                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                        May 28, 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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"Viral Load Called Key in Tracking of AIDS"
"SyStemix Stock Soars on News of Sandoz Offer"
"Blood Officials Caught in No-Win Situation, Court Told" 
"Two Million Ugandans With HIV by Year 2000"
"Canadian Researcher Finds Immune System's 'Off [Switch]'" 
"AIDS Seen Undermining S. African Employee Benefits"
"Use of Oxandralone for AIDS Wasting Syndrome Questioned" 
"Zidovudine Use to Reduce Perinatal HIV Type 1 Transmission in an 
Urban Medical Center"
"Observers Praise AIDS Report but Foresee Problems in 
Implementation"
"Information-Access Battle Far From Over" 
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"Viral Load Called Key in Tracking of AIDS"
Washington Post--Health (05/28/96) P. 18;  Recer, Paul
     The level of HIV in the bloodstream is a more accurate
measure of predicting how the disease will progress than the 
number of white blood cells, researchers at the University of 
Pittsburgh Medical Center reported in last week's issue of 
Science.  HIV targets CD4 T-cells, the white blood cells that 
bolster the body's immune system.  T-cell count has been used as 
a marker for the progression to AIDS and to determine the best 
timing for antiviral therapy.  Lawrence A. Kingsley and 
colleagues found that this measure, however, does not show 
changes in infection quickly and say it is not the best way to 
predict how soon AIDS will develop.  Measuring the concentration 
of HIV RNA, they said, was more predictive.
     
"SyStemix Stock Soars on News of Sandoz Offer"
Wall Street Journal (05/28/96) P. A2;  Hill, G. Christian
     Sandoz has offered SyStemix $17 a share for the 27 percent
of SyStemix stock it does not already own.  The price is 55 
percent higher than SyStemix's closing price of $11 on Thursday, 
but the stock traded as high as $21.50 on Friday, indicating that 
some investors expect Sandoz to offer more.  SyStemix is 
developing two new treatments, one that attempts to produce 
gene-modified blood cells resistant to HIV, and one that tries to 
produce blood cells capable of combating the effects of radiation 
treatment for bloodborne cancers and breast cancer, as well as 
replace cells damaged by autoimmune diseases.  Investors have 
been disappointed with SyStemix's drug-development program in the 
past, but SyStemix CFO Wendy Hitchcock notes that "this is the 
big year" for testing the company's approach for isolated stem 
cells in several human clinical trials.
     
"Blood Officials Caught in No-Win Situation, Court Told" 
Toronto Globe and Mail (05/24/96) P. A5;  Picard, Andre
     Canadian Red Cross leaders and public health officials face 
either a criminal investigation, if findings of misconduct related 
to the tainted-blood tragedy are allowed, or social 
stigmatization.  Earl Cherniak, lawyer for the Canadian Red Cross, 
said Thursday that the federal inquiry should not be able to make 
findings of misconduct which could be used for civil or criminal 
lawsuits, on the grounds that such findings are unconstitutional.  
The Red Cross, the federal government, provinces, and drug 
companies are suing the inquiry, which is led by Justice Horace 
Krever, to prevent it from issuing allegations of wrongdoing.  
Notices sent to the parties involved suggest that more than 300 
charges of wrongdoing could be included in the inquiry's final 
report.  The groups argue that the detailed allegations make the 
inquiry essentially a criminal trial.
     
"Two Million Ugandans With HIV by Year 2000" 
Xinhua News Agency (05/25/96)
     Two million Ugandans are expected to be infected with HIV by
the year 2000, up from the current prediction of 1.5 million.  
Infection is spreading rapidly in young people, especially 
females, as resources are decreasing and no drugs or vaccines are 
immediately available to fight it.  Omwony Ojwok, the director 
general of the Uganda AIDS Commission, said that to keep the 
country's "window of hope" open, Uganda must try to prevent 
infection among children between the ages of five and 14.  
Poverty, women's lack of influence, and poor parenting are blamed 
for the epidemic.
     
"Canadian Researcher Finds Immune System's 'Off [Switch]'" 
Xinhua News Agency (05/24/96)
     Canadian researchers have found a protein that inactivates 
T-cells, the white blood cells that kill viruses.  The 
identification of the protein, known as SYP, will aid in the 
development of drugs to bolster the immune system to fight AIDS, 
cancer, and autoimmune diseases.  The new research was led by Luc 
Marengere, of the Ontario Cancer Institute, who said that there 
may be other proteins with specific effects that impact specific 
immune responses.
     
"AIDS Seen Undermining S. African Employee Benefits" 
Reuters (05/27/96)
     The spread of HIV into South Africa will force a change of 
employee benefits, a Metropolitan Life official said Monday.  Met 
Life Senior General Manager Peter Doyle said the national HIV 
infection rate was estimated at 10.4 percent at the end of 1995. He 
noted that 10,000 AIDS cases had been reported, though the true 
number is thought to be closer to 30,000.  The number of AIDS cases 
in South Africa could reach 200,000 by 2000, he said.  Furthermore, 
the epidemic could devastate the existing pension and employee 
benefit plans, which already show more claims based on illness than 
on death.
     
"Use of Oxandralone for AIDS Wasting Syndrome Questioned" 
Reuters (05/23/96)
     Oxandralone, a new anabolic steroid for cachetic AIDS
patients, is not recommended by some experts for individuals with 
AIDS-related wasting syndrome.  The hormone replacement drug, 
which has been shown to have more anabolic activity and fewer 
masculinizing effects than other drugs, is made by Bio-Technology 
General in Iselin, N.J.  Moreover, because oxandralone is not 
metabolized in the liver, it does not have the toxicity 
associated with other oral anabolic steroids.  Adrian Dobs of 
Johns Hopkins claims that more studies are needed to determine 
the long-term effects of the drug.
     
"Zidovudine Use to Reduce Perinatal HIV Type 1 Transmission in an 
Urban Medical Center"
Journal of the American Medical Association (05/15/96) Vol. 275, 
No. 19, P. 1504;  Wiznia, Andrew A.;  Crane, Marilyn;  Lambert, 
Genevieve; et al.
     HIV-1 is transmitted from mother to child between 15 percent
and 40 percent of the time when no therapy is used.  A study by 
the AIDS Clinical Trial Group found that treating the mother and 
infant with zidovudine cut the rate of transmission from 25.5 
percent to 8.3 percent.  Recommendations were published calling 
for voluntary HIV counseling and testing of all pregnant women, 
and treatment for those found to be HIV-positive.  To implement 
these guidelines, however, HIV-infected women must be identified 
during pregnancy.  Dr. Andrew A. Wiznia, of the Bronx Lebanon 
Hospital Center in New York, and colleagues assessed the use of 
zidovudine by pregnant women in an urban medical center after the 
release of these guidelines.  They found that only 49 of 125 
HIV-positive women who gave birth at the research hospital were 
identified prenatally.  Seventy-five percent of them chose to use 
zidovudine, and those who refused were more likely to report 
injection drug use.  Of women who accepted the therapy, 24 of 36 
received all components of the treatment. Cocaine use during 
pregnancy was associated with those who did not complete the 
therapy.  The researchers concluded that zidovudine therapy may 
not be accepted in some cases, despite counseling and 
comprehensive care.
     
"Observers Praise AIDS Report but Foresee Problems in 
Implementation"
Scientist (05/13/96) Vol. 10, No. 10, P. 3;  Benowitz, Steven
     AIDS activists and scientists applauded the findings of an 
in-depth review of the government's AIDS research program, but 
they question how the recommendations will be implemented.  
Individual panels are expected to release specific recommendations 
later this month.  Scientists and representatives of academia, 
industry, community organizations, and AIDS advocacy groups 
participated in the National Institutes of Health's AIDS Research 
Program Evaluation Working Group.  The report concluded that 
research has not been focused on the most promising areas and that 
some money allocated for AIDS was being used on irrelevant 
projects.  It also recommended more support for projects initiated 
by scientists outside the government.  Other major recommendations 
included a coordinated clinical trials system and stepped-up 
vaccine development.  Implementing the recommendations will be a 
challenge, however, especially in the midst of the fight between 
NIH's Office of AIDS Research (OAR) and Congress over who should 
make decisions about AIDS research funding.  The report was 
criticized for not being specific enough in its recommendations, 
and interpreting and implementing the suggestions will depend on 
the scientists and the community--potentially a very lengthy 
process.
     
"Information-Access Battle Far From Over"
Nikkei Weekly (05/13/96) Vol. 34, No. 1722, P. 4;  Sato, Makoto
     In April, a Japanese government panel announced a new policy
in which government information would be revealed to the public, 
but putting the new policy into practice will take time.  The 
government's reluctance to disclose documents pertaining to the 
tainted-blood tragedy illustrates the general practice concerning 
government information.  In this case, the public demanded that 
the Ministry of Health and Welfare release documents explaining 
why and how 2,000 hemophiliacs were infected with 
HIV-contaminated blood products.  Under the new policy, most 
government organizations would have to disclose as much 
administrative information as possible, including documents that 
are unfinished.
     
     
