                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      February 7, 1996

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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"Delco Councilman Votes Against AIDS Grant"
"City Working to Curb Rise in Syphilis"
"Military Misfire"
"Judge Bans Naming of Dentist in HIV Trial"
"Race Played No Role in Closing AIDS Trials"
"Chiron Viagene and Virus Research Institute Collaborate on 
Intracellular Gene Therapy"
"Clarithromycin of Benefit to AIDS Patients with Disseminated 
Mycobacterium Avium Complex"
"Nontraditional Treatments Offer No Benefit to AIDS Patients"
"AIDS in America: Getting Younger"
"Private Group of AIDS Experts Work to Update Clinical Guides"
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"Delco Councilman Votes Against AIDS Grant"
Philadelphia Inquirer (02/07/96) P. B6;  Paik, Angela
     Delaware County Councilman Wallace Nunn has voted against an 
authorization of $188,000 in federal housing aid for county 
agencies that help AIDS patients.  The vote was a formality only,
since the county does not have a say in how the federal funds are
used.  Nunn said AIDS is a "behavioral disease" and that the 
money should go to cancer patients or others in need of aid 
"through no fault of their own."  Another member of the council 
who voted for the measure though she was against it said that she
hopes the county will get more say in how to spend federal funds.
      
"City Working to Curb Rise in Syphilis"
Baltimore Sun (02/06/96) P. 1B;  Sugg, Diana K.
     Health officials in Baltimore, Md., are alerting doctors and 
health care workers about a syphilis outbreak that they think 
could be followed by a rise in AIDS cases.  The number of 
syphilis cases in the city has increased by 83 percent in the 
last year, an increase that is linked to growing use of crack 
cocaine.  People with syphilitic lesions are at a greater risk of
contracting HIV or transmitting it to their sexual partners.  
Public health experts are starting to view the syphilis outbreaks
as a warning of increased AIDS cases.  The syphilis increase 
seems to be limited to parts of Baltimore and has not been seen 
to affect surrounding areas.  Officials from the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention have studied the situation in 
Baltimore and said they were not able to prove that a decrease in
the city health department staff played a role in the outbreak.
      
"Military Misfire"
Philadelphia Inquirer (02/07/96) P. A12
     In an editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the editors object 
to the proposed policy change that would force the discharge of 
all HIV-positive military members.  The authors note that 6,500 
people in the military have a chronic illness and cannot serve 
overseas in combat, and that the 1,049 people with HIV should not
be singled out.  Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), who has criticized 
allowing gays in the military, says the proposal is illogical because 
skilled personnel would have to be replaced.  President 
Clinton should veto the bill, the editors say, although he is 
expected to sign it.  Defense Department officials oppose the 
measure, saying that it will harm families of infected service 
members by removing their health coverage.
      
"Judge Bans Naming of Dentist in HIV Trial"
Boston Globe (02/06/96) P. 17;  Ferdinand, Pamela; Langer, Paul
     The Massachusetts Superior Court judge presiding over a case 
against a dentist accused of infecting a patient with HIV has 
ruled that the media cannot disclose the dentist's name.  Media 
executives and legal experts claim the ruling limits First 
Amendment rights of free speech.  James Sharpe, who now has 
full-blown AIDS, said he was infected in 1989 when he had three 
teeth extracted.  Hampshire County Judge William Welch ruled that
anyone involved in the case, including reporters, may not publish
the dentist's name until Sharpe proves his allegations.  Several 
news outlets are expected to appeal the ruling on grounds of 
prior restraint.
      
"Race Played No Role in Closing AIDS Trials"
New York Times (02/07/96) P. A18;  Gulick, Roy M.
     In this letter to the editor, Dr. Roy Gulick, a co-investigator 
at the New York University (NYU)-Bellevue Hospital, claims that a
recent letter to the editor inaccurately said that racism was a 
factor in the closing of some AIDS clinical trial sites.  The 
trials continue at NYU-Bellevue Hospital, Gulick says, where more
than half the participants are minority members.
      
"Chiron Viagene and Virus Research Institute Collaborate on 
Intracellular Gene Therapy"
Business Wire (02/06/96)
     Chiron Viagene and the Virus Research Institute announced on 
Tuesday that they will coordinate research and development 
efforts for an intracellular immunizing agent of infectious 
diseases, including HIV.  Intracellular immunization uses gene 
therapy along with a new class of genetically modified molecules,
called intracellular antibodies or "intrabodies."  These 
molecules are able to inhibit viral functions, including 
disrupting the viral assembly process.  This strategy could 
protect healthy immune cells and inhibit viral release from 
infected cells.  Officials at the two companies say the strategy 
offers new hope for combating HIV and other infectious diseases.
      
"Clarithromycin of Benefit to AIDS Patients with Disseminated 
Mycobacterium Avium Complex"
Reuters (02/06/96)
     A trial of advanced AIDS patients has found that clarithromycin 
may be an effective prophylactic treatment for disseminated 
Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC).  When combined with other 
drugs, clarithromycin appears to reduce the rate of MAC and has 
few side effects.  The trial, which was conducted at the 
Community Research Initiative on AIDS in New York City, included 
39 late-stage AIDS patients.  During the study period, none of 
the patients developed any signs of disseminated MAC infection.
      
"Nontraditional Treatments Offer No Benefit to AIDS Patients"
Reuters (02/06/96)
     A retrospective study of 56 men with HIV at a VA hospital in 
Pittsburgh found that nontraditional therapies offer no benefit 
for the infection.  The therapies, including acupuncture, 
megavitamin therapy, herbal preparations and visualization, did 
not show any positive effect on disease progression, CD4 cell 
count or mortality, the study found.  Dr. Nina Singh, who led the
study, said that the patients who used nontraditional therapies 
tended to be more assertive and tried to be more in control of 
the outcome of their disease.
      
"AIDS in America: Getting Younger"
Economist (01/20/96) Vol.338, No.7949, P. 29
     The number of new cases of AIDS in America has stopped growing, 
yet some 47,000 new cases are still reported each year.  New 
segments of the population are being affected, including women 
and young black and Hispanic men, according to data published by 
Philip Rosenberg of the National Cancer Institute in Science 
magazine.  Many people over 30 started having sex before AIDS was
identified, so infection among them could date to pre-AIDS or 
early-AIDS times.  But people who grew up knowing about AIDS, 
however, seem just as vulnerable.  In addition, injection drug 
use and unprotected sex are still common in youth, despite 
warnings about the disease.  Also, Americans, especially blacks, 
are having sex earlier than ever.  Starting to have sex earlier 
equates to more partners and a greater risk of AIDS.  
Furthermore, as heterosexual men get older they are less likely 
to use condoms, which accounts for the greater incidence of 
heterosexual transmission and the increased incidence of 
infection in women.  A large number of people with the virus do 
not know they have it until they develop AIDS, increasing the 
risk of transmission to others.
      
"Private Group of AIDS Experts Work to Update Clinical Guides"
American Medical News (01/22/96-01/29/96) Vol.39, No.4, P. 3;  
Morain, Claudia
     Leading AIDS experts met in San Francisco on Jan. 11 to draft new
clinical guidelines for antiretroviral therapy in HIV care.  They
said the 1993 federal guidelines were outdated and no longer 
helpful to clinicians working with AIDS patients.  Drug therapy, 
for instance, has advanced so much since 1993 that the earlier 
recommendations may no longer be appropriate.  The private 
group's guidelines will be presented at the Third Conference on 
Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, to be held in 
Washington D.C. from January 28 to February 1.  Dr. Paul 
Volberding, director of the AIDS Program at San Francisco General
Hospital, said he organized the meeting because the National 
Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases--the federal agency
that issued the 1993 guidelines--"can take quite a while to get 
organized."  He said the group's recommendations would cover 
combination therapy and would address prophylaxis for health care
workers exposed to HIV, maternal-fetal transmission, and early 
and late stages of infection.  Some AIDS specialists say the 
consensus-panel approach used by the NIAID to draft its 
recommendations is not effective for AIDS because there is 
limited research available and an urgent need for access to any 
possible treatments.
      
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