore was not considered when the FDA said last August that 
the test should be used.  Related Story: Miami Herald (12/28) P. 
6A
      
"Employee with AIDS Loses Award on Appeal"
Philadelphia Inquirer (12/29/95) P. B1;  Lounsberry, Emilie
     The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in
Philadelphia reversed on Thursday a $125,000 award to a SEPTA
manager who said that his right to privacy had been violated when
an administrator discovered he had AIDS by examining employee
prescription claims.  The court ruled that an employer's need for
access to employee prescription records under its health-insurance
plan is greater than a worker's interest in keeping such
information confidential.  "Such minimal intrusion, although an
impingement on privacy, is insufficient to constitute a
constitutional violation," wrote Judge Max Rosenn.  Judge Timothy
K. Lewis, however, dissented, saying that the appellate court
should affirm the verdict and that he was disturbed by the
"potential implications" of the majority's decision.
      
"Isis Drops Human Trials of a Genetic Drug"
New York Times (12/29/95) P. D2;  Fisher, Lawrence M.
     Isis Pharmaceuticals has suspended clinical trials of a
potential treatment for genital warts, an antisense compound known
as Isis 2105, because it claims that the results and potential
market do not merit further development.  The company's shares
dropped 37.5 cents to $13.25.  According to analysts, the minimal
decline reflects the company's attempts to prepare investors for a 
setback with the drug, as well as the promise of other Isis drugs
currently being tested.  These drugs include treatments for 
cytomegalovirus retinitis, for kidney transplant rejection, and 
for inflammation.  Stanley Crooke, Isis chairman and CEO, said 
that although Isis 2105, when used with cryosurgery, had 
demonstrated antiviral activity, the drug was not strong enough 
and would likely need to be reformulated.
      
"Budget Talks May Continue into Weekend"
Washington Post (12/29/95) P. A1;  Harris, John F.;  Dewar, Helen
     President Clinton and Republican congressional leaders
affirmed on Thursday their desire to restart budget negotiations,
however both parties said they are not likely to reach an agreement
in the next few days.  The president also vetoed the authorization 
bill for defense appropriations.  Aides report that Clinton 
objected to the GOP plan to establish a missile defense program 
that is said to violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty 
with Russia.  Furthermore, Clinton termed "medically unwarranted"
a provision in the measure which would require the discharge of 
HIV-infected service members.
      
"BFTI Receives Peruvian Naval Approval to Conduct Trials for Its 
Rapid Immunochromatographic Assay for Detection of the HIV 1/2 
Viruses"
Business Wire (12/28/95)
     The Peruvian Ministry of Interior has approved Bio-Fluorescent
Technologies Inc.'s (BFTI's) plan to conduct trials of its rapid 
assay test for the HIV 1/2 virus with the navy.  The trials are 
the first part of the navy's requirements to qualify a product 
for sale.  The navy department intends to provide HIV tests to 
all its personnel and their families.  Sales in this sector of 
Peru alone could garner BFTI $4 million in 1996.
      
"Treatment with Lamivudine, Zidovudine, or Both in HIV-Positive 
Patients with 200 to 500 CD4+ Cells per Cubic Millimeter"
New England Journal of Medicine (12/21/95) Vol. 333, No. 25, P. 
1662;  Eron, Joseph J.;  Benoit, Sharon L.;  Jemsek, Joseph; et 
al.
     To determine the safety and activity of lamivudine plus 
zidovudine in the treatment of HIV-infection, as compared with 
either drug alone, Eron et. al. studied more than 360 patients 
with CD4 levels between 200 and 500 cells.  During the 
double-blind, 24-week study, patients were randomly assigned to 
receive either lamivudine, zidovudine, or one of two dose levels 
of a combination lamivudine plus zidovudine.  The researchers 
found that the low- and high-dose regimens of the combination 
therapy resulted in greater increases in CD4 cell counts and 
percentage of CD4 cells, as well as larger reductions in HIV-1 
RNA plasma levels, versus zidovudine alone.  The combination 
treatment was also more effective in reducing HIV-1 RNA levels 
and increasing CD4-cell percentages than lamivudine 
alone--benefits which were maintained through the 28-week 
extension phase of the study.  The researchers concluded that 
such combination therapy was well-tolerated in the 52 weeks of 
study, and that it generates more immunologic and virologic 
improvement than either drug by itself.
      
"Some Members of APHA Interested in Forming Caucus on AIDS"
Nation's Health (12/95) Vol. 25, No. 11, P. 14
     Members of the American Public Health Association (APHA) are 
considering the formation of a caucus that would focus on the 
group's future AIDS policies.  "The worst thing we can do is 
become silent or complacent about the AIDS epidemic," said member
Suzanne Keller.  The APHA's AIDS policies, which were adopted in 
1982, cover such topics as equality of care, infection control, 
and non-discriminatory practices.  Some members say that new 
issues needing to be addressed include HIV home testing and sex 
education in schools.  Tim Sankary, a member who works in the 
epidemiology department at the UCLA School of Public Health, 
says, "I'd like to know why condoms are not used even when 
students know about condoms and they know about AIDS.  We have to
look at the practical application of our AIDS education."
      
"Finding New Uses for Thalidomide"
Nature Medicine (12/95) Vol. 1, No. 12, P. 1230;  Gershon, Diane
     Midtrial results of a Phase II, placebo-controlled study of 
thalidomide suggest that the drug is a safe and effective 
treatment for mouth ulcers in HIV patients.  The placebo side of 
the study therefore has been shut down and all patients will now 
be able to receive the drug on an "open-label" basis.  The 
two-part study, which was funded by the National Institutes of 
Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and conducted through 
NIAID's AIDS Clinical Trials Group, found that 61 percent of the 
thalidomide recipients' mouth ulcers healed, compared to just 4.5
percent in the control group.  The drug, which became infamous 
for the birth defects it caused in England and Germany, was never
approved in the United States, though some AIDS patients are now 
unofficially obtaining it through buyer's clubs for the treatment
of AIDS, ulcers, and HIV-related wasting.  Thalidomide is also 
being used for other disorders in both Brazil and France.  
Despite the risks associated with thalidomide, women of 
childbearing age did participate in the NIAID study.  "We felt 
strongly that women should be allowed equal access to a 
potentially beneficial therapy," said Jeffrey M. Jacobson, a 
chair of the study.  The researchers imposed several safety 
precautions, however, to minimize the danger, including periodic 
pregnancy tests and requiring women to either abstain from sexual
intercourse or use three methods of contraception at the same 
time.
      
"No Thanks"
Advocate (12/26/95) No. 697, P. 23;  Gallagher, John
     Texas education commissioner Michael Moses recently rejected
a $1.35-million federal grant on the grounds that it would have 
forced the state to discontinue its abstinence-based sex 
education program.  Dianne Hardy-Garcia, executive director of 
the Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby of Texas, said, "There had been 
grumblings about the money, but nobody thought he'd send it all 
back."  But Cecile Richards, executive director of the Texas 
Freedom Alliance, a coalition of moderate clergy and community 
leaders, noted that accepting the money would have meant 
confronting the religious right, which "has been very active in 
eliminating sex education in schools."  The rejected funds came 
from a four-year Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant
used to finance HIV- and sexually transmitted disease-prevention 
training for teachers.  Moses now says he will reconsider his 
decision, "provided the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention can furnish assurances in writing that Texas school 
districts will not be told how to teach sex education or health 
education."  Carolyn Parker, executive director of the Texas AIDS
Network, said that the state health education policy upon which 
Moses based his decision only requires that abstinence be part of
the sex education curriculum, not the whole program.  "There is 
nothing in [the code] that says we can't advance the discussion 
beyond abstinence," she observed.
      
AIDS Daily News will not publish on Monday, January 1, 1996.
Publication will resume on Tuesday, January 2.
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