                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       April 25, 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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"Mandate That HIV Troops Be Discharged Is Set for Repeal" 
"Abbott Laboratories: FDA Approves New Test for Detecting AIDS 
Virus"
"AIDS and the City"
"Distrust Distorts True Blood Picture" 
"Don't Abandon Infected Babies"
"Immune Activation Impaired in Lungs of HIV-Positive TB Patients" 
"African Armies Weakened by HIV and AIDS"
"Risk Factors for Symptomatic CMV in HIV-Positive Children 
Identified"
"Viral Load: Inconclusive FDA Hearing" 
"Peripheral-Blood-Based PCR Assay to Identify Patients With 
Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis"
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"Mandate That HIV Troops Be Discharged Is Set for Repeal" 
New York Times (04/25/96) P. B13;  Shenon, Philip
     Leaders of the House and Senate agreed on Wednesday to
repeal legislation that would have forced the discharge of all 
HIV-positive military members.  The repeal was included in a 
major budget bill that will soon be forwarded to both houses of 
Congress and is expected to pass easily.  Sen. Mark O. Hatfield 
(R-Ore.) led the fight for the repeal, which was supported by the 
White House and the Pentagon.  The discharge provision was part 
of a Defense Department spending bill that was passed two months 
ago.  Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Calif.), who sponsored the 
measure, vowed to reintroduce legislation for the ban in the 1997 
Defense appropriation bill.  Related Stories: USA Today (04/25) 
P. 9A; Washington Times (04/25) P. A4
     
"Abbott Laboratories: FDA Approves New Test for Detecting AIDS 
Virus"
Wall Street Journal (04/25/96) P. B2
     The Food and Drug Administration has given approval to
Abbott Laboratories' new test for HIV, to be called Hivag-1 
Monoclonal.  The new test, which detects the p24 antigen of the 
virus, will be used to treat HIV-infected patients and will be 
sold to blood banks and plasma-collection centers for HIV 
screening in the United States.  The test is designed to detect 
HIV infection sooner than tests that detect antibodies to the 
virus.
     
"AIDS and the City"
Washington Post (04/25/96) P. A30
     An editorial in the Washington Post points out that while 
Washington, D.C., was recently said to have the highest number of 
AIDS cases in the nation, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention statistics compared the city to other states.  Because 
AIDS cases are concentrated in urban areas, the editors contend, 
it would be expected that the rate appears high when compared 
with states, even those that have major cities.  A more telling 
analysis, however, would compare metropolitan areas that include 
large cities and some surrounding counties.  By this comparison, 
Washington would rank fourth behind San Francisco, New York, and 
Baltimore, respectively.  The editors also note that although the 
CDC report shows the number of new AIDS cases dropping, this 
decline is a result of a new, broader definition of AIDS being 
adopted in 1994.
     
"Distrust Distorts True Blood Picture"
Toronto Globe and Mail (04/24/96) P. A5;  Picard, Andre
     In a news analysis in the Toronto Globe and Mail, Andre
Picard writes that the low public confidence in Canada's blood 
supply is reasonable in light of Canada's tainted-blood tragedy, 
but points out that the public should also recognize improvements 
that have been made in the system.  The Canadian Red Cross and 
public health officials insist that the blood system is safe, yet 
Picard notes that public distrust of the blood system will remain 
until an explanation is given for the distribution of tainted 
blood products.  The infections happened more than ten years ago; 
however, news of the public inquiry into the incident has raised 
fears about AIDS and hepatitis.  Moreover, the threat of becoming 
infected from a blood transfusion is now greatly reduced, yet a 
new poll found that people fear transfusions more than they fear 
dying from surgery.  In conclusion, Picard asserts that giving 
blood will help save lives and notes that although transfusions 
are safe, they should not be given unless necessary.
     
"Don't Abandon Infected Babies"
Wall Street Journal (04/24/96) P. A15;  Mayersohn, Nettie
     In a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal, Nettie
Mayersohn, a New York state legislator, responds to a previous 
letter that opposed federal legislation to require newborns to be 
tested for HIV if their mothers' HIV status had not been 
determined during pregnancy.  Mayersohn writes that she has 
introduced similar, necessary legislation in the New York State 
Assembly because many HIV-infected women do not receive prenatal 
care and thus cannot take advantage of treatment during pregnancy 
that would reduce the chance of transmission of HIV to their 
children. She points out that 75 percent of children born with 
HIV are not really infected and that if their mothers were 
counseled to avoid breastfeeding, they might not contract the 
virus.  By passing the Ackerman-Coburn Amendment, Mayersohn 
notes, policy makers could help stem the spread of the epidemic.
     
"Immune Activation Impaired in Lungs of HIV-Positive TB Patients" 
Reuters (04/24/96)
     HIV-positive patients with tuberculosis (TB) have a
significant reduction in CD4 cell proliferation in lung tissue, 
New York University researchers report.  This contrasts with the 
normal host response in HIV-negative individuals, marked by a 
proliferation of CD4 cells.  Dr. Kevin F. Law and colleagues 
tested the cellular response in lung segments of 28 TB patients. 
Seventeen were HIV-positive.  Both HIV-positive and HIV-negative 
patients had significantly increased numbers of total cells.  
HIV-positive patients with TB had a lower proportion of CD4 cells 
and a higher proportion of CD8 cells in the lung segments than 
HIV-negative patients with TB.
     
"African Armies Weakened by HIV and AIDS" 
Reuters (04/24/96)
     Half the soldiers in some African countries are infected
with HIV, participants in an AIDS conference for military 
officers were told Wednesday.  The prevalence of HIV in the 
armies of developing countries, especially in Africa, are 
exceptionally high, Malawian Defense Minister Justin Malewezi 
reported.  Ebrahim Samba, the World Health Organization director 
for Africa, said soldiers are a high-risk group because they are 
young, sexually active, and away from home for long periods of 
time.  These men may pay prostitutes for sex or have sex with 
women from the local community, and do not usually use condoms, 
he added.
     
"Risk Factors for Symptomatic CMV in HIV-Positive Children 
Identified"
Reuters (04/23/96)
     New York University researchers report in the Pediatric 
Infectious Diseases Journal that HIV-positive children with 
cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and low CD4 cell counts are more 
likely to develop symptoms of CMV infection.  Children with 
elevated levels of HIV p24 antigen are also at greater risk for 
the disease.  Dr. Sulachni Chandwani and colleagues studied three 
groups of children: some who were HIV-positive, some who were 
seroreverters born to HIV-positive women, and some who were born 
to HIV-negative women.  Seven of the 40 HIV-positive children 
with CMV developed symptoms of the infection.  They also had 
significantly lower CD4 T cell counts and greater HIV p24 
concentrations.
     
"Viral Load: Inconclusive FDA Hearing"
AIDS Treatment News (04/05/96) No. 244, P. 5;  James, John S.
     The Food and Drug Administration met in March to consider
the first viral load testing kit, Hoffmann-La Roche's Amplicor 
HIV Monitor, to be submitted for formal FDA approval.  While the 
agency is likely to approve viral load tests, it may approve them 
for prognosis only--which could result in managed care and 
insurance companies paying for only one or two tests in a 
patient's lifetime.  Many doctors, however, would want to use the 
tests to determine what treatment strategy is best for a patient 
and to monitor the effectiveness of drug therapies.  Some 
activists are now worried that the FDA's approval might 
discourage this use of viral load testing.
     
"Peripheral-Blood-Based PCR Assay to Identify Patients With 
Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis"
Lancet (04/20/96) Vol. 347, No. 9008, P. 1082;  Condos, Rany;  
McClune, Amy;  Rom, William N.; et al.
     Dr. Neil W. Schluger and colleagues at the Bellevue Hospital
in New York report that they used a polymerase chain reaction 
(PCR) assay, which detects circulating mycobacterial DNA, to test 
peripheral blood from 88 patients admitted to a chest ward with 
suspected pulmonary tuberculosis (TB).  The researchers compared 
the PCR results to the final clinical diagnosis and found that 
the PCR assay correctly identified 39 of the 41 patients with 
proven TB.  Of that number, 63 percent were sputum-smear 
negative.  HIV infection was common among the patients.  Overall, 
the sensitivity and specificity of the PCR assay were 95 percent 
and 89 percent, respectively.  Based on these findings, Schluger 
et al. believe that peripheral-blood-based PCR detection for the 
diagnosis of TB is technically feasible and has a potentially 
important role in TB diagnosis.
     
     
