                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                  Tuesday, October 8, 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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"2 Get Nobel for Work on Immune Response"
"A Fusion of Love, Logistics"
"Rare AIDS Strains Stir Concerns"
"South Africa Scandal Over 'Sarafina' Spotlights Corruption in 
the A.N.C."
"AIDS Tests Join At-Home Diagnostics" 
"Red Cross Urges Compensation"
"Elders Says Record as Surgeon General Requires No Regrets" 
"Across the USA: California"
"Japan's HIV Blood Scandal Broadens Out" 
"Editorial: AIDS Clinic Deserves Support"
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"2 Get Nobel for Work on Immune Response"
New York Times (10/08/96) P. C6; Kolata, Gina
     Two scientists have been awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in 
Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of how the immune 
system recognizes cells that are infected with viruses.  Peter C. 
Doherty, of St. Jude's Medical Center in Memphis, and Rolf M. 
Zinkernagel, of the University of Zurich in Switzerland, 
discovered that the immune system's white blood cells must 
recognize two signals before attacking an infected cell.  Their 
discovery could help scientists develop therapies for viral 
diseases, including AIDS; as well as autoimmune diseases like 
diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
     
"A Fusion of Love, Logistics"
Washington Post (10/08/96) P. C1; Wheeler, Linda
     The three-day display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt in
Washington, D.C, to start on Friday, will employ 10,000 
volunteers and cost $1 million.  The Names Project, the San 
Francisco group that maintains and displays the quilt, is 
preparing for the event from a downtown office.  The quilt has 
37,856 panels, representing about 70,000 people who have died of 
AIDS.  It first appeared in Washington in 1988, and covered the 
space of a city block.  This year it will cover the entire Mall 
as well as some bordering areas.
     
"Rare AIDS Strains Stir Concerns"
Richmond Times-Dispatch (10/08/96) P. A14
     The discovery of rare strains of HIV in the United States
has led scientists to search globally for strains so that tests 
may be developed to detect every type.  The first U.S. case of the 
rare Group O was found in July, and a second case was discovered 
this month.  Additionally, another type of HIV new to the United 
States was found in a small group of New Yorkers.  The HIV test 
usually used in this country does not detect Group O once in every 
five cases.  Abbott Laboratories, however, has submitted a test to 
the Food and Drug Administration that is designed to better detect 
Group O infections.  The Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention reports that the patients infected with Group O 
contracted the virus in their native country of West Africa.  The 
agency is now trying to determine whether the New Yorkers were 
infected here or abroad.
     
"South Africa Scandal Over 'Sarafina' Spotlights Corruption in 
the A.N.C."
New York Times (10/08/96) P. A6; Daley, Suzanne
     The scandal surrounding the musical "Sarafina 2," sponsored
by South Africa's national health department to bring an 
anti-AIDS message to the illiterate, is said by some to exemplify 
the corruption within the African National Congress (ANC).  When 
the musical opened last spring, AIDS experts criticized its 
message as unclear, and its high cost was also brought into 
question.  Although the play closed quickly, it led many South 
Africans to doubt the ANC's practices and Health Commissioner Dr. 
Nkosazana Zuma's position.  Zuma has been accused of lying to 
Parliament about the procedure used to fund the musical, but she 
has been defended by the ANC.
     
"AIDS Tests Join At-Home Diagnostics"
Chicago Tribune (10/07/96) P. 4-1; Hutchcraft, Chuck
     The two home AIDS tests now available, Johnson & Johnson's 
Confide and Home Access Health's Home Access, may soon be joined 
by a test that uses a person's saliva rather than a blood sample 
to test for HIV antibodies.  SmithKline Beecham's OraSure, now 
only available through doctors' offices and clinics, may later be 
introduced in the home-testing market.  The home AIDS test is the 
most controversial home test available, and has been opposed by 
the American Medical Association since 1989.  The organization 
will likely reconsider its position this year, however, an 
official said.
     
"Red Cross Urges Compensation"
Toronto Globe and Mail (10/07/96) P. A1; McIlroy, Anne
     The leader of the Canadian Red Cross has urged federal and 
provincial health ministers to offer financial compensation to 
the 12,000 Canadians who contracted hepatitis C through tainted 
blood products in the 1980s.  Secretary-General Douglas Lindores 
said the Red Cross would contribute to the compensation fund, 
which he says is necessary for the reform of the blood system.  
Hepatitis C, which causes liver damage, is fatal in one of five 
cases.  Canadians infected with HIV through the blood system have 
already been offered financial assistance.
     
"Elders Says Record as Surgeon General Requires No Regrets" 
Washington Times (10/08/96) P. A6; Price, Joyce
     Former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders says she does not
regret any of her actions during her tenure, and that she is not 
disturbed that she has become a campaign issue.  She confirmed a 
report that the Clinton administration was prepared to lift a ban 
on federal funding for needle-exchange programs in 1994 but 
reversed the decision when the Congress became dominated by 
Republicans.  The proposed lifting of the ban was in response to 
five studies that showed needle exchanges reduced the spread of 
HIV but did not result in increased drug use.
     
"Across the USA: California"
USA Today (10/08/96) P. 7A
     Police in California confiscated brownies from a booth set
up by the activist group ACT UP to promote Proposition 215, which 
would legalize medical uses of marijuana.  The police say they 
will return the brownies if no drugs are found in them.
     
"Japan's HIV Blood Scandal Broadens Out"
Nature (09/26/96) Vol. 383, No. 6598, P. 291; Swinbanks, David
     Three arrests were made recently in Japan's tainted blood 
scandal, and others are expected as more attention is given to 
non-hemophiliacs who contracted HIV from contaminated blood 
products.  The president and two former presidents of Green Cross 
Corp. were arrested in a case involving the death of a 
non-hemophiliac who was treated with blood products supplied by 
the company.  A memo confiscated from the company, reportedly 
written by then-president Renzo Matsushita and sent to employees, 
claimed that the company's non-heat-treated products were safer 
than heat-treated products because they were made from domestic 
blood plasma, rather than plasma imported from the U.S.  In fact, 
however, nearly all of the firm's blood products were made from 
plasma imported from the United States.  The executives are 
suspected of overlooking the risk of HIV in their promotion of 
non-heat-treated products in 1986.  The company did not stop 
distributing its non-heat-treated products until 1988, two years 
after it reported to the government that the withdrawal had been 
completed.  Just this year, it has become known that thousands of 
non-hemophiliacs had been treated with the non-heat-treated 
products, and that most of the patients cannot be located.
     
"Editorial: AIDS Clinic Deserves Support"
Crain's Chicago Business (09/23/96) Vol. 19, No. 39, P. 12
     Businesses in the Chicago area are urged, in an editorial in
Crain's Chicago Business, to contribute to a proposed $25 million 
project that will provide outpatient care for people with HIV and 
AIDS-related health problems.  The joint project by Cook County 
Hospital and Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center would 
provide less costly care in a more effective manner than a 
hospital setting would.  The project has received $15.8 million 
from state and federal sources, and $5 million from a corporate 
fundraising campaign led by Playboy Enterprises, Inc.  The 
hospitals, which in any one night provide inpatient care to nearly 
100 HIV-positive people, agree that an outpatient center could 
reduce inpatient days for HIV-related illnesses by 30 percent.
     
     
