                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       June 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 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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"The Tragic Hypocrisy of 'Animal Rights'" 
"HIV-Infected Man Indicted in Alleged Attack on Boy" 
"Federal Court Pulls Plug on Internet Decency Law" 
"UNAIDS Sees Hopeful Trends in AIDS Control"
"Bearing the Torch for a Better World" 
"Stavudine/Didanosine Tolerated in Children" "Science 
& Health Bulletin: Zambia-AIDS Zambia..."
"Science & Health Bulletin: Zaire-Foundation [Created in Memory 
of Late Professor]"
"Oral Ganciclovir for the Prevention of Cytomegalovirus Disease 
in Persons With AIDS"
"North Carolina's Black Churches to Join in AIDS Fight" 
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"The Tragic Hypocrisy of 'Animal Rights'"
Wall Street Journal (06/13/96) P. A14; Getty, Jeff
     In a commentary in the Wall Street Journal, AIDS patient and
activist Jeff Getty defends animal research and criticizes 
efforts by the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 
(PETA) for opposing the use of animals to seek an AIDS cure.  
Getty, who received a baboon bone marrow transplant in December, 
says that PETA's opposition to any AIDS cure that would involve 
animal research has delayed AIDS research in several instances.  
As examples, he cites how some researchers have been forced to 
conduct studies underground to avoid violent attacks, as well as 
strict animal rights laws that have delayed research and 
objections by animal rights groups that delayed his own 
transplant.  Getty objects to people who say they support both 
animal rights and AIDS research, noting that without animal 
research, many other diseases would never have been cured.
     
"HIV-Infected Man Indicted in Alleged Attack on Boy" 
Washington Post (06/13/96) P. B6
     An HIV-positive man in Prince George's County, Md., has been
indicted on a charge of attempted second-degree murder for 
allegedly trying to sodomize a boy last summer.  Prosecutors 
claim that Charles Hayhoe, 35, tried to sodomize an 11-year-old 
boy three times in August 1995.  Hayhoe, a friend of the boy's 
family, told officials when he was arrested that he is 
HIV-positive.  The accused was also indicted on assault with 
intent to murder, battery, and three sex offense charges.
     
"Federal Court Pulls Plug on Internet Decency Law" 
Washington Times (06/13/96) P. A1; Abrahms, Doug
     A panel of three federal judges in Philadelphia struck down
parts of the Communications Decency Act Wednesday, rejecting 
efforts to restrict speech on the Internet as unconstitutional. 
The judges sided with more than 50 groups, including the American 
Civil Liberties Union and online groups, which had filed two 
lawsuits to block the law.  Opponents of the law said a provision 
including criminal penalties threatened to imprison people for 
posting information about sex education, AIDS, abortion, and 
breast cancer.
     
"UNAIDS Sees Hopeful Trends in AIDS Control" 
Xinhua News Agency (06/12/96) 
     While the number of new HIV infections has declined in many 
countries due to safer sex practices, the rate of infection 
worldwide continues to grow rapidly, the U.N. program on AIDS 
(UNAIDS) said Wednesday.  The agency said an estimated 7,500 
people become infected each day.  In the United States, new HIV 
infections have decreased 60 percent from an annual 100,000 a few 
years ago to 40,000.  Other countries that have reported 
successful slowing of the AIDS epidemic include Australia, New 
Zealand, northern European countries, and parts of sub-Saharan 
Africa.  UNAIDS said the trend was partly due to changes in 
behavior, including increased condom use.  Between 1994 and 1995, 
however, there was an increase of more than 25 percent in the 
global number of AIDS cases reported.
     
"Bearing the Torch for a Better World"
Washington Post--Maryland Weekly (06/13/96) P. 1; Aguilar, Louis
     Among the 181 Marylanders and former Olympians that will
carry the Olympic torch through the state next week are 106 
individuals who have been deemed "community heroes" for their 
service to the community.  College Park's Kyla Liggett Herod, for 
example, grew up in Washington, D.C., and began working with AIDS 
patients at the age of 14.  Now, as a 20-year-old junior at the 
University of Maryland, she is studying family and women's 
studies and African American studies.  Herod conducted AIDS 
education programs for prostitutes in Cambodia and now volunteers 
at a sexual assault center and interprets for the deaf at her 
church.
     
"Stavudine/Didanosine Tolerated in Children" 
Reuters (06/12/96) 
     The combination therapy of stavudine and didanosine is well 
tolerated and safe in children with advanced HIV infection, 
researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston report 
in the journal Pediatrics.  Mark W. Kline and colleagues also say 
that the results of their preliminary trial suggest that the 
therapy had a favorable impact on viral burden.  Stavudine is not 
approved for use in children, but a trial has found the drug to 
be safe and well tolerated.
     
"Science & Health Bulletin: Zambia-AIDS Zambia..." 
PANA Wire Service (06/12/96) 
     Traditional healers in Zambia will soon collaborate with the
health ministry to combat AIDS.  Under a new policy being 
developed by the Zambian government, herbal medicines used by 
healers would be subjected to clinical tests to determine their 
efficacy and safety, Health Minister Katele Kalumba said 
Wednesday.  He said an estimated 11 percent of the country's 
rural population and between 18 percent and 25 percent of the 
urban population is infected with HIV.  Kalumba noted that the 
people's confidence in the healers would have a positive impact 
on AIDS patients.
     
"Science & Health Bulletin: Zaire-Foundation [Created in Memory 
of Late Professor]"
PANA Wire Service (06/12/96); Lapess, Rigobert Munkeni
     A foundation for AIDS research has been created in Zaire in 
memory of Andre Lurhuma, the immunologist who co-invented MM1, a 
controversial vaccine for HIV which eventually proved to be 
ineffective.  The foundation has been created by friends of 
Lurhuma, who died in May 1995, as a way to continue his work and 
enhance the fight against major epidemics including AIDS, 
tuberculosis, and malaria.  It is also intended to create a 
framework for researchers and medical practitioners, and provide 
courses for prospective immunologists, virologists, and other 
specialists.
     
"Oral Ganciclovir for the Prevention of Cytomegalovirus Disease 
in Persons With AIDS"
New England Journal of Medicine (06/06/96) Vol. 334, No. 23; P. 
1491; Spector, Stephen A.; McKinley, George F.; Lalezari, Jacob 
P.; et al.
     Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is common among people with
AIDS, and causes CMV retinitis in 25 percent to 40 percent of all 
AIDS patients.  To evaluate how effectively ganciclovir, taken 
orally, can prevent CMV disease in patients with advanced AIDS, 
researchers at the University of California at San Diego tested 
the therapy in 486 patients for about one year.  Stephen Spector 
and colleagues found that 26 percent of the patients who had 
received no treatment were diagnosed with CMV disease, compared 
to only 14 percent of the patients who received ganciclovir.  
This represents an overall reduction in risk of 49 percent.  CMV 
retinitis was the most frequent event, and also the form of CMV 
disease most affected by ganciclovir.  Thirteen percent of the 
study participants discontinued the treatment because they 
developed CMV disease, and 19 percent stopped due to side 
effects.  The authors concluded that, while prophylaxis with 
ganciclovir was not associated with improved overall survival, 
the treatment significantly prolonged survival without CMV 
disease in people with advanced AIDS.
     
"North Carolina's Black Churches to Join in AIDS Fight" 
American Medical News (06/10/96) Vol. 39, No. 22; P. 35
     After having distanced themselves from the AIDS epidemic for
years, predominantly black churches across North Carolina are now 
recognizing that the disease is impacting their own community.  
AIDS is the leading killer of the state's black men between the 
ages of 15 and 44, and the second-leading killer of black women in 
that age group.  The General Baptist State Convention of North 
Carolina, representing more than 1,800 historically black 
churches, is hiring a health and human services coordinator to 
promote AIDS education and prevention.  Furthermore, the state 
will host the national Black Church Education and Leadership 
Conference on AIDS next year.  Some churches have also invited 
public health experts to lead AIDS programs for their 
congregations.
     
     
