                     AIDS Daily Summary
                       August 15, 1994

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public
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Copyright 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD

"HIV is Spread in Asia by the Sex Industry and its Captives"
Philadelphia Inquirer (08/15/94) P. A1;  Collins, Huntly
     The multibillion-dollar sex trade industry in Asia is seen as a 
key reason HIV is spreading so rapidly in that continent.  A 
recent United Nations report found that "tens of thousands of 
women and girls are unable to resist possible exposure to HIV."  
Women from Taiwan, Korea, and the Philippines have been forcibly 
sent to Japan in increasing numbers since 1988.  Up to three 
million Asians are already infected with HIV, a figure that could
hit 45 million by the end of the decade, some researchers 
predict.
      
"Case for AIDS Vaccine Trials"
Financial Times (08/15/94) P. 13
     The editors of the Financial Times note that prospects for an 
AIDS vaccine are seriously hampered by the refusal of the United 
States to start trials of those vaccines that have been 
developed.  With the epidemic continuing to accelerate in Africa 
and Asia, greater risks must be taken in developing areas than 
would be acceptable in America.  The editors call on the World 
Health Organization to go forward with its planned coordination 
of vaccine trials in Brazil, Thailand, and Uganda.
      
"Pathologist Says Gee-Whiz Bullets Are AIDS Threat"
Reuters (08/12/94)
     Varnard Adams, medical examiner in Tampa, Florida, warns that the
police department's use of high-tech dum dum bullets creates an 
AIDS risk for doctors who perform autopsies.  The bullets expand 
after entering the human body.  Adams protested the use of the 
bullets after a bullet cut a doctor performing an autopsy.
      
"ACT-UP High on Hyatt"
Washington Times (08/11/94) P. 5
     ACT-UP is considering endorsing Ohio Democratic Senate candidate 
Joel Hyatt despite the firing of an AIDS victim from his Hyatt 
Legal Services firm.  That story was depicted in the movie 
"Philadelphia."  Hyatt has apologized for the incident, which 
occurred seven years ago.  ACT-UP officials say Hyatt may now be 
more sensitive to the plight of AIDS victims.
      
"Aspirin May Inhibit HIV, Researchers Say"
Reuters (08/11/94)
     Yale researchers report that ordinary aspirin may keep 
HIV-infected people from getting full-blown AIDS.  The 
researchers found that aspirin and its chemical precursor, sodium
salicylate, block a protein which plays a critical role in 
triggering the body's front-line immune response.  By inhibiting 
this protein in two test-tube studies, the researchers also found
that aspirin substantially prevented the HIV virus that causes 
AIDS from replicating itself.
      
"Indian Cop Rapes for AIDS Cure"
United Press International (08/14/94)
     An Indian police constable accused of raping and murdering a 
young girl in New Delhi, India, asserts he committed the crime to
cure his case of AIDS.  The police officer claimed he thought 
sexual intercourse with a virgin would cure him of AIDS.  An 
independent estimate finds that more than a million cases of HIV 
occur every year in India.  Various education campaigns have been
unsuccessful in the Asian nation.
      
"Elton John to Present Intimate Evening of Music"
Entertainment Wire (08/11/94)
     Elton John will perform in Beverly Hills, California, four nights
in September to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation Inc.  John
founded the Foundation in 1993 to raise funds for direct patient 
care and AIDS prevention education.  The Foundation raised $1.65 
million in its first year, a figure that was matched through the 
Foundation's on-going affiliation with the National Community 
AIDS Partnership, thus increasing the amount to $3 million in 
disbursements.
      
"AIDS Researchers--What Can They Say?"
U.S. News & World Report (08/08/94) Vol. 117, No. 6, P. 18
     Researchers are dismayed that so few breakthroughs have occurred 
in the decade between the first global AIDS research conference 
in Atlanta in 1985 and the 10th conference being held Aug. 7-12 
in Yokahama, Japan.  Nearly one million AIDS cases have been 
reported to the World Health Organization, but the agency 
suspects that the actual number is four million, in addition to 
17 million HIV carriers.  The AIDS epicenter is moving from 
Africa to Asia.  The good news is that the average rate of 
survival for people with full-blown AIDS has nearly quadrupled 
since 1983.  New studies, however, question the effectiveness of 
a number of AIDS treatments.  Gene therapy, although promising, 
remains untested.  With progress so slow, researchers have agreed
to meet less and work even harder.  After this year, the 
conferences will be held every other year, the next one being 
scheduled for 1996 in Vancouver.  "People are realizing that it's
unrealistic to think we'll have breakthroughs every year," says 
Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health.
      
"An Anti-HIV Vitamin"
Science (07/15/94) Vol. 265, No. 5170, P. 314
     Studies have demonstrated that HIV-positive pregnant women 
transmit the virus to their infants 10 to 40 percent of the time,
provoking questions as to why some babies become infected and 
others do not.  A recent study in Malawi suggests that vitamin A 
deficiency, which is known to compromise the immune system, may 
influence whether pregnant women pass HIV on to their babies.  
Richard Semba and colleagues at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene 
and Public Health, in collaboration with John Chiphangwi from 
Malawi Medical College, measured the vitamin A levels in 333 
HIV-infected mothers-to-be.  The babies were tested for HIV after
birth.  Semba et al. found that women who did not transmit the 
virus had vitamin A levels averaging 1.07 per liter, while women 
who did not transmit HIV had levels of vitamin A averaging only 
0.86 per liter--a level that is considered deficient.  It is 
uncertain how vitamin A might affect maternal-infant HIV 
transmission, but Semba is drafting plans for studies to test the
theory that treating HIV-positive pregnant women with vitamin A 
might decrease transmission rates.
      
