From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 1994 09:14:19 -0400 (EDT)

AIDS Daily Summary 
                       April 28, 1994
 
   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
1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD

"Wellcome 'Price Cut' in Aids Drug War"
Financial Times (04/28/94) P. 7;  Wise, Peter
   Wellcome slashed the cost of its AIDS drug AZT by 56 percent in 
Portugal, where a small pharmaceutical firm marketed a cheaper  version of
zidovudine in a challenge to Wellcome's worldwide  patents.  The Portuguese
company, Farma APS, beat Wellcome out  for a contract to supply the drug to
Sao Joao Hospital in Oporto, said the company's director-general, Augusto
Paiva dos Santos.   Farma sells a Canadian-manufactured version of the
drug, called  Apo-Zidovudine, at 33 percent below Wellcome's previous
price.   Paiva dos Santos said that Wellcome had cut the price of 
Retrovir, its version of zidovudine, by 50 percent and 56  percent,
respectively, in bids for two other Portuguese hospital  contracts that
have yet to be awarded.  "The fact that Wellcome  has lowered its prices to
less than half of what it is charging  in the rest of Europe shows it must
be making a fabulous profit  on AZT," Paiva dos Santos commented.  But he
said his company's  prices were still lower than those tendered by the
British rival. He also said Farma APS may register Apo-Zidovudine for sale
in  other European Union countries, as well as in Eastern Europe.
      
"AIDS Activists Confront Mayor, Officials"
Baltimore Sun (04/28/94) P. 2B;  Selby, Holly
   ACT-UP activists in Baltimore rallied before City Hall,  interrupted a
meeting of the Board of Estimates, chained  themselves to the doors of the
health department, and called for  the resignation of a health official
yesterday in action that  yielded a promise from Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke to
consider their  complaints about the city's AIDS programs.  The
organization's  main grievance is that the city's poor maintenance of
records  results in the loss of desperately needed federal dollars for 
AIDS programs.  Noting that funding partly depends on current  statistics,
ACT-UP blames the health department for falling  behind on new AIDS cases. 
John Stuban, a member of the group,  told the Board of Estimates that job
vacancies prevent the city  from keeping pace.  "You have a bureaucracy in
the health  department that refuses to deal with these problems before they 
become crises," he said.  "These positions need to be filled."   Three to
five health department positions in AIDS surveillance  have been vacant for
up to four months.  City Health Commissioner Peter Beilenson said the
department is actively recruiting people for the positions, which should be
filled within the next two to  four weeks.  Mayor Schmoke agreed to meet
with ACT-UP members, as well as city and community health professionals,
within a week.
      
"1,200 Students Learn Facts About AIDS in UCLA's Most Popular Class"
Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (04/28/94) P. B3;  Dundjerski, Marina
   At a time when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
identifies the college-age population as one of the  fastest-growing
categories at risk for HIV infection, students  are seeking awareness with
a heightened sense of urgency.  "AIDS  and Other Sexually Transmitted
Diseases," the most popular course at UCLA, fulfills this need for the
1,200 students enrolled in  it.  The class was first offered in 1989 as a
series of various  visiting lecturers, and only a dozen students signed up
for it.   Five years later, with a new instructor and format, the class 
size has surged.  It is so big, in fact, that the administration  was
prompted to set up the campus' Grand Ballroom as a makeshift  classroom to
accommodate student demand.  "I consider this the  most important class I
teach," said biology Professor Roger  Bohman.  "Because students are
sexually active, AIDS is very  immediate to them, and I'd like them to
appreciate the importance of the AIDS epidemic."  About 85 percent of the
course material  focuses on AIDS, covering fears and stereotypes,
historical  perspectives, and related scientific and social issues.
      
"Discovering a Film Idol's Clay Feet"
New York Times (04/28/94) P. C20;  Riding, Alan
   Cyril Collard's transformation into a cult figure began on March  8,
1993, when his film "Savage Nights" won four Cesars--the  French equivalent
to America's Academy Awards.  Collard was not  present to receive the
honors, for he had died three days  earlier, at the age of 35, from AIDS. 
The film itself was a  semiautobiographical offering about a bisexual
filmmaker who has  unprotected sex with his girlfriend without telling her
about his HIV infection.  For many young viewers, the movie was not a 
cautionary tale, but a message that love conquers all.  The  romantic aura
that has surrounded Collard for the past year,  however, has been punctured
by reports that a former girlfriend  whom he allegedly infected with HIV
has died.  The young woman  was Erica Prou, granddaughter of novelist
Suzanne Prou, and she  died of AIDS in November at age 26.  With her death,
suddenly  France was seeing Collard from a different perspective.  "When 
the media turns Cyril Collard and the behavior he extolled into a form of
heroism and a role model for youth, it is clear where the responsibility
lies," said one writer, Alain Griotteray.  Another writer, Dominique Jamet,
called the actor-director a  "irresponsible" criminal.  Collard's parents
flew to their son's  defense, calling the allegations "monstrous," and
pointing out  that when Collard was involved with Prou--in 1984--AIDS tests
did not exist and little was known about the disease.  With France  now
reporting the highest number of AIDS cases in Europe, Health  Minister
Philippe Douste Blazy said he hoped people who saw  "Savage Nights" had not
concluded that there was no purpose to  condom use.  "It is very serious to
portray a moral act as a hymn to love," he said.
      
"AIDS Group Presses Case for Drug Fund"
Toronto Globe and Mail (04/27/94) P. A7
   Canadian AIDS activists on Tuesday disrupted the Ontario  Legislature,
unfurling a banner and throwing fake money into the  chamber.  After he and
other protesters were escorted from the  building by security guards, James
Farlinger, co-chairman of the  AIDS Action Now coalition, told reporters
that the demonstration  was a reminder to the government of its pledge to
provide a  drug-funding program for people with catastrophic illnesses. 
"We need action now," he declared.  "Every day there is further  delay,
people are not accessing the drugs they need to keep  themselves healthy." 
It is common for HIV patients to spend  $2,000 a month to obtain the
medications they need, and the  government should provide a drug-funding
program for them, said  Farlinger.  Reporters were later told by Premier
Bob Rae that the government has been working hard to see what it can do for
AIDS  patients and other people whose illnesses require expensive drug 
treatment.
      
"FDA Approves Clinical Trial of Hyperthermia"
Washington Blade (04/22/94) Vol. 25, No. 16, P. 29
   The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 29 approved  a
clinical trial of a controversial HIV treatment known as  hyperthermia. 
Within two months, IDT Corporation of Pittsburgh,  Pa., is expected to
begin a "feasibility study" testing  hyperthermia in 10 patients.  The
treatment involves removing the blood from an HIV patient, heating it to
about 110 degrees to  kill the virus, then returning the blood to the
patient.   Officials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said there 
was no value in the treatment, and that no further research was  necessary. 
But Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) says he has met  with NIH and FDA
officials to push for hyperthermia research.
      
"Antiviral d4T to be Approved"
AIDS Alert (04/94) Vol. 9, No. 4, P. 61
   The antiviral d4T, a nucleoside in the same class of drugs as  AZT, ddI,
and ddC, is expected to be approved this year, reports  Susan J. Yarin,
spokeswoman for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., which  manufactures Zerit, a
brand name version of the drug.  Currently, d4T is available only as part
of the Food and Drug  Administration's Parallel Track Program for patients
who cannot  tolerate the drug, or for whom other therapies have failed.  
Nearly 11,000 HIV/AIDS patients have received d4T through the  program at
no charge; however, data on the trials will not be  available until later
this year, says Yarin.
      
"NAC, Glutathione and HIV--San Francisco, May 7"
AIDS Treatment News (04/15/94) No. 197, P. 8
   Researchers at Herzenberg Laboratory at Stanford University are 
currently coordinating a trial to research the use of  N-acetylcysteine
(NAC) as a potential treatment for HIV.  The  theory behind the studies is
that glutathione levels in the cells are known to be abnormally low in many
HIV patients.  This low  level of glutathione may cripple the antioxidant
defense of the  cells, and the oxidative stress that results may also
stimulate  the growth of HIV.  Some have proposed NAC as an efficient means 
of increasing glutathione levels but, because others question  whether it
is adequately absorbed, use of NAC remains  controversial.  ACT-UP/San
Francisco will sponsor a talk on  Saturday, May 7, by Dr. Leonore
Herzenberg of Stanford's Genetics Department, who will present recent
research regarding the use of NAC as a potential treatment for HIV
infection.
      
"Slower Heterosexual Spread of HIV-2 Than HIV-1"
Lancet (04/16/94) Vol. 343, No. 8903, P. 943;  Kanki, Phyllis J.;
Travers, Karin U.;  Chung-Cheng, Hsieh et al.
   Because HIV-2 has similar virological characteristics to HIV-1,  this
virus type was assumed to be just as infectious and capable  of causing
AIDS.  Studies have identified significant rates of  HIV-2 infection in
West Africa, and surveys from other regions of the world indicate that
HIV-2 infection continues to spread.   Because the pathogenic potential of
HIV-2 is considered to be  lower than that of HIV-1, it is therefore
important to recognize  the transmission properties of HIV-2 and its
contribution to the  AIDS pandemic.  Since 1985, Kanki et al. have studied
1,452  registered female prostitutes.  The overall incidence of HIV-1  and
HIV-2 was identical during the study; however, the annual  incidence of
HIV-1 increased substantially with a 12-fold  increase in risk over the
entire study period.  The incidence of  HIV-2, on the other hand, remained
stable despite a higher  prevalence of HIV-2.  In Kanki et al.'s sample
population, the  heterosexual spread of HIV-2 is significantly slower than
that of HIV-1, which strongly suggests differences in the viruses' 
infectivity potential.