                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       June 28, 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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"AMA Backs Mandatory HIV Testing of Pregnant Women and Newborns" 
"FDA Clears Drug to Treat Blindness in AIDS Patients"
"New Blood Treatment May Help Fight AIDS"
"Doctors Discover New Worm, One That's Lethal to Humans" 
"HIV Infections on the Rise in Japan"
"STD Expert Says CDC's Gonorrhea Guidelines Are Outdated" 
"Restricted Expression of KS-Associated HHV8 Found in KS Tissue" 
"Bacterial Infections Associated With HIV-Related Oral Lesions" 
"Test Case"
"Public Spending on AIDS"
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"AMA Backs Mandatory HIV Testing of Pregnant Women and Newborns" 
Washington Post (06/28/96) P. A2
     In a surprising reversal on a controversial issue, the
American Medical Association announced Thursday the 
organization's endorsement of mandatory HIV testing for all 
pregnant women and newborns.  The group had advocated voluntary 
testing because doctors did not have the tools to treat pregnant 
women with HIV.  This changed, however, with the discovery that 
AZT can markedly reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to the 
child.  Opponents to mandatory testing, including AIDS activists, 
civil libertarians, and some mothers, argued that testing would 
lead to discrimination.  Many doctors also argued that mandatory 
testing would drive the women most at risk away from medical 
care.  The AMA's decision does not carry legal weight, but the 
group's policies do influence lawmakers.
     
"FDA Clears Drug to Treat Blindness in AIDS Patients" 
Wall Street Journal (06/28/96) P. B3
     The Food and Drug Administration has approved Gilead
Sciences' drug Vistide as a treatment for cytomegalovirus, a 
virus that causes blindness in AIDS patients.  The drug is 
Gilead's first commercial product.  Analysts have predicted that 
the approval could lead to approximately $45 million of sales 
over the next year.  Gilead, which has been investing heavily in 
research and development, had a net loss of $10.8 million, or 42 
cents a share, on sales of $779,000 in the first quarter.  The 
company's stock rose 75 cents, to $23.75, in Nasdaq Stock Market 
trading.
     
"New Blood Treatment May Help Fight AIDS" 
Washington Times (06/28/96) P. A3
     Researchers at the Naval Medical Research Center reported 
Thursday that a new preliminary experiment has allowed them to 
produce a large number of immune cells that seem to resist HIV in 
the laboratory.  Carl June and colleagues report their results in 
today's issue of the journal Science.  Human trials of the 
method, which uses monoclonal antibodies to treat the isolated 
CD4 cells, may start in the next few months.  After treatment, 
the cells resisted HIV when exposed to it in the test tube.  In 
the clinical trials, researchers will take blood from patients, 
treat it with the antibodies, and return it to the patient's 
bloodstream.
     
"Doctors Discover New Worm, One That's Lethal to Humans" 
New York Times (06/28/96) P. A18; Altman, Lawrence K.
     A new worm, similar to a tapeworm, but more dangerous and 
potentially deadly to humans, has been identified by doctors. 
Parts of the worm were found in an AIDS patient a year after he 
died from the infestation.  Doctors had identified the man's 
cause of death as an AIDS-related cancer, but later found the 
large mass of tissue believed to be cancer was caused by the 
worm's rapid growth.  Researchers at Stanford University and the 
Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center in Santa Clara, Calif., 
reported their discovery in the journal Lancet, warning doctors 
so that they can better treat patients.  They do not know 
whether the man's AIDS-weakened immune system had any effect on 
the course of the infestation.
     
"HIV Infections on the Rise in Japan" 
Reuters (06/27/96) 
     The Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare, AIDS
Surveillance Committee reported that 112 new cases of HIV were 
documented in the country between March and April of this year. 
Among the new infections, 74 were among Japanese citizens, 53 
resulted from heterosexual activity, 21 were related to 
homosexual contact, two were the result of perinatal 
transmission, and one case was attributed to intravenous drug 
use.  Two cases were believed to be caused by the transfusion of 
HIV-tainted blood. Since HIV-antibody testing was implemented for 
blood donations in 1986, no other transfusion-related HIV 
infections have been reported.
     
"STD Expert Says CDC's Gonorrhea Guidelines Are Outdated" 
Reuters (06/27/96) 
     The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should update
guidelines for treating patients with gonorrhea, Sharon Safrin, 
coordinator of the STD/HIV Prevention Training Center at San 
Francisco General Hospital, reports in the June 15 issue of 
Internal Medicine News.  She said the three-year-old guidelines, 
which recommend ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin as first-line agents 
against Neisseria gonorrhoea, are outdated.  Resistance to these 
drugs has developed and been reported worldwide.  Safrin says 
resistance has not been a problem with two other drugs 
recommended in 1993, ceftriaxone and cefixime.
     
"Restricted Expression of KS-Associated HHV8 Found in KS Tissue" 
Reuters (06/27/96) 
     Kaposi's sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), or
human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), has been implicated in the disease. 
Don Ganem and colleagues at the University of California at San 
Francisco have studied the pattern of KSHV/HHV-8 gene expression 
in KS tissue, and found that most infected cells in KS are 
latently infected, with lytic viral replication restricted.  
These findings suggest that the currently available antiviral 
drugs for KS, such as acyclovir, are not the most effective 
because they target the lytic replication cycle.
     
"Bacterial Infections Associated With HIV-Related Oral Lesions" 
Reuters (06/27/96) 
     The most common bacterial infections in the oral cavity in
HIV patients are necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis, 
periodontitis, and linear gingival erythema, John S. Greenspan 
and colleagues at the University of California at San Francisco 
report.  The review of diagnosis and management of oral lesions 
was published in the June issue of the Journal of Respiratory 
Diseases.  Because antibacterial drugs can disturb the normal 
balance between bacteria and fungi in the oral cavity, antifungal 
medications may be added to treatment.  Greenspan estimates that 
about 10 percent of HIV patients have necrotizing gingivitis.
     
"Test Case"
Advocate (06/25/96) No. 710, P. 33; Moss, J. Jennings
     When Congress reauthorized the Ryan White CARE Act in May,
it included a controversial provision to require HIV testing of 
newborns by the year 2000 under certain conditions.  AIDS 
activists hope the conditions will keep the mandate from being 
implemented but say they fear that the provision's passage will 
lead to more mandatory testing.  R. Scott Hitt, chairman of 
President Clinton's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, says that 
testing of newborns could lead to more widespread testing, but 
that the reason for mandating testing is well-intentioned.  The 
argument behind mandatory testing for infants is based on studies 
showing that AZT treatment can reverse a newborn's HIV status.  
Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), a supporter of mandatory testing for 
newborns, says that widespread mandatory testing will not 
necessarily result from the measure.  However, Rep. Tom Coburn 
(R-Okla.), says large-scale testing is his goal.  Before mandatory 
testing of infants is implemented, the government will spend $10 
million helping states encourage pregnant women to be tested 
voluntarily while tracking the rate of perinatal transmission by 
state.  Depending on their success at reducing transmission by the 
turn of the century, the states might then have to implement 
mandatory newborn testing.
     
"Public Spending on AIDS"
Governing (06/96) Vol. 9, No. 9, P. 48
     In 1994, public programs spent $3.75 billion on health care
for people with HIV and AIDS.  A new publication, "HIV/AIDS Facts 
to Consider: 1996," delivers the most recent information on 
caseloads, costs, transmission, and treatment, as well as state 
policies and programs.  To purchase a copy, contact the Book Order 
Department, National Conference of State Legislatures, 1560 
Broadway, Suite 700, Denver, CO 80202, or phone (303) 830-2054.
     
     
