                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      March 13, 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
of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD

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"Eager for Gay History and Finding Library Allies"
"Japanese Leaders in Logjam"
"Dingwall Wants Meeting to 'Renew Blood System'"
"Somatic Growth of HIV-Positive Infants Impaired"
"HIV Diagnosis Before Birth on the Increase"
"FDA Official Rebuts Criticism of Drug Approval Process"
"Gilead Sciences Makes Vistide Available in France"
"Continued Sexual Risk Behavior Among HIV-Seropositive, 
Drug-Using Men--Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; and San Juan, Puerto 
Rico, 1993"
"Montagnier Sets Up AIDS Research Center"
"Marshals Pay AIDS Activists"
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"Eager for Gay History and Finding Library Allies"
New York Times (03/13/96) P. A12;  Dunlap, David W.
     Public libraries and museums in cities across the United States 
have begun to allocate space for exhibits of gay and lesbian 
culture.  The New York Public Library added the exhibit "Becoming
Visible: The Legacy of Stonewall" in 1994 and has also focused on
AIDS-related materials.  The library has received the archives of
the AIDS protest and advocacy group ACT UP/New York.  The San 
Francisco Public Library, the Boston Public Library, and the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum also have exhibits or plans for 
exhibits on gay and lesbian history and culture.
      
"Japanese Leaders in Logjam"
Washington Post (03/13/96) P. A15;  Sullivan, Kevin
     Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, in office for two 
months, faces declining popularity as his government faces a $6.8
billion financial crisis and other conflicts.  His approval 
rating has dropped from 61 percent in January to 36 percent now, 
according to a recent poll.  Some possible contributing factors 
to the declining rate include the fact that Hashimoto's Health 
Ministry has been caught covering up an AIDS-related scandal, the
main opposition party is holding a protest to block passage of 
next year's budget, and that public confidence in Japan's 
bureaucracy has also dropped.
      
"Dingwall Wants Meeting to 'Renew Blood System'"
Toronto Globe and Mail (03/12/96) P. A4;  Picard, Andre
     Canadian Health Minister David Dingwall has planned a meeting of 
province and territory health ministers, the Canadian Red Cross 
Society, the Canadian Blood Agency, and consumer groups to 
discuss how the recommendations of a public inquiry will be 
implemented.  Meanwhile, several provinces, the Red Cross, three 
pharmaceutical companies, and many individuals are posing a legal
challenge to the report's findings of wrongdoing.  Dingwall said 
he will not stop the legal challenge, as consumer groups have 
demanded.  The inquiry's goal is to determine the causes of the 
tainted-blood that infected more than 1,200 hemophiliacs and 
transfusion recipients with HIV and to recommend changes to the 
blood system.  Justice Horace Krever, who is leading the inquiry,
has said that the system has unclear lines of accountability and 
authority.  Dingwall is interested in reforming the program 
quickly to restore public confidence, which has waned with the 
news that Krever's report will be delayed beyond the Sept. 30 
deadline.
      
"Somatic Growth of HIV-Positive Infants Impaired"
Reuters (03/12/96)
     Infants born infected with HIV have early and progressive 
decreases in linear growth, head growth, and body mass index, 
according to a study sponsored by the National Institutes of 
Health.  The researchers found that HIV-positive infants were 
lighter, shorter, and leaner than exposed, but uninfected 
infants.  The infected infants' altered growth patterns were 
similar to those resulting from acute and chronic malnutrition.  
Dr. Jack Moye Jr. led the study, which followed 282 infants of 
HIV-positive women from birth to 18 months   Moye said that while
further research is needed, the findings support the use of 
growth outcomes as a measure of the effects of early treatment of
pediatric HIV infection and its complications.
      
"HIV Diagnosis Before Birth on the Increase"
Reuters (03/12/96)
     The number of women diagnosed with HIV before they become 
pregnant or during pregnancy is increasing, according to results 
from the European Collaborative Study, a study of 1,690 
HIV-positive women.  The percentage of HIV-positive women found 
to have HIV before they became pregnant rose from 7 percent in 
1984 to 65 percent in 1994.  The study also reported that about 
13 percent of the infants born to HIV-positive women who did not 
know they had the virus until after delivery were breast-fed, 
compared to 2 percent of those born to women who knew they were 
HIV-positive before pregnancy.  The researchers conclude that the
best way to prevent HIV-positive women from breast-feeding is to 
determine their HIV status early.
      
"FDA Official Rebuts Criticism of Drug Approval Process"
Knight-Ridder (03/12/96);  Rosenberg, Ronald
     Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner David Kessler 
said Monday that charges of U.S. drug approval delays are 
invalid, that the United States has access to new drugs before 
the United Kingdom, Italy, France, and Japan.  As evidence, he 
cited the 72-day approval of ritonavir, a new AIDS drug developed
by Abbott Laboratories.  Congress is considering legislation that
would attempt to speed up the approval process.  Kessler, who is 
opposed to the proposals on the grounds that they would threaten 
public safety, also pointed out that the FDA has improved its 
drug approval time since the 1980s.
      
"Gilead Sciences Makes Vistide Available in France"
Healthwire (03/12/96)
     Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced Tuesday that its drug, Vistide, 
is now available in France under a temporary authorization 
program for the treatment of relapsing cytomegalovirus (CMV) 
retinitis in AIDS patients who have not responded to currently 
available intravenous treatments.  CMV retinitis is caused by a 
viral infection that may lead to blindness if left untreated.  
The drug is currently available in the United States and Canada 
under an expanded access program.
      
"Continued Sexual Risk Behavior Among HIV-Seropositive, 
Drug-Using Men--Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; and San Juan, Puerto 
Rico, 1993"
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (02/23/96) Vol. 45, No. 7, 
P. 151;  Kalichman, S.C.
     A 1993 study of HIV-positive men in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., 
and San Juan, Puerto Rico who use illicit drugs found that 
continue to have unprotected sex.  The study, which was conducted
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was based on 
interviews with 116 men who were injection drug users and were 
known to be HIV-positive.  Most of the respondents were 
participating in two or more HIV-related services.  Twenty-eight 
percent of the men reported having sex without a condom, and were
significantly more likely than those who used condoms to report 
other high risk sexual behaviors, such as multiple sex partners, 
having oral sex, trading sex for money or drugs, and having 
intercourse more than 12 times in the past 30 days.  An editorial
accompanying the study says the results emphasize the need for 
HIV-infected individuals to have ongoing counseling about safe 
sex practices.
      
"Montagnier Sets Up AIDS Research Center"
Nature (02/22/96) Vol.379, No.6568, P. 667;  Butler, Declan
     The Integrated Center for Clinical and Biomedical AIDS Research, 
founded by Luc Montagnier, a member of the French team that 
discovered HIV, was recently inaugurated at St. Joseph's Hospital
in Paris.  The $3.6 million construction costs for the center 
were raised via a television campaign, while the operating costs 
will be provided by the national AIDS research agency.  Research 
at the center will focus on the association of various antivirals
at a very early stage of HIV infection.  The center will treat 
patients with CD4 levels greater than 500 cells per microliter, 
although patients are not usually treated unless their CD4 count 
drops below 200.  The strategy raises ethical questions about 
treating otherwise healthy patients with drugs that cause side 
effects, but Montagnier says the center's focus will be patient 
care.  A variety of markers will be used to evaluate the 
treatment.  Other research at the center will focus on 
immunological aspects of the control of viral replication
      
"Marshals Pay AIDS Activists"
National Law Journal (02/19/96) Vol. 18, No. 25, P. A8
     The U.S. Marshals Service has agreed to pay $20,000 to each of 10
members of the AIDS activist group ACT UP for strip-searching 
them after their arrests following a 1989 protest.  The Ninth 
Circuit Court of Appeals decided last June that the strip search 
was unconstitutional because there was no reasonable basis for 
it.  The Marshals settled rather than facing a damages hearing in
federal court.
      
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