From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" <[email-masked]>

AIDS Daily Summary 
                      November 1, 1993 

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 Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction
of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1993, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD

"Researchers Create Molecule to Block AIDS Infection" 
Wall Street Journal (11/01/93) P. A11A 
     French researchers have created a type of molecules that they say 
are able to block AIDS infection in test-tube research.  In lab  
trials, the molecule CDR3 blocks the entry doors on  three cell  
types targeted by HIV: lymphocyte, macrophage, and intestinal  
cells, according to the team at North Marseille Hospital.   
"Thanks to this molecule, we managed to stop, in the laboratory,  
not only the infection of the target cells by the HIV-1 virus, of 
European stock, but also an African virus, HIV-2," said  
virologist Jacques Fantini, one of the researchers.  He compared  
the discovery to "a pass key that allows one to block all the  
locks to stop the virus from entering healthy cells."  The  
process still must be verified in mice and monkeys, but is an  
"important step in basic research against AIDS," said Jurphaas  
Van Rietschoten, research director at the National Center for  
Scientific Research, which oversaw the work.  "It's a hope, not a 
guarantee," he said, cautioning that it is uncertain whethere the 
molecule will prove toxic in animals or humans. 
       
"AIDS Activists Protest at Capitol" 
United Press International (10/29/93)  (Sorensen, Andy) 
     Sacramento--More than 90 activists from the AIDS Coalition to  
Unleash Power (ACT-UP) staged a political funeral Friday before  
the Capitol to protest California Gov. Pete Wilson's policy  
towards people with AIDS.  The group accused Wilson of cutting  
AIDS funding, and denounced his veto of a needle exchange bill  
that would have provided clean syringes to intravenous drug users 
who turned in dirty ones.  Dressed in black and pulling a rolling 
casket to symbolize those who have died from AIDS, the protestors 
chanted "Pete Wilson you can't hide, we charge you with  
homicide."  They were prevented from reaching the Capitol steps  
by a wall of police in riot gear and on horseback, and a brief  
clash ensued in which five members of ACT-UP were injured.  The  
protest ended shortly after a woman sprinkled into the air the  
final ashes of a man who died of AIDS.  "Until the government is  
willing to implement preventive measures, we're going to get  
nowhere in fighting the spread of this dreadful disease," said  
event organizer Edward Wold.  Shannon Bowman, spokesperson for  
the state Health and Welfare Agency, defended Wilson's veto of  
the needle exchange bill.  "The governor is spending millions of  
dollars on saying it is wrong to use drugs," she said, adding  
that evidence that the programs reduce the spread of the virus  
"was not clear enough to send a mixed message."  Bowman also  
refuted claims that the governor cut AIDS spending.  She asserted 
that spending has increased from $115 million to $148 million in  
the past three years. 
       
"AIDS Agency in Chaotic State, Critics Charge" 
Washington Times (10/29/93) P. C8  (Barras, Jonetta Rose) 
     Critics attest that the Agency for HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C.,  
is "in a state of chaos."  Indeed, the agency has been plagued  
with numerous problems from as far back as a year ago, when an  
agency employee was sent on a $2,000 trip to the Virgin Islands  
for a conference which records indicate he never registered for  
or attended.  Some employees and activists suggest that  
government money is abused by staff and contractors; one employee 
insists that the organization's education programs are "seriously 
off the mark."  There have been charges of discrimination in  
contracting, and some say divisions within the office are  
affecting service.  Racial undertones, in fact, ran throughout  
the agency's most recent problem, which involved the dismissal of 
agency director Caitlin Ryan and two other high-level officials.  
The incident began when Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad, medical director 
of the Abundant Life Clinic in the District, accused Ryan of  
improperly steering a $100,000 contract away from his  
organization because of his affiliation with the Nation of Islam. 
An internal investigation found that Ryan did tamper with the  
award, and she was promptly fired.  This, internal disputes, and  
the other problems persisting in the Agency for HIV/AIDS are so  
bad that the office appears to be having difficulty retaining a  
new director.  The prime candidate recently turned down the  
position, saying that the agency was much too troubled. 
       
"Danish Police Find Stolen HIV Test Tubes" 
Reuters (10/29/93) 
     Copenhagen--Danish police have found 70 of the 75 test tubes of  
HIV that were stolen from a Copenhagen hospital, and arrested a  
suspect of the theft.  The test tubes were taken from a locked  
freezere at Hvidovre Hospital, where they were being used for  
research purposes.  The thief may have believed that they  
contained drugs which could be sold, said authorities.  Police  
discovered 69 of the test tubes in a Copenhagen apartment after  
the arrest of a 30-year-old man; one more was found in a park  
frequented by drug addicts.  The suspect denied stealing the test 
tubes, reported a police spokesperson. 
       
"AIDS Sufferer Surrender Ends Riviera Hostage Drama" 
Reuters (10/31/93) 
     Nice, France--A man with AIDS detained three hostages in a French 
Riviera clinic for six hours before surrendering early Sunday  
after his brother, a police officer, convinced him to give up,  
said authorities.  Christophe Azouzi, 32, a former patient of the 
Sainte-Marie clinic, had demanded $120 million and a helicopter  
in exchange for the release of two nurses and a friend of one of  
the nurses whom he held captive.  According to police, Azouzi was 
suicidal but agreed to surrender after long telephone  
conversations with doctors and his brother, who is part of a  
police anti-terrorist squad.  Azouzi set the hostages free  
unharmed and was taken to a Nice police station for questioning. 
       
"Dinkins Administration Failed to Spend $11 Million in Federal  
AIDS Funds" 
United Press International (10/29/93)  (Byron, Peg) 
     New York--The Dinkins administration reported recent calculations 
indicating that New York City will fail to spend about $11  
million of an allocated $44 million from the Ryan White Care Act  
before the year ending in April 1994.  AIDS Policy Coordinator  
Ronald Johnson said he hoped the money would be used more quickly 
in the future, but admitted  obstacles of New York contradicting  
rules and problems starting programs for infected homeless people 
and drug addicts.  This year's unspent money will be used for  
primary care and housing for New Yorkers ill with tuberculosis or 
HIV, as well as for projects in a newly released AIDS plan by the 
Dinkins administration.  The new plan will expand services and  
focus special attention on women and AIDS orphans.  New York City 
is responsible for the nation's largest concentration of women  
with AIDS, and claims that half of all mothers who die leave  
their children without parents.  The Ryan White Care Act has been 
increased by 40 percent for next year, and the city could receive 
as much as $90 million, said Barry Gordon, AIDS coordinator for  
the Public Health Service's local office.  Said Mayor David  
Dinkins, "We very desperately need to spend not only that money,  
but we need more." 
       
"Scandal of Blood Plasma Untested for HIV Broadens in Germany" 
United Press International (10/31/93) 
     Berlin--Germany's HIV scandal grew Sunday as a second firm was  
charged with supplying blood plasma not screened for the AIDS  
virus, and as hospitals began reviewing records to identify  
patients who received untested blood.  Pharm Dessau was charged  
with the knowing distribution of plasma which had not been tested 
for HIV.  Last week, another supplier called UB Plasma was shut  
down on similar charges.  Meanwhile, hospitals throughout the  
country are reviewing transfusion records from the past several  
years.  One hospital in Torgau used 87 units of untested blood  
supplied by UB Plasma in just the past four or five weeks,  
according to the interior ministry of the state of Saxony, where  
the hospital is located.  The Association of Hospitals in Lower  
Saxony cautioned that checking records would be an expensive  
undertaking.  German political leaders, in the meantime, demanded 
tougher laws to regulate the blood plasma industry. 
       
"Poll: Teens Want Hillary Clinton for Prez in 1996" 
United Press International (10/28/93) 
     New York--Today's teenagers think that Hillary Clinton should be  
elected U.S. president in 1996, and view AIDS as the nation's  
leading problem, reveals a recent survey that polled 5,000 young  
people across the country on such topics as their sexual and  
political opinions.  Teens pointed to AIDS as America's worst  
problem, followed by crime, the economy, and education.  Although 
they identified the deadly virus as the most important issue, 63  
percent of teens still believe that sex before marriage is okay  
for responsible teens, and 74 percent say birth control should be 
available to high school students. 
       
"Arena's Bold AIDS Play Focuses on Home, Family" 
Baltimore Sun (10/28/93) P. 4E  (Rousuck, J. Wynn) 
     The nation's oldest continuously operating black community  
theater will present a play that revolves around something that  
African-Americans are becoming all too familiar with--AIDS.   
Cheryl West's "Before It Hits Home," the first major drama to  
portray the effect of the deadly disease among blacks, imparts  
much essential information about AIDS but focuses especially on  
nature, home, and the limitations of familial love.  The script  
is bold in its language, depiction of the disease, and treatment  
of the lead character's bisexuality.  The play itself centers  
around jazz sax player Wendal Bailey, who discovers he has AIDS  
and tells his male lover, but cannot bring himself to confront  
his girlfriend.  Partner notification, thus, becomes an important 
theme and lesson of the play.  Weak and discouraged, the  
protagonist visits home, where his mother abandons him when he  
needs her most and his father, who has always complained of his  
son's shortcomings, dishes out unconditional love.  "Before It  
Hits Home" is being staged by the Arena Players in Baltimore,  
Md., through Nov. 14. 
       
"AIDSFront: Medical Briefs" 
Advocate (10/19/93) No. 640, P. 33 
     With testing of gp160 beginning in August, Massachusetts became  
the first state to sponsor testing of an AIDS therapy that is the 
reverse of others.  The new therapy uses a vaccine to fight  
infection that has already taken hold in the body.  Conventional  
vaccines aim to prevent infection, but this latest therapy  
intends to battle viruses once they have invaded the immune  
system.  The trial is being conducted by the HIV/AIDS bureau of  
Massachusetts' department of public health, and is being funded  
with $150,000 in state funds.  The trial will examine the effects 
of gp160 on 140 HIV/AIDS patients. 
       
"Genelabs Technologies Inc. Reports Preliminary Results of Phase  
II Clinical Trial for AIDS Drug--GLQ223--at Scientific  
Conference" 
Business Wire (10/18/93) 
     Redwood City, Calif.--Genelabs Technologies Inc. recently  
presented preliminary results of its Phase II study of GLQ223, an 
anti-viral compound, against AIDS and AIDS-related complex.  The  
results were reported by the principal investigator, James O.  
Kahn, assistant clinical professor at the University of  
California at San Diego and associate director of the AIDS  
program at San Francisco General Hospital.  Patients randomized  
to AZT, GLQ223, or a combination had similar rates of CD4 cell  
decline, said Kahn.  Data analyses, however, implied  
treatment-associated benefits for GLQ223 in clinical,  
immunologic, and virologic parameters. 

------- End of Forwarded Message