                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                     September 17, 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
     
     
****************************************************** 
"AIDS Drug From Glaxo Shows Promise"
"Making Lives Better"
"The Long Road Back to Fitness"
"HIV Drug May Combat Chagas' Disease"
"Drug Boosts Immune System in AIDS Cases--Study" 
"Combining Two Similar Drugs Reduces HIV Level in Blood" 
"Zimbabwean Women Petition for Cheaper Condoms" 
"Uncircumcised Men at Greater AIDS Risk"
"HIV-Related Skin Diseases"
"All-Natural AIDS Protection?"
******************************************************
     
"AIDS Drug From Glaxo Shows Promise"
Wall Street Journal (09/17/96) P. B5; Waldholz, Michael
     Results of a preliminary human trial of a new protease
inhibitor being developed by Glaxo Wellcome suggest that it may 
have the same potential as other drugs in the same class. 
Information from 40 of the 60 subjects who are testing the drug, 
known as 141W94, was reported by Dr. Robert Schooley of the 
University of Colorado Medical School at the Interscience 
Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy on Monday. 
Schooley said that the drug reduced the level of virus by about 
99 percent in 10 of the test patients who took the drug for four 
weeks.  Moreover, the drug reportedly caused few of the side 
effects that other protease inhibitors have.
     
"Making Lives Better"
Miami Herald (09/16/96) P. 1B; Lantigua, John
     A second housing facility for low-income AIDS patients in
Miami's South Beach will be dedicated this week and will soon 
provide housing, assistance, and referral services for people with 
the disease.  The building will have 24 units, bringing the total 
number of such units in Dade County to 337.  The Department of 
Housing and Urban Development funded the project, as well as the 
renovation of 500 similar units nationwide.  To be eligible for 
the facilities, patients must earn no more than $15,600 a year.  
Tenants must pay 30 percent of their income for rent and 
utilities.
     
"The Long Road Back to Fitness"
Washington Post--Health (09/17/96) P. 8; Newman, Lisa
     For former journalist Lisa Newman, the June 21 
Philadelphia-to-Washington, D.C. AIDS Ride offered the 
opportunity to be part of a large AIDS fundraiser while regaining 
physical fitness.  Newman began training for the 300-mile, 3-day 
ride in April.  In nine weeks, she gained eight pounds of muscle 
and reduced her size from a 12 to an eight.  Nationwide, the AIDS 
Rides are expected to raise more than $16 million for AIDS 
service organizations in 10 cities this year.
     
"HIV Drug May Combat Chagas' Disease"
Chicago Tribune (09/16/96) P. 1-7; Goering, Laurie
     An anti-fungal drug developed to control candidosis in AIDS 
patients has been shown to have potential for the treatment of 
Chagas' disease, a deadly parasitic infection.  Researchers at 
the Venezuela Research Institute recently reported in the journal 
Science that D0870, or bistriazol, cured the disease in 70 
percent to 90 percent of mice treated.  Chagas, a disease which 
affects more than 16 million Latin Americans and kills more than 
45,000 people a year, is transmitted to humans by a bite from the 
vinchuca bug and through blood transfusions from infected people.
     
"Drug Boosts Immune System in AIDS Cases--Study" 
Reuters (09/16/96); Kenen, Joanne
     A cancer drug, interleukin-2 (IL-2), has been used in low
doses to improve immunity in HIV-infected individuals without any 
apparent side effects.  Kendall Smith and colleagues at the New 
York-Cornell Medical Center report their initial results from a 
six-month study of 16 patients in today's issue of the 
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  Larger-scale 
studies are needed, as well as studies to test the combination of 
IL-2 with other AIDS drugs.  The treatment may be used when 
people are initially infected with HIV, to help protect the 
immune system, and for people who are already sick.  When used in 
large doses for chemotherapy against some cancers, IL-2 causes 
severe side effects; the patients in the trial received small 
daily doses of the drug, however.
     
"Combining Two Similar Drugs Reduces HIV Level in Blood" 
Reuters (09/16/96)
     Combining two protease inhibitors has been shown to reduce
the level of HIV in the blood by 99.9 percent, researchers state. 
Calvin J. Cohen, of Community Research Initiative of New England, 
reported that, in the second six weeks of tests, patients taking 
Norvir (ritonavir) and Invirase (saquinavir) showed continued 
improvement.  A total of 136 patients were involved, divided into 
four different dose groups.
     
"Zimbabwean Women Petition for Cheaper Condoms" 
Reuters (09/16/96)
     Zimbabwean women are asking the government to make female
condoms more accessible and affordable to help curb the spread of 
HIV.  The Zimbabwe Women and AIDS Support Network has initiated a 
petition, signed by at least 20,000 people.  The female condoms 
cost about $2, a price too high for many women in the country. Male 
condoms are distributed free, but women say that men are reluctant 
to use them.
     
"Uncircumcised Men at Greater AIDS Risk"
United Press International (09/16/96); Susman, Ed
     A study of immigrants to Israel has found that uncircumcised
men may have a greater risk of contracting HIV because an intact 
foreskin helps bacteria, including the agents of sexually 
transmitted diseases, survive.  Michael Dan of E. Wolfson Hospital 
in Israel and colleagues compared the bacterial flora from 125 men 
who were circumcised when they immigrated with 46 already 
circumcised men.  The researchers found sexually transmitted 
bacteria almost exclusively in the uncircumcised men.
     
"HIV-Related Skin Diseases"
Lancet (09/07/96) Vol. 348, No. 9028, P. 659; Tschachler, Erwin; 
Bergstresser, Paul R.; Stingl, Georg
     In many HIV-infected individuals, diseases of the skin or
mucous membranes are the first signs of disease progression. 
More than 90 percent of HIV-positive patients develop such 
conditions--which can include Kaposi's sarcoma, viral and 
bacterial infections, and other disorders--at some point during 
their disease.  In a review of these diseases, Dr. Erwin 
Tschachler of the University of Vienna and colleagues discuss the 
link between immunodeficiency and cutaneous disease pathogenesis. 
The infection of dendritic cells, Langerhans cells, and dermal 
dendritic cells in the skin contributes to immunodeficiency.  
When the skin immune system is impaired, infectious and 
non-infectious skin diseases occur even before the onset of full 
immunodeficiency.  Up to 75 percent of patients that develop 
symptomatic infections as a result of HIV infection also develop 
skin lesions.  Viral cofactors that may contribute to disease 
progression include herpes simplex virus (HSV), which manifests 
in painful, non-healing ulcers and is different from conventional 
recurrent HSV infection; varicella-zoster virus; molluscum 
contagiosum; and human papillomavirus.  Bacterial cofactors 
include staphylococcus aureus, mycobacteria, and syphilis.
     
"All-Natural AIDS Protection?"
Technology Review (08/96-09/96) Vol. 99, No. 6, P. 18
     Vaginal foams and creams to protect against pregnancy and 
sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, may be developed 
using natural substances from animals.  Magainin Pharmaceuticals, 
with aid from the National Institutes of Health, is studying the 
safety and efficacy of two animal-derived compounds for such 
purposes.  Both NIH and the United Nations' World Health 
Organization have made the development of microbicides a leading 
priority as the AIDS rate in women continues to rise.  The Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention reports that there were 14,000 
new cases of AIDS among women in 1994, up from 3,700 five years 
earlier.  Vaginal microbicides are targeted because they would give 
women greater control over their own protection.
     
