                     AIDS Daily Summary
                       March 25, 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


************************************************************
"AIDS Drugs Bring Hope, High Prices"
"Stricken, But Speaking Out"
"Fanfare: Auto Racing"
"FDA Approves Human Testing of Preventive AIDS Vaccine"
"Vaginal Microbicides Explored for AIDS Prevention"
"Leading AIDS Researcher Warns of Second Epidemic"
"TB A Threat in Latin America, Caribbean"
"Advisory on Zidovudine to Reduce HIV Transmission From Mother to
Infant Sent to Thousands of Health Care Providers"
"Lamivudine Resistance May be Associated with Beneficial Effects"
"AIDS Update: AIDS Research: Charge It"
************************************************************

"AIDS Drugs Bring Hope, High Prices"
Washington Post (03/25/96) P. A1;  Gillis, Justin
     The recent approval of costly new AIDS drugs, which could
raise the cost of treating HIV from $2,500 a year to $12,000,
leaves cities and states in the difficult position of trying to
devise ways to help pay for them.  In the face of federal
government spending shortfalls, Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening
has promised about $1 million in additional state funds to pay
for the new drugs.  In addition, the Clinton administration has
asked Congress to approve an extra $52 million for drug payment
programs, but the request has been stymied by the budget debate.
Scientists hope the new drugs will allow HIV-infected
individuals to live longer, more productive lives.

"Stricken, But Speaking Out"
Philadelphia Inquirer (03/25/96) P. F5;  Reeves, Tracey A.
     Since finding out in 1992 that she has HIV, Lisa Tiger has
become an AIDS activist in the American Indian community, sharing
her story and telling others that anyone can get AIDS, including
people like her from the rural middle class.  The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as of June 1995,
1,010 American Indians had AIDS, but people like Tiger and Miguel
Marinez of the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center
claim the figure is too low.  Daniel Simpson, an AIDS coordinator
for the Indian Health Service, says the infection rate is
underreported because AIDS is a taboo subject in the American
Indian community.

"Fanfare: Auto Racing"
Washington Post (03/25/96) P. C2
     Auto racer Tim Richmond infected several women with HIV
before he died in 1989, according to the Miami Herald. 
Richmond's former fiancee, LaGena Lookabill Greene, announced
last year that she had AIDS and that she was infected by
Richmond.  The Herald reported that two other of Richmond's
partners also have AIDS and that another one has died.

"FDA Approves Human Testing of Preventive AIDS Vaccine"
Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News (03/25/96);  Shaw, Donna
     For the first time, a preventive AIDS vaccine made with HIV
DNA will be tested in uninfected people.  The vaccine, made by
Apollon Inc. and the University of Pennsylvania, will be given to
16 HIV-negative volunteers who will be followed for 18 months to
determine the vaccine's safety and efficacy.  The vaccine's two
parts--one containing the genes for the production of key HIV
proteins and the other containing genes to make viral core
proteins, will be tested separately.  Also, a DNA-based
Apollon-Penn vaccine designed to delay the onset of AIDS is now
being tested in HIV-infected individuals.

"Vaginal Microbicides Explored for AIDS Prevention"
Reuters (03/22/96)
     Researchers have found several compounds that may be used as
vaginal microbicides for preventing HIV infection.  Dr. Rudi
Pauwels of the Institute for Antiviral Research in Belgium and
colleagues report that little attention has been given to the
chemical prevention of HIV infection and that spermicides with
HIV-inactivating action may have promise to block heterosexual
HIV transmission.  Nonoxynol 9 and chlorhexidine are two
virucidals being studied, and compounds that target other steps
in the viral replication cycle could be valuable as secondary
barriers.

"Leading AIDS Researcher Warns of Second Epidemic"
Reuters (03/22/96)
     Dr. Max Essex, chairman of the Harvard AIDS Institute, warns
that the United States may be facing a second AIDS epidemic. 
HIV-1B, the common HIV type in the United States and Europe, is
transmitted through injection drug use, blood products and
primary homosexual contact.  HIV-1C, -E, -D, and -A subtypes,
especially HIV-1C and HIV-E, are currently spreading rapidly in
Southeast Asia and Africa.  Essex says that these non-B strains
are transmitted primarily through vaginal intercourse, and are a
greater threat to the world's population.  Furthermore, he says
that if they took hold in the United States or Europe, they could
cause "a heterosexual epidemic of significantly greater
magnitude."

"TB A Threat in Latin America, Caribbean"
Reuters (03/22/96);  Kenen, Joanne
     Tuberculosis (TB) remains a public health problem in much of
Latin America and the Caribbean, killing more than 70,000 people
in 1995, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) reported
Friday.  Of all the TB-related deaths in the Western Hemisphere
last year, 95 percent were in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The countries with the worst epidemics include Bolivia, Peru, the
Dominican Republic, and Ecuador.  PAHO estimates that less
than 70 percent of the TB patients receive complete treatment,
increasing the likelihood of resistant TB strains developing.  A
PAHO official said that even poor countries can fight the
epidemic with consistent treatment, citing Peru and Nicaragua as
examples.

"Advisory on Zidovudine to Reduce HIV Transmission From Mother to
Infant Sent to Thousands of Health Care Providers"
Health Resources and Services Administration (03/22/96)
     The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
announced Friday that it has provided its service providers with
information about offering therapy for HIV-infected pregnant
women to reduce viral transmission to their infants.  "Program
Advisory: Use of Zidovudine (ZDV) to Reduce Perinatal HIV
Transmission in HRSA-Funded Programs" offers useful strategies
and options for helping women to make practical decisions about
ZDV treatment.  Included in the 30-page document is a model form
to document provider counseling, patient choice for
administration of the ZDV therapy, and previous suggestions from
the U.S. Public Health Service concerning HIV testing and
counseling for infected pregnant women and ZDV use.  HRSA
Administrator Ciro V. Sumaya said, "We must ensure that women are
fully informed and understand that the decision is ultimately
theirs."  According to HRSA, which works with thousands of health
care providers in such programs as the Community and Migrant
Health Centers and the Ryan White CARE Act, the guidance should
represent the standard of care for pregnant women and be followed
in all programs funded by the agency.

"Lamivudine Resistance May be Associated with Beneficial Effects"
Lancet (03/02/96) Vol. 347, No. 9001, P. 603;  Choo, Vivien
     Patients in clinical studies develop resistance to
lamivudine (3TC) after 12 weeks of monotherapy, but do well
regardless.  This could be because the resistant strain appears
at the same time immunity against viral replication develops. 
Vinayaka Prasad of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Mark
Wainberg of McGill University conducted a study with the M184V
strain, which can be 1,000 times more resistant than the
wild-type virus to 3TC.  The researchers found that HIV
antibodies decreased seven times faster in zidovudine-treated
patients than they did in patients treated with 3TC.  This
suggests that the M184V strain may have prevented the emergence
of strains that help the virus escape attack by antibodies.  The
researchers also found that when the strain was grown in the
presence of anti-HIV agents, it prevented the emergence of
variants that were resistant to them.

"AIDS Update: AIDS Research: Charge It"
Men's Health (03/96) Vol. 11, No. 2, P. 54
     People who use the Rainbow Visa Card are now supporting AIDS
research with each purchase they make.  A percentage of all
charges made with the card is donated to nonprofit HIV and gay
and lesbian health groups.

