                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                        July 2, 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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"2 Get License for H.I.V. Drug"
"Forced H.I.V. Testing"
"Across the USA: Texas"
"H.I.V. Risk From Blood Transfusion Is 2 in Million"
"Deserted by Families, AIDS Victims in Vietnam Face the Disease 
Alone"
"The Adverse Effects of HIV on Growth in Children Confirmed" 
"Funding for AIDS Research May Be Cut in NIH Budget" 
"Hillary Clinton, on E. Europe Tour, Sees AIDS Children" 
"HIV Accelerates in "Closeted" Homosexuals"
"Drug Analog May Treat AIDS-Related Diarrhea" 
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"2 Get License for H.I.V. Drug"
New York Times (07/02/96) P. D2
     Glaxo Wellcome and Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced Monday
that they had bought a global license from G.D. Searle & Company 
for patent applications on an HIV drug.  Glaxo and Vertex will pay 
Searle a total of $25 million for the right to continue to 
develop, make, and eventually market the protease inhibitor in a 
joint effort.  The drug is designed to block an HIV enzyme needed 
for replication.  Searle had very broad patent applications in the 
field of protease inhibition, a Vertex spokesman said, and the 
deal cleared the two companies of any intellectual property claims 
by Searle.
     
"Forced H.I.V. Testing"
New York Times (07/02/96) P. A14; Saah, Alfred J.
     The American Medical Association's support for mandatory HIV
testing of pregnant women is "shameful," says Dr. Alfred J. Saah, 
an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, in a letter to the 
editor appearing in the New York Times.  Saah criticizes the  
policy because it does not include mandatory treatment, which is 
the only way to prevent transmission to newborns.  He argues that 
mandatory testing, without universal health care, only creates an 
obstacle to prenatal care in poor communities, where HIV is 
prevalent.
     
"Across the USA: Texas"
USA Today (07/02/96) P. 7A
     Health officials in Austin, Texas, and Coahuila, Mexico, have 
signed a pact to combat the spread of tuberculosis.
     
"H.I.V. Risk From Blood Transfusion Is 2 in Million" 
New York Times (07/02/96) P. C10
     The risk of being infected with HIV through a blood
transfusion is only two in a million, according to new estimates 
by scientists at a research company in Rockville, Md.  George B. 
Schreiber and colleagues at Westat Inc. based their calculations 
on records of 586,507 repeat blood donors.  They estimated how 
many newly infected people gave blood during the 22-day period 
before the virus can be detected.  The results were published in 
the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, along 
with a study by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy 
and Infectious Diseases about the source of hepatitis C in 
infected blood donors.  Cathy Conry-Cantilena and colleagues 
found that hepatitis C infection in donors was associated with 
sniffing cocaine, sexual promiscuity, intravenous drug use, and 
ear piercing in men.
     
"Deserted by Families, AIDS Victims in Vietnam Face the Disease 
Alone"
Los Angeles Times (06/30/96) P. A12; Wilhelm, Kathy
     In Vietnam, where strong family loyalty is traditional, AIDS
patients are often abandoned by family members.  This may be 
partly due to the fact that most AIDS patients are drug addicts 
who have exhausted their relatives' patience.  Almost 3,500 cases 
of HIV infection have been documented in Vietnam, but health 
officials estimate the true number to be several times higher.  
The government has launched large-scale AIDS education efforts 
over the last two years, promoting condom use in a country where 
talk of sex is usually taboo.  Many people still fear casual 
contact with AIDS patients, and there is little public sympathy 
for people with the disease.  A facility for AIDS patients, who 
often have nowhere to go when they are found to have AIDS, is 
being built in Ho Chi Minh City.
     
"The Adverse Effects of HIV on Growth in Children Confirmed" 
Reuters (07/01/96) 
     HIV infection may have an adverse effect on growth in
children, researchers in Belgium report in the June issue of the 
Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.  Philippe Lepage and 
colleagues report that of a total of 238 Rwandan children, those 
with HIV suffered "an early, severe, and sustained impairment in 
weight, height, and head circumference gain" compared to those 
not infected with the virus.  Lepage says similar studies in the 
United States confirm the findings.
     
"Funding for AIDS Research May Be Cut in NIH Budget" 
Reuters (07/01/96) 
     Congressional concerns about government funding for AIDS
research compared to other diseases may impact the National 
Institutes of Health's budget for next year.  The Journal of NIH 
reported that Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.) presented findings to 
a House Appropriations subcommittee from an NIH report that 
showed a disparity between funding for AIDS research and other 
diseases.  The 1991 report said AIDS was the ninth leading cause 
of death in the United States, but that AIDS research was funded 
at levels higher than research for diseases that claimed more 
lives.  NIH director Harold Varmus told the subcommittee that 
"budgeting by body count is not the right way to go."  He said 
AIDS research should be a priority because it is a new infectious 
disease that is spreading rapidly.
     
"Hillary Clinton, on E. Europe Tour, Sees AIDS Children" 
Reuters (07/01/96); Gibbons, Gene
     As part of her 11-day tour of Eastern Europe, First Lady
Hillary Clinton visited the 50 children under age 12 being 
treated at the Pediatric AIDS Clinic in Bucharest.  Romania has 
Europe's most severe AIDS problem among children.  More than 90 
percent of the country's 3,000 cases are in children under 12 
infected by contaminated blood and poor medical hygiene during 
the Communist era.
     
"HIV Accelerates in "Closeted" Homosexuals"
Science News (06/22/96) Vol. 149, No. 25, P. 391; Bower, B.
     Gay men with HIV who keep their sexuality hidden from the
public develop AIDS and die more quickly than those who are open 
about being gay, a new study found.  Steve W. Cole, psychologist 
at the University of California at Los Angeles, says there is no 
clear explanation for the effect, but suggests that men who 
conceal their homosexuality may suffer decreased immune function. 
The study, which followed 80 homosexual men for nine years, was 
published in the May-June issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.  It 
found that men who were the most determined to conceal their 
homosexuality experienced serious losses of immune cells and 
developed AIDS 1.5 to 2 years sooner than men who were more 
openly gay.  A related study by Cole found that infectious 
diseases and all types of cancers occurred more often in men as 
efforts to conceal their homosexuality intensified.  Cole warns, 
however, that men who conceal their sexuality would probably not 
improve their health by coming out, since the reason for their 
concealing--an inhibited temperament--is ingrained in one's 
personality.
     
"Drug Analog May Treat AIDS-Related Diarrhea"
Chemical & Engineering News (06/24/96) Vol. 74, No. 26, P. 10; 
Borman, Stu
     An analog of a promising antidiarrheal drug may be used to
treat AIDS-related diarrhea (ARD), a condition that occurs in 
more than half of all AIDS patients, causing weight loss, 
dehydration, and shortened survival.  While various treatments 
have been attempted, they are only partially effective and the 
relapse rate is high.  The analog was the result of a 
collaboration between medicinal chemistry professor Raymond J. 
Bergeron and gastroenterologist Charles A. Sninsky and their 
colleagues at the University of Florida at Gainesville.  Clinical 
trials, possibly in ARD patients, are planned.
     
     
