                     AIDS Daily Summary
                       April 29, 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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"Not All AIDS Dramas Are on Broadway"
"Across the USA: Connecticut"
"HIV in the Armed Forces"
"Blood System to Get Overhaul"
"Homophobic Letter May Prompt Boycott by Group" 
"AIDS Study Overturns Theories"
"U.S. Unsure How to Tax Viatical Settlements"
"AIDS Hits Africa Most, but Asia Set to Overtake" 
"Protegrins for Prevention of STDs?"
"Right to Fly"
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"Not All AIDS Dramas Are on Broadway"
Wall Street Journal (04/29/96) P. A22;  Lasswell, Mark
     In a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal, Mark 
Lasswell, a consulting editor at the New Criterion, objects to 
the way HIV-infected people are portrayed in the popular musical 
"Rent."  Lasswell says that the musical shows artistic, vital 
people with HIV fighting the disease, but who are not necessarily 
suffering from the disease.  He compares the portrayal to the 
story of his friend Dan Meuleman, a hemophiliac who was infected 
with HIV through tainted blood products and died last fall.  
Lasswell contends that people like Meuleman, who lived and died 
from AIDS without glamour, should be remembered as "Rent" makes 
its Broadway debut.
     
"Across the USA: Connecticut"
USA Today (04/29/96) P. 11A
     In Connecticut, health care workers who disclose information
about AIDS patients can be sued, the state Supreme Court has 
ruled.
     
"HIV in the Armed Forces"
Washington Post (04/27/96) P. A22
     In a Washington Post editorial, the authors applaud
Congress' repeal of a provision that would have forced all 
HIV-positive service members out of the military.  Part of the 
Defense Department spending bill passed earlier this year, the 
ban was sponsored by Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Calif.).  The ban, 
which was opposed by President Clinton and military leaders, 
would have forced HIV-positive service personnel out of the 
military before they would be eligible for disability benefits 
and family medical care.  In conclusion, the editors say they 
support the repeal because the discharge provision would have 
unfairly singled out military personnel with HIV from those with 
other chronic illnesses and would have allowed discrimination in 
the military that is not allowed in the private sector.
     
"Blood System to Get Overhaul"
Toronto Globe and Mail (04/26/96) P. A1;  McIlroy, Anne
     Federal and provincial Canadian health officials will reform
the country's controversial blood system by creating a new agency 
to manage the supply and distribution of blood and blood 
products.  The Canadian Red Cross Society has had the job since 
1989, but has recently come under attack for the tainted-blood 
tragedy that may leave some 3,000 Canadians infected with HIV or 
hepatitis C.  Although the health officials' decision is the 
first official reaction to the blood scandal, the impact it will 
have on the federal inquiry into the controversy is uncertain. 
Criticism of the current system has focused on its lack of 
coordination and input from consumers.  The Canadian Red Cross 
has said that it will support the new plan, and the Canadian 
Hemophilia Society has expressed hope that reforms will bring the 
blood system under control.
     
"Homophobic Letter May Prompt Boycott by Group"
Miami Herald (04/26/96) P. 5B;  Samuels, Christina A.
     A letter written by a Florida Department of Transportation 
worker, saying that AIDS was created to punish homosexuals, has 
prompted one medical group to cancel its 1997 convention in Fort 
Lauderdale.  The Broward County tourism office is therefore now 
trying to emphasize the fact that the county has supported AIDS 
research and AIDS charities to keep other groups from boycotting 
the state.  The loss of the convention business could mean 
millions of dollars to the state economy.  The state worker was 
counseled about the letter, and the agency issued an apology.  
The Chicago medical group and a local gay and lesbian center have 
both said sensitivity training appears to be indicated as well.
     
"AIDS Study Overturns Theories"
United Press International (04/26/96)
     A new study conducted by researchers in Chicago, New York,
and Los Alamos, N.M., suggests that AIDS patients whose symptoms 
develop rapidly have a lower diversity in HIV than those who 
survive with the infection for eight to 10 years.  The study 
challenges the idea that the virus is deadly because it is able 
to mutate too quickly for the immune system to defend itself.
     
"U.S. Unsure How to Tax Viatical Settlements" 
Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News (04/29/96);  Rothstein, Betsy
     Questions over tax regulations for the viatical settlement 
industry are keeping many life insurance companies out of the 
business of offering death benefits to people suffering from 
terminal illnesses, like AIDS.  Right now a person who cashes in 
a life insurance policy early is taxed on the money they receive, 
but Congress is considering legislation to make such payments 
tax-free.  Questions also remain about whether investors must pay 
taxes on the profit they make from such settlements.  The Senate 
passed a health insurance bill last week that would allow early 
tax-free payments to the person receiving benefits from a 
viatical settlement.  The Internal Revenue Service and the 
Securities and Exchange Commission are currently considering 
cases dealing with these tax issues.
     
"AIDS Hits Africa Most, but Asia Set to Overtake" 
Reuters (04/28/96);  Mseteka, Buchizya
     Almost 13 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have AIDS, an
agency of the United Nations reported on Sunday.  While Africa 
has more AIDS cases than any other continent, Asia is set to 
overtake it.  UNAIDS estimated that 7,500 people around the world 
are infected with HIV every day, and that heterosexual 
transmission has been the cause of more than 75 percent of all 
HIV infections worldwide.  Nearly 50 percent of the 7,500 daily 
infections are in women.  The agency estimated that by the end of 
1995, more than 4 million people in Asia had HIV or AIDS.  The 
majority of the cases are in India and Thailand, but the virus is 
spreading to other Asian countries.  Poverty was cited as one of 
the most powerful forces driving HIV infection, with more than 90 
percent of people with HIV living in a developing country.  
Worldwide, the hardest hit age group is those aged 15 to 24.
     
"Protegrins for Prevention of STDs?"
Lancet (04/20/96) Vol. 347, No. 9008, P. 1105;  Choo, Vivien
     Researchers report that Neisseria gonorrhoeae, including 
penicillinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae, are sensitive to porcine 
protegrins, part of a family of broad-spectrum antimicrobial 
peptides derived from leucocytes, epithelial cells, and mucosal
tissues.  The gonococci, however, are not sensitive to defensins, 
another family of antimicrobial peptides from the same types of 
cells as those in which protegrins occur.  Since it is known that 
low concentrations of protegrins are also effective against HIV 
and Chlamydia trachomatis, the researchers suggest that the 
peptides might be developed into topical agents for the 
prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).  If 
protegrins should prove effective against such STD pathogens as 
herpes simplex virus, Treponema pallidum, and Trichomonas 
vaginalis, their potential as STD preventatives would be 
increased.
     
"Right to Fly"
POZ (04/96) No. 13, P. 50;  Eads, Stefani
     Chris Prilliman, who was fired in 1994 from his position as
a United Airlines pilot because he had HIV, is planning a Superior 
Court appeal of a district court's decision to dismiss his case 
against United.  He earlier rejected the company's offer of a 
$10,000 settlement, choosing instead to fight for his job.  
Prilliman was abruptly and permanently grounded in 1994, just one
day after passing a routine United physical.  The doctor called him
to talk about his abnormal liver tests, apparently considering them
to be signs of alcoholism.  When the doctor learned that Prilliman
was HIV-positive, however, the pilot was fired immediately, and his
medical insurance was cut off.  The pilot sued United and now has
medically retired status, receiving 55 percent of his former salary
and all his medical and disability benefits.  If, however, United
had allowed him to work in any capacity for six months, Prilliman
would have earned his 10-year tenure and much better benefits.  For
its part, United maintains that it was only following Federal
Aviation Administration regulations regarding the grounding of
HIV-infected pilots.
