                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      April 15, 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 National AIDS 
Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this 
text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC 
National AIDS Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this
information. Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
     
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"Children's Crusade"
"'Off-Label' Drugs Backed by State"
"Turning the Page"
"Preventing Muscle Wasting"
"300 New HIV Cases Reported Monthly in Malaysia" 
"Abidjan to Host AIDS Research Center"
"Replication of HIV-1 in Dendritic Cell-Derived Syncytia at the 
Mucosal Surface of the Adenoid"
"Demographic Determinants of Hepatitis C Virus Seroprevalence 
Among Blood Donors"
"AIDS Shakes Up Japan's Status Quo"
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"Children's Crusade"
Wall Street Journal (04/15/96) P. A18;  Shlaes, Amity
     In a Wall Street Journal editorial, Amity Shlaes reports on
the conflict between saving babies born to HIV-positive mothers 
and the rights of pregnant women not to be required to take an 
HIV test.  Doctors have found that giving an HIV-positive woman 
AZT during pregnancy dramatically decreases the chance the child 
will be infected.  AIDS activists and women's groups object to 
mandatory HIV testing of pregnant women, however.  These 
objections have resulted in weak policies and inconsistent 
testing.  Some doctors and nurses who treat pregnant women do not
advocate mandatory testing, citing concerns about disclosure and 
discrimination.  An HIV-positive mother who was not tested, and 
infected her daughter, says the stigma is not as bad as the 
disease.
     
"'Off-Label' Drugs Backed by State"
Boston Globe (04/12/96) P. 32;  Foreman, Judy
     Massachusetts health insurers will be the first in the
nation required to pay for "off-label" use of prescription drugs 
for HIV and AIDS.  "Off-label" drugs are those that have been 
approved by the Food and Drug Administration for one condition 
but may be effective for others.  The new policy, which will 
cover only benefit plans regulated by the state, was announced 
April 11.  The mandate covers 12 AIDS drugs currently, but others
could be added.
     
"Turning the Page"
Washington Post (04/13/96) P. B1;  Kurtz, Howard
     Andrew Sullivan, editor of the New Republic, announced
Friday that he is quitting his position and that he has decided 
to disclose that he is HIV-positive.  Sullivan, who has known for
the past three years that he has HIV, is still in good health.  
He said he is stepping down because his five-year stint as the 
magazine's editor was enough, not because he is sick.  He 
expressed relief about his disclosure, which he announced at a 
staff meeting.  Sullivan has written about his homosexuality, but
told few people about having HIV.  He did host AIDS fundraisers 
in his apartment, volunteered at the Whitman-Walker Clinic, and 
was at the bedside of a close friend who died of AIDS last year. 
He said he believes he will be among the first generation to 
survive HIV.
     
"Preventing Muscle Wasting"
United Press International (04/15/96);  Wasowicz, Lidia
     Doctors reported today that they have been able to prevent
muscle wasting in mice with human cachexia, an achievement that 
is important to people with AIDS, cancer, and arthritis.  Human 
cachexia causes weight loss in patients with inflammatory 
diseases.  Researchers at the University of California, San Diego
report their findings in today's issue of the Journal of the 
European Molecular Biology Organization.  They were able to 
decipher the cascade of biological events leading to muscle 
wasting in mice and developed a treatment that prevents weight 
loss.  Weight loss causes added health problems for people with 
AIDS and cancer because it hinders their ability to tolerate 
treatments.
     
"300 New HIV Cases Reported Monthly in Malaysia" 
Xinhua News Service (04/14/96)
     The Malaysian government announced Sunday that some 300 new
HIV cases are reported each month, and there are already about 
15,000 cases in the country.  Minister of National Unity and 
Social Development Paduka Zaleha Ismail said the government is 
concerned about the rise in the number of people infected with 
HIV, and that the community must help to curb the increase.  She 
said 680 people under the age of 19 have the virus and that 
parents, educators, and community organizations must play a role 
in educating the young about AIDS.  A special cabinet committee 
is planning programs to decrease drug abuse and other negative 
behaviors.
     
"Abidjan to Host AIDS Research Center" 
Africa News (04/12/96)
     Abidjan President Henri Konan Bedie will open the new Cote 
d'Ivoire Center for Bioclinical Research on AIDS on April 17.  
The center will conduct basic research on African HIV and treat 
outpatients who have not developed symptoms of AIDS.  The World 
Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention is creating the 
center as part of an international program to fight AIDS.  The 
center will have a sterile, high-security laboratory, allowing 
researchers to perform cell cultures on location, rather than 
sending them to Europe or the United States.  The center will 
also be involved in training African doctors and scientists to 
form a core of indigenous AIDS researchers.  More than 70 percent
of the world's AIDS patients are in sub-Saharan Africa.
     
"Replication of HIV-1 in Dendritic Cell-Derived Syncytia at the 
Mucosal Surface of the Adenoid"
Science (04/05/96) Vol. 272, No. 5258, P. 115;  Frankel, Sarah 
S.; Wenig, Bruce M.;  Burke, Allen P.; et al.
     Ralph Steinman of Rockefeller University in New York and 
colleagues examined samples of adenoidal lymphoid tissue from 13 
people who had enlarged adenoids removed.  The tissues were 
analyzed at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology because 
initial analysis did not reveal the expected infections or 
neoplasms.  Many cells containing HIV-1 p24 antigen were found 
just under the mucosa of all 13 specimens.  Of the 12 patients 
tested, all showed positive results for HIV-1 antibodies.  Only 2
of the 13 had experienced AIDS symptoms, most denied high-risk 
behavior, and 11 did not know they were infected.  The authors 
suggest that the adenoid mucosa promotes the interaction of T 
cells with dendritic cells, which supports HIV-1 replication.  
They propose that infants' lymphoid tissues may be infected by 
swallowing the virus from the mother during birth or breast 
feeding.  Dendritic cells and T cells may also interact and 
promote viral replication in inflamed genital surfaces, the 
researchers conclude.
     
"Demographic Determinants of Hepatitis C Virus Seroprevalence 
Among Blood Donors"
Journal of the American Medical Association (04/03/96) Vol. 275, 
No. 13, P. 995;  Murphy, Edward L.;  Bryzman, Stephen;  Williams,
Alan E.; et al.
     Hepatitis C virus (HCV), the most common cause of 
post-transfusion hepatitis, is found in fewer than 1 percent of 
U.S. blood donors, but prevalence varies with demographic
factors. 
 The virus is known to be transmitted by blood transfusion, 
injection drug use, tattooing, health-related exposures, and 
possibly sexual contact.  To estimate the seroprevalence of HCV 
and its demographic characteristics, Edward L. Murphy of the 
University of California at San Francisco and colleagues reviewed
data from more than 862,000 blood donors who made donations in 
five urban areas between March 1992 and December 1993.  The 
overall HCV prevalence was estimated to be 3.6 per 1,000 donors. 
Donors aged 30 to 39 with less than a high school diploma were at
highest risk of HCV infection.  Other risk factors included male 
sex, black race, Hispanic ethnicity, previous blood transfusion, 
and first time donor status.  The authors suggest that their 
results could be used to select low-risk blood donors.
     
"AIDS Shakes Up Japan's Status Quo"
Lancet (04/06/96) Vol. 347, No. 9006, P. 961;  Ross, Catrien
     Although the Japanese government and five pharmaceutical 
companies have settled lawsuits brought by hemophiliacs who were 
infected with HIV through blood products, the fallout from the 
scandal continues.  Families of those who died of AIDS have filed
murder charges against Takeshi Abe, the doctor who was in charge 
of the Heath Ministry's research team set up in 1983 and who 
recommended in March 1984 that non-heat-treated blood products 
continue to be sold in Japan.  Renza Matsushita, a former head of
the health ministry's Pharmaceutical Affairs Bureau, has also 
been charged with murder.  After retiring from office, Matsushita
became president of Green Cross Corp., which had about 50 percent
market share of all blood products in the 1980s.  During the 
investigation, the company revealed that it had not recalled all 
non-heat-treated blood products until more than two years after 
it told the ministry it had done so.  The company may now have to
pay penalties and suffer boycotts.  Cases of non-hemophiliacs 
infected through contaminated blood products are also being 
investigated.  Moreover, calls for more accountability in the 
drug industry and the health ministry are increasing, as is 
criticism of the close connection between the two.
     
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