                     AIDS Daily Summary
                      August 12, 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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"Patents: Mixers for 'Cocktails' Used to Delay AIDS" 
"Across the USA: Nevada"
"Money Woes May Define Options for Dying People" 
"Gene Battles AIDS"
"A Mother's Misery"
"The Way to Fight TB"
"HIV, AIDS Cases Increase in Malaysia"
"'Burn-Out' of Lymphoid Compartment May be Possible in 
HIV-Infected Patients"
"Think Fungus in HIV-Infection"
"The Painful Political Truth About Medical Research" 
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"Patents: Mixers for 'Cocktails' Used to Delay AIDS" 
New York Times (08/12/96) P. D2; Chartrand, Sabra
     Emory University in Atlanta was recently granted a patent
for 3TC, an anti-HIV drug which, like AZT, was designed to 
prevent HIV from infecting human cells.  Other drugs used in 
combination with 3TC, called protease inhibitors, attack the 
virus after it has entered the cell.  Emory is also experimenting 
with 3TC as a treatment for hepatitis B.  In its first year, 3TC 
is expected to earn $300 million in sales, and has the potential 
to eventually earn $1 billion a year.
     
"Across the USA: Nevada"
USA Today (08/12/96) P. 12A
     The Nugget casino, located in Sparks, Nev., has been sued by
the U.S. government for insurance discrimination against a casino 
worker who sought AIDS treatment.  Lawyers for the casino, which 
is owned by John Ascuaga, were unavailable for comment.
     
"Money Woes May Define Options for Dying People" 
USA Today (08/12/96) P. 6D
     People who are seriously ill and creating economic hardship
for their families are more likely to seek comfort care rather 
than expensive treatments, said a study released Sunday. 
Researchers at Case Western University reported in the Archives 
of Internal Medicine that patients whose families were suffering 
hardship were 30 percent more likely to prefer comfort care than 
those whose families were financially stable.
     
"Gene Battles AIDS"
Toronto Globe and Mail (08/09/96) P. A8
     As many as one in 100 whites may carry a gene that protects
them from HIV infection, new research shows.  Nathan R. Landau, 
of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York City, and 
colleagues report that people born with two copies of a mutant
gene appear to be highly resistant to HIV infection.  The 
researchers are not sure that the protection is complete, and 
they say that 20 percent of whites have one copy of the 
gene--which may afford them some protection from infection or 
improved survival if infected.  The part of the gene that is 
missing is needed by HIV to invade human cells.  Scientists may 
be able to replicate the effects of the genetic protection and 
thus develop a drug that will prevent infection.
     
"A Mother's Misery"
Washington Post (08/10/96) P. B1; Gilliam, Dorothy
     Jackie Jackson, a Washington, D.C., resident and mother of 
three-year-old Theo, found out that both she and her son were 
HIV-positive when he was born.  Since then, she has become 
depressed, her health has worsened, and she can no longer support 
herself.  Theo, meanwhile, has been hospitalized almost 
continuously for the past year and is now taking more than 20 
different drugs for full-blown AIDS.  Jackson says she worries 
how she will pay for her son's funeral.  Last year, Washington, 
D.C., had one of the nation's highest rates of HIV infection,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The 
agency noted that African Americans are six times as likely to 
contract the virus as whites.  Jackson wants other women in her 
city to be aware of the importance of HIV testing, especially for 
those planning to become pregnant.
     
"The Way to Fight TB"
Washington Post (08/10/96) P. A18; Rabin, David L.
     A recent article in the Washington Post did not accurately 
portray the tuberculosis (TB) problem in Washington, D.C., and 
neighboring areas, contends David L. Rabin, a professor at 
Georgetown University's Department of Family Medicine.  In a 
letter to the editor of the Post, Rabin says that, while the 
article implied that the 50 percent increase in reported TB cases 
in the city is alarming, the increase is due to improved detection 
and reporting, rather than steps toward controlling the disease.  
The author, however, points out that nearby areas are facing 
increases in TB cases, due to the immigration of infected 
residents from Southeast Asia, Central America, and South America. 
Increasing numbers of AIDS patients and substance abusers are also
challenging the resources of area health departments, and thus, 
more aid is needed for federal and local TB control, Rabin 
concludes.
     
"HIV, AIDS Cases Increase in Malaysia" 
Xinhua News Agency (08/11/96) 
     In Malaysia, 300 new HIV cases are detected each month, and
a total of 448 AIDS cases and 16,349 HIV cases were reported by 
June 30 this year.  The government has approved the spending of 
$48 million for AIDS care between 1993 and 1995, but says that 
additional funding is needed.  The estimated figures may not 
reflect the actual number of new cases because many are not 
reported.  The majority of HIV-infected individuals in 
Malaysia--nearly 84 percent--are between the ages of 20 and 39, 
while some 4 percent of those infected are aged 13 to 19.
     
"'Burn-Out' of Lymphoid Compartment May be Possible in 
HIV-Infected Patients"
Reuters (08/09/96) 
     The storage of latently infected cells in HIV-positive
patients may be limited and could eventually be depleted, French 
researchers suggest in a new study.  Led by Alain Lafeuillade of 
Hospital Chalucet in Toulon, they report in the August issue of 
The Journal of Infectious Diseases that, after treatment with a 
combination of antiretroviral drugs, concentrations of HIV-1 RNA 
in the plasma and lymph nodes decreased significantly.  
Lafeuillade also indicated that, if viral replication can be 
completely stopped with drug therapy, the infected cells in the 
lymph nodes and tissues could eventually be replaced by 
uninfected cells.
     
"Think Fungus in HIV-Infection"
Lancet (07/27/96) Vol. 348, No. 9022, P. 257; Pini, Pia
     Roland Leung and colleagues at the Prince of Wales Hospital
in Hong Kong report the detection of what they are calling the 
first case of Penicillium marneffi in colonscopic biopsies from a 
Chinese AIDS patient.  The researchers, therefore, advise that 
penicillium colitis be considered in the diagnosis of fever and 
diarrhea in HIV-infected patients, especially those in Asia.  In 
the case they describe, a Chinese man with AIDS suffered a fever,
night sweats, and general malaise.  A caecal biopsy sample showed 
P. marneffei infection, which responded to amphotericin and 
itraconazole.  While the infection is common in AIDS patients in 
northern Thailand and is endemic in southeast Asia and China, 
colonic involvement had only been documented once, then in a 
patient whose HIV status was unknown.  The researchers caution 
that prompt treatment is important.
     
"The Painful Political Truth About Medical Research" 
Business Week (07/29/96) No. 3486, P. 18; Becker, Gary S.
     In a commentary in Business Week magazine Nobel laureate
Gary S. Becker, a professor at the University of Chicago, takes 
issue with the way federal funds are distributed for medical 
research.  He says funding is disproportionate due to the 
political influence exerted by well-organized advocacy groups for 
particular diseases, like AIDS.  Of the National Institutes of 
Health's $12 billion budget, $4,000 per death is spent on cancer 
research while a little more than $2,000 per death is spent on 
heart disease research.  Heart disease, Becker points out, causes 
about 50 percent more deaths than cancer.  Research on AIDS,
which causes about the same number of deaths in the United States
as cancer, receives four times the funding of breast cancer, more
than 20 times that of prostate cancer, and almost 50 times the
spending per death for heart disease research.  Becker says that
AIDS is worthy of liberal funding because it primarily afflicts
young people, is relatively new, is contagious, and because
recent advances have been made in treatment. However, he suggests
that political influence plays too large a part in the allocation
of funds for AIDS and all medical research.
