AIDS Daily Summary 
                      November 5, 1993 
 
 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public
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Copyright 1993, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
 
 
"AIDS Hysteria Grips Germany" 
Washington Post (11/05/93) P. A32  (Atkinson, Rick) 
     In the face of a worsening contaminated blood scandal, tens of  
thousands of Germans swamped hospitals, clinics, and health  
agencies to inquire about HIV testing.  "We can't answer all the  
calls, there are just too many," said Christa  
Mueller-Breitkreutz, head of the local health agency in Bonn.   
"We can't get on with other work."  The hysteria was set off by  
the recommendations of Health Minister Horst Seehofer and other  
health officials that any patient who received transfusions or  
blood products since the early 1980s be tested for the AIDS  
virus.  Several other health officials criticized the  
government's call for mass testing, calling it premature and an  
overreaction.  Frank Ulrich Montgomery, head of a prominent  
organization of physicians, noted that "only about 10 percent of  
surgical operations involve administering blood or blood  
products."  Others pointed out that certain products are treated  
with heat or chemicals that kill most viruses.  It is uncertain  
exactly how many former patients will be tested.  A large German  
newspaper ran a headline announcing that 15 million people would  
take the AIDS test, although officials predict that the actual  
number will be much lower.  Related Stories: New York Times  
(11/05) P. A1; Financial Times (11/05) P.1 
       
"4-Year Investigation Exonerates AIDS Researcher" 
Washington Post (11/05/93) P. A12  (Brown, David) 
     Charges of "scientific misconduct" in the writing of a 1984 AIDS  
paper were cleared against a former NIH scientist yesterday by  
the Department of Health and Human Services.  Mikulas Popovic had 
been accused by the department's Office of Research Integrity  
(ORI) of writing a paper that included "untrue statements," but  
the four-year investigation failed to prove this, or that any  
falsifications were intentional.  Ultimately, the allegations  
were stripped down to interpretations that ORI deemed knowingly  
false, and others said were not more than hasty errors.  "One  
might anticipate that from all this evidence ... there would be  
at least a residue of palpable wrongdoing," wrote the panel in a  
79-page opinion.  "That is not the case."  Popovic's paper  
reported the successful growth of the AIDS virus in cell culture, 
a development that helped make an AIDS test possible.  The  
charges stemmed from entries on a table of data, an ambiguous  
sentence, and a disagreement between Popovic and a lab  
technician.  While Popovic, 52, has been exonerated, NIH  
researcher Robert C. Gallo, then Popovic's boss, is scheduled to  
go before the same HHS appeals board Monday to defend himself  
against misconduct charges involving AIDS papers.  Gallo is  
accused of misappropriating the AIDS virus from French  
researchers.  Related Story: New York Times (11/05) P. A28. 
       
"Sex Ed at School, Home Is Key, AIDS Czar Says" 
Philadelphia Inquirer (11/05/93) P. B1  (Collins, Huntly) 
     AIDS czar Kristine Gebbie yesterday called for more sex education 
in schools and at home to help combat the national AIDS crisis.   
"It's our failure to talk that has caused children to experiment  
with their sexuality in ways that are dangerous to them,"  
theorized Gebbie.  While urging that children as young as 12 be  
taught about condoms as a means of protection against AIDS,  
Gebbie said the decision to make condoms available in schools  
should be left to school authorities, not the federal government. 
Gebbie's comments were delivered at the Franklin Institute in  
Philadelphia, where an hour later she opened the museum's AIDS  
exhibit.  The interactive exhibit, which includes a video giving  
explicit directions on how to put on a condom, was hailed by  
Gebbie as "a new direction in AIDS education."  The AIDS czar  
also called for an expansion of research, more activist  
involvement in setting research priorities, and more attention to 
AIDS curricula in medical schools. 
       
"Needle Scare at Time Magazine" 
Washington Post (11/05/93) P. G1  (Romano, Lois) 
     Time magazine's Washington Bureau was thrown into a panic this  
week when 19 staffers learned that some of the syringes used to  
administer flu shots were used more than once.  Several employees 
noticed that internist Wesley Oler was giving shots, wiping off  
the needle with cotton and alcohol, then moving on to the next  
shot recipient.  Although this is has been an unacceptable  
medical practice for many years, staffers waited until the doctor 
left to discuss the issue and present their concerns to  
management.  Bureau chief Dan Goodgame recommended HIV and  
hepatitis tests, at the expense of the magazine, for the  
inoculated staffers.  John Cornwall, Time's medical director,  
yesterday visited the Washington bureau, where he recommended  
safe sex practices to the employees.   Oler, a prominent  
physician, acknowledged reusing syringes.  "I ran short of  
needles and used some of them twice after carefully scrubbing  
them down with alcohol sponges," he explained.  Pamela Howard, a  
spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,  
said Oler's procedures were not in accordance with CDC  
guidelines.  "Sterilization is essential for hypodermic needles  
because they do enter deep tissue," said Howard.  "Use of liquid  
germicides such as alcohol doesn't guarantee sterility."  Time  
has reported Oler to the District of Columbia department of  
public health. 
       
"D.C. Could Face TB Epidemic, Panel Warns" 
Washington Post (11/05/93) P. B3  (:Loose, Cindy) 
     Unless the District of Columbia immediately improves testing and  
treatment for tuberculosis, the city could suffer a full-blown  
epidemic, cautioned a panel of physicians from the Centers for  
Disease Control and Prevention and the American Lung Association. 
"The District has all the ingredients for a TB epidemic," said  
panel chairman Bill Banton, describing an increasing number of  
patients who exacerbate the problem by failing to take medication 
as prescribed, which results in the development of deadly  
drug-resistant strains of the disease.  TB is primarily affecting 
D.C. residents who are HIV-positive, drug addicts, incarcerated,  
or homeless.  Although the study only looked at the capital, the  
specialists also warned of suburban problems with the disease,  
which has increased due to immigrants, who account for 70 percent 
of reported infectious cases in Northern Virginia.  The doctors  
are calling for a state-of-the-art TB laboratory to replace the  
old lab, which is not equipped to test whether a strain is  
drug-resistant.  They also recommended care beds for homeless TB  
patients and called for community action. 
       
"Wild Things" 
Advocate (11/02/93) No. 641, P. 15 
     AIDS group administrators and government policy makers were  
plagued in September by loose talk, sloppy management, and shady  
pasts.  In Puerto Rico, for instance, top health official Enrique 
Vazquez Quintana was fired Sept. 14 after commenting during a  
broadcast interview that a severe shortage of AZT at a San Juan  
hospital "does not make any difference" because the AIDS patients 
who need it "are going to die anyway."  Although Vazquez Quintana 
protested that his statement was taken out of context, Gov. Pedro 
Rossello declined to reinstate him, choosing instead to name  
Carmen Feliciano to the position as health secretary.  According  
to the Centers for Disease and Prevention, Puerto Rico has the  
second-highest per capita rate of AIDS in the country.  In  
Galveston, Texas, David Petty was dismissed as executive director 
of the AIDS Coalition of Coastal Texas following allegations that 
he made unauthorized payroll advances to himself and  
misappropriated $2,000 from the group for the personal purchase  
of a pickup truck.  Petty denied the accusations, but on Sept.  
17, was charged with felony.  A Sept. 20 article in the Detroit  
Free Press alleging that only 4 percent of the $450,000 collected 
by the National Alliance for Children With AIDS actually went to  
services for infected children forced the organization to  
disband.  Finally, in San Francisco, nonprofit AIDS group Cal-PEP 
replaced its board president after allegations of his criminal  
activity placed $161,500 in jeopardy.  J 
       
"Center Helps People Get the Answers on AIDS" 
Washington Blade (10/29/93) Vol. 24, No. 46, P. 10  (Clark,  
Darice) 
     For many people, an HIV-positive diagnosis is the beginning of a  
long educational process.  In Washington, D.C., one place where  
HIV-infected individuals can get information is the AIDS Resource 
Center, located in a thrift shop in Northwest.  Just opened  
months ago, the center is a community-based, non-clinical center  
where people to make phone calls to get answers to their AIDS  
questions.  It is also a "safe space" for people who have tested  
positive for the virus, but have not yet disclosed their  
condition to family, friends, or colleagues.  Founders Steve  
Michaels and Wayne Turner hope that the center will eventually be 
a work area for AIDS activists as well.  "The idea is to empower  
people," says Michaels.  "Sharing information is important if you 
want to effect change and find a cure."  Michaels and Turner want 
the center to be linked to all major computer networks across the 
nation with access to AIDS information.  The thrift shop, which  
houses clothing and furniture donations mostly from people who  
have died from AIDS, funds the AIDS Resource Center and pays the  
rent.  Although this was not the location the founders originally 
anticipated, they admit now that the storefront makes the center  
more accessible and visible. 
       
"News in Brief: Europe Against AIDS" 
Lancet (10/09/93) Vol. 342, No. 8876, P. 922 
     The European Commission has asked the EC governments for a  
one-year extension of the 1991-93 "Europe Against AIDS" program.  
Primarily created to help fund projects in member states, the  
program has, to date, supported some 80 projects.  For the  
upcoming year, the Commission plans to focus on projects  
involving AIDS and drug abuse, HIV transmission within the prison 
system, HIV transmission associated with travel and tourism, the  
increasing numbers of women and children who are infected, and  
fighting discrimination against people with the disease. 
       
"FDA Panel: Revoke DDC-AZT OK, Back Monotherapy" 
American Medical News (10/25/93) Vol. 36, No. 40, P. 10  (Staver, 
Sari) 
     The FDA's anti-viral drugs advisory panel has strongly  
recommended that the agency rescind its tentative approval of the 
anti-HIV drug DDC to be used in conjunction with AZT.  Group  
members back DDC as a single agent.  Last year, DDC became the  
first drug under a program that allows experimental products to  
hit the market before final studies are finished.  Since then,  
the use of the combination has increased steadily in patients  
whose CD4 lymphocyte levels fall after AZT therapy.  Those on the 
committee made the first recommendation because a new study found 
combination therapy equals monotreatment in effectiveness,  
according to Dr. Alvin Novic, a biology professor at Yale  
University.  Clinicians on the panel claimed that this limitation 
would not obstruct access to DDC.  Insurance policies usually  
don't reimburse for "off-label" applications, but in practice  
insurers rarely watch prescribing habits.  Dr. Kenneth Mayer, who 
directs the HIV program at Brown University School of Medicine,  
requested "more compelling evidence" that combination therapy is  
ineffective.  He supports keeping DDC as part of AZT therapy. 
       
"Alloimmunization as an AIDS Vaccine?" 
Science (10/08/93) Vol. 262, No. 5131, P. 161  (Shearer, Gene M.  
et al.) 
     The speculations of Stott and colleagues, and the work of Larry  
Arthur et al. suggest the idea of a vaccine for HIV based on  
cellular proteins known as human lymphocyte antigens (HLAs).   
These proteins can be identified as HLA alloantigens when first  
entering the host during the first stages of HIV infection.   
Studies indicate that protection of macaques against SIV (the  
equivalent of the AIDS virus in monkeys) is correlated with the  
presence of antibodies against HLA antigens.  Recognition of HLA  
alloantigens supports the theory of Plummer et al. that  
prostitutes in Nairobi who seemed to be resistant to HIV may have 
used alloantigen recognition to reject HIV-infected leukocytes in 
semen before efficient HIV infection could occur.  Shearer et al. 
note advantages of alloimmunization as a potential HIV vaccine.   
Allogeneic response is the strongest known antigen-specific  
immune response,  does not require preimmunization, and is well  
developed at birth.  It is also responsible for foreign tissue  
allograft rejection, which could kill allogeneic leukocytes  
introduced by parenteral exposure.  On the down side,  
alloantigen-immunized people may not be good candidates for  
allografts.  Also, it is impossible to determine which HLA  
antigens would need to be known.  Finally, immunization with  
foreign leukocytes comes with the risk of infecting the  
individual with other viruses. 
       


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