                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      February 12, 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 Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction
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Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"Medical Suspension Creates Concern"
"Ignoring a Proven Lifesaver"
"Shark, Frog Compounds Fight Sex Disease"
"Medicaid Cuts Keep Many AIDS Patients from New Treatments"
"Clinton Signs Defense Bill, Blasts AIDS Provision"
"Doctor Hopes to Repeat Baboon Cell Transplant"
"Man Accused of Giving HIV to Four is Slain"
"Blood Supply: Possibly Tainted Product Withdrawn"
"Reduction of HIV Concentration During Acute Infection: 
Independence from a Specific Immune Response"
"Ship to Shore"
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"Medical Suspension Creates Concern"
New York Times (02/12/96) P. C1;  Eskenazi, Gerald
     Tommy Morrison, the former World Boxing Organization heavyweight 
champion, was suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission on 
Saturday for an undisclosed medical reason.  Although no one 
would say so, the suspected reason is that Morrison tested 
positive for HIV.  Nevada is the only major boxing state that 
requires a pre-fight HIV test.  A commission official said that 
if the reason had been an injury he would have released it.  
Neither the official of Morrison's promoter would deny that the 
fighter had the virus.  Related Stories: Washington Post 
(02/12/96) P.C1; Philadelphia Inquirer (02/12/96) P.D1
      
"Ignoring a Proven Lifesaver"
Washington Post (02/12/96) P. A19;  Graham, Jim
     In a letter to the editors of the Washington Post, Jim Graham, 
director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington D.C., asserts
that the city's needle exchange program could be an effective 
tool in slowing the spread of HIV, but that it is failing.  He 
claims that the program, which was one of the first, is 
restricted by bureaucracy and limited funds.  Furthermore, he 
notes, the number of IV-drug users in the city with AIDS has 
tripled in the last three years.  The pilot program has been 
stopped and no needles are currently being exchanged.  Graham 
adds that the program's costs are modest, and points out that 
studies of other programs have shown that they are effective.
      
"Shark, Frog Compounds Fight Sex Disease"
Washington Times (02/12/96) P. A7
     Substances from the dogfish shark and the African clawed frog may
be used to fight sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, 
scientists said Sunday.  Dr. Leonard Jacob of Magainin 
Pharmaceuticals of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., said the compounds, 
called magainins or squalamines, have already passed preliminary 
testing and are being tested, or soon will be tested in humans.  
The substances are derived from the defense systems of the 
animals.
      
"Medicaid Cuts Keep Many AIDS Patients from New Treatments"
New York Times (02/12/96) P. A14;  Sharp, Victoria L.;  Stoddard,
Tom
     In two separate letters to the editor, the authors argue that 
government funding is necessary for many AIDS patients, 
especially as costs for drugs are rising.  In one, Dr. Victoria 
Sharp, of the Spellman Center for HIV-Related Disease at St. 
Clare's Hospital, claims that proposed New York state and federal
cuts in Medicaid will result in a "two-tiered medical system 
that denies treatment to the poor."  Tom Stoddard writes in the 
second letter that the estimated $70,000 price tag cited by the 
newspaper for treatments for advanced AIDS patients is low.  The 
hopes offered by new therapies, he says, are unattainable for 
some patients, even some with medical coverage.  Stoddard argues 
that medical care should be extended to those who need it.
      
"Clinton Signs Defense Bill, Blasts AIDS Provision"
Washington Post (02/11/96) P. A8
     President Clinton signed the Defense appropriations bill 
Saturday, despite its inclusion of a provision that requires the 
discharge of all HIV-positive military members.  The president 
called the provision "blatantly discriminatory," and said he 
supports efforts in Congress to repeal it before it takes effect 
in six months.  Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Calif.), who sponsored 
the measure, said that attempts to repeal it will fail.  "Bill 
Clinton continues to ignore the needs and requirements of the 
military while deferring to the wishes of a vocal minority who 
donate heavily to his presidential campaign," Dornan said.  
Clinton has called the provision unconstitutionally 
discriminatory and has instructed Attorney General Janet Reno not
to defend it in court.
      
"Doctor Hopes to Repeat Baboon Cell Transplant"
Washington Post (02/11/96) P. A9;  Weiss, Rick
     Suzanne Ildstad, the University of Pittsburgh surgeon who 
transplanted baboon bone marrow into an AIDS patient two months 
ago, said she wants to repeat the controversial procedure with 
another patient in the next six months.  She said the transplant 
was not successful in getting the baboon cells to survive in the 
patient, but noted that it did result in the patient becoming 
healthier.  Ildstad discussed the transplant at the annual 
meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of 
Science in Baltimore.  She said that patient Jeff Getty's 
improved health could be the result of a small number of 
surviving baboon cells or of the chemotherapy and radiation Getty
received before the transplant.  Ildstad said she would increase 
the chemotherapy dose in the next transplant, which would have to
be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
      
"Man Accused of Giving HIV to Four is Slain"
Philadelphia Inquirer (02/10/96) P. A11;  Rose, Lori Dodge
     Robert Warren, a married man who was accused of infecting four 
girlfriends with HIV, was shot and killed, two weeks before he 
was to be tried for one of those cases.  St. Louis police said 
that a motive was still uncertain, but that revenge and drugs 
were possibilities.  Warren was charged in April with 
HIV-infecting one of his girlfriends, and was set free on bail.  
Police said that Warren was known to be popular with women and 
that one woman continued to date him even after learning he had 
HIV.  Warren admitted he never wore condoms, and police noted 
that he did not seem sorry for spreading the virus, but was 
frustrated that the arrest had interrupted his usual lifestyle. 
      
"Blood Supply: Possibly Tainted Product Withdrawn"
Toronto Globe and Mail (02/09/96) P. A4
     The Canadian Red Cross says it is withdrawing two lots of the 
blood product intravenous immune globulin, for fear that it could
be tainted with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.  The manufacturer, 
Bayer Inc., requested the withdrawal of about 16,000 vials of the
product, which is used to treat patients with immune 
deficiencies.
      
"Reduction of HIV Concentration During Acute Infection: 
Independence from a Specific Immune Response"
Science (01/26/96) Vol.271, No.5248, P. 497;  Phillips, Andrew N.
     After HIV infection, the virus' concentration in the plasma 
increases, and then decreases a few weeks later.  This decrease 
was thought to be the result of an HIV-specific immune response. 
A mathematical model of the population dynamics of early HIV 
infection was devised to investigate this relationship.  
Variables were used to represent activated, uninfected CD4 cells,
latently infected cells, actively infected cells and free 
virions.  Changes in the virus concentration and CD4 cell count 
were tracked over time.  The patterns resulting from the model 
approximate those observed in patients, with a peak of virus 
concentration a few weeks after infection and a rapid decline in 
CD4 cells which then stabilizes.  The decrease, according to the 
model, was a result of population dynamics, not an immune 
response.  The model did not explain how CD4 cells are gradually 
depleted after HIV infection.  The results of the model suggest 
that the appearance of an HIV-specific immune response results 
from the high level of virus but is not a major cause of the 
decline.  This could explain why some patients may have a decline
in virus concentration even without a specific immune response.
      
"Ship to Shore"
POZ (02/96-03/96) No.12, P. 38;  Blotcher, Jay
     Sue Saunders, who learned she was HIV-positive at the age of 58, 
had resigned herself to death, until--while visiting one of her 
four children on a farewell trip--she learned she had several 
more years to live.  Five years later she enjoys gardening, 
movies and working out. Saunders lives in Fort Lauderdale and 
volunteers at her local PWA Coalition.  She has also videotaped 
an interview, called "It Can Happen To Me," for the American 
Association for Retired Persons about living with HIV.
      
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