Date: Tue, 13 Dec 1994 16:57:07 GMT From: awilson@smtpinet.aspensys.com (Wilson, Anne) AIDS Daily Summary December 13, 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 ************************************************************ "U.N. Picks a Leader for Fight on AIDS" "NZ Court Finds Kenyan AIDS Victim Endangered Lives" "Whatever Happened to the Contraceptive Revolution?" "A Side Trip into AIDS Theory" "The University of California, IDEXX Laboratories Inc. and Synbiotics Corp. Announce Agreement on Settlement of FIV Patent Infringement Suit" "Experts Warn of Trivial Fixes in Blood System" "The Response of Symptomatic Neurosyphilis to High-Dose Intravenous Penicillin G in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection" "Approaches to AIDS Vaccines" Health: AIDS in Developing Nations" "Hevesi Unmoved" ************************************************************ "U.N. Picks a Leader for Fight on AIDS" New York Times (12/13/94) P. C12; Crossette, Barbara The United Nations named Belgian scientist Dr. Peter Piot as head of a new U.N. office that will coordinate the efforts of six international HIV/AIDS organizations. Piot has been associate director of the World Health Organization's global program on AIDS since 1992. The new office, tentatively called the U.N. program on HIV/AIDS, will incorporate the WHO program, as well as projects sponsored by UNICEF, UNESCO, the U.N. Development Program, the U.N. Population Fund, and the World Bank. Piot on Monday told reporters that "in a general climate not optimal for the moment on AIDS," he wanted to expand research into new economic and social aspects of the disease while mobilizing support for treatment. Piot has spent years studying AIDS in Africa, has been a leading organizer of a series of international AIDS conferences, and has been an outspoken advocate of the rights of poor nations to organize their own responses to the AIDS epidemic and to avoid being used as testing grounds for experimental drugs. The U.N. AIDS program, he said, will coordinate available funds from the six international organizations, whose programs would be streamlined to avoid overlap or competition. "NZ Court Finds Kenyan AIDS Victim Endangered Lives" Reuters (12/13/94) Peter Mwai, a 29-year old Kenyan, was convicted in a New Zealand court today on six charges relating to having unprotected sex while knowingly infected with HIV. Mwai was found guilty of causing a woman grievous bodily harm. He was also convicted on five counts of endangering her life and that of four other women by failing to tell them he was HIV-infected. The judge dismissed a seventh charge of willfully infecting a woman with HIV because there was no evidence upon which the jury could convict Mwai on the count. Mwai faces up to 12 years in prison. "Whatever Happened to the Contraceptive Revolution?" Washington Post (Health) (12/13/94) P. 13; Herman, Robin The introduction of the birth control pill in 1960, along with the plastic intrauterine device four years later, formed the first wave of modern birth control methods. The contraceptive research revolution, however, was short. Thirty years later, few new approaches to contraception have reached the market. The AIDS epidemic is the driving force behind any interest in designing new contraceptives. Funding research to find products that protect against both pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV and herpes, is the government's priority. At this time, the only contraceptives that provide dual protection are the male and female condoms. "A Side Trip into AIDS Theory" New York Times (12/13/94) P. C11 Dr. Leonard Adleman observed that when a person is HIV-infected, the decline of white blood cells of the immune system follows a predictable pattern. He concluded that the body must have a mechanism to keep the total number of CD4 and CD8 cells constant, but must not monitor the proportions of CD4 cells to CD8 cells. The implication was that HIV patients could possibly have more CD4 cells if doctors removed some of their CD8 cells. Adleman's theory, however, was largely ignored when it was published in The Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome last year. "I don't think you can ignore this phenomenon as at least a potentially important aspect of the pathogenesis of this disease," he said. "It's been the major disappointment of my scientific life that I've been unable to communicate my ideas adequately to the AIDS community." "The University of California, IDEXX Laboratories Inc. and Synbiotics Corp. Announce Agreement on Settlement of FIV Patent Infringement Suit" Business Wire (12/12/94) An agreement was reached Monday between the University of California, IDEXX Laboratories Inc., and Synbiotics Corp., in the settlement of a lawsuit relating to infringement of the university's patent on feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) diagnostics, which is exclusively licensed to IDEXX. Synbiotics acknowledged that its ViraCHEK/FIV product infringed U.S. Patent No. 5,118,602, which concerns methods for the diagnosis of FIV. The San Diego company also agreed that the patent and another one, with respect to the discovery of FIV, are valid. Synbiotics consented to a permanent injunction against infringement of UC's FIV patents and will pay a total of $50,000 to UC and IDEXX. UC also announced the settlement of another suit, in which Marlo L. Brown sought a determination that she was co-inventor under UC's FIV patents. Under the terms of the settlement, Brown acknowledged UC's exclusive ownership of it FIV patents. "Experts Warn of Trivial Fixes in Blood System" Toronto Globe and Mail (12/08/94) P. A1; Coutts, Jane Experts who have been studying the Canadian blood supply warned last week that Canada's blood system needs significant changes quickly. A spokesman for the panel of experts expressed the group's fear that people involved in running the blood system may believe the problems can be solved without too much effort. "These are not trivial tasks...and a little bit of tinkering with the systems in place probably will not fill the bill," said Thomas Zuck, director of the blood center at the University of Cincinnati and vice-chairman of the safety-audit committee. Mr. Justice Horace Krever commissioned the audit to help him in his inquiry into Canada's blood system. In a 300-page report, the panel of experts stated that Canada's blood supply is as safe as that of any other Western country. The safety is "fragile," however, and the committee warned that unless the report's nine recommendations are acted upon, safety will be compromised. "The Response of Symptomatic Neurosyphilis to High-Dose Intravenous Penicillin G in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection" New England Journal of Medicine (12/01/94) Vol. 331, No. 22, P. 1469; Gordon, Steven M.; Eaton, Molly E.; George, Rob et al To determine whether HIV infection affects the course of syphilis and the response to treatment, researchers studied the response to treatment with high-dose penicillin G benzathine in 11 HIV-positive participants with symptomatic neurosyphilis. The patients were intravenously administered 18 million to 24 million units of penicillin G benzathine daily. The researchers found that after 24 weeks, four of the seven patients studied had decreased serum titers on rapid plasma reagin (RPR) testing by at least two doubling dilutions, and four patients had reductions in the cerebrospinal fluid titers on Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) testing or reverted to nonreactive results. There was no normalization or improvement in serum titers on RPR testing or cerebrospinal fluid titers on VDRL testing, cell counts, or protein concentrations in two patients. Six months after treatment, one patient relapsed with meningovascular syphilis. Although T. pallidum was detected in three of 10 patients before treatment, it was not found in any of the 10 post-treatment specimens. Gordon et al concluded that therapy may fail and neurosyphilis may develop in HIV-infected patients with early syphilis. The high-dose penicillin recommended for neurosyphilis is not consistently effective in HIV-positive patients. "Approaches to AIDS Vaccines" Lancet (11/19/94) Vol. 344, No. 8934, P. 1425; Rowe, Paul M. Several approaches to AIDS vaccines were presented at the seventh annual meeting of the National Cooperative Vaccine Development Groups for AIDS. Patricia N. Fultz of Alabama presented data suggesting that attenuated virus can induce strain-specific immunity and that vaccines must incorporate whatever strain is present in the population in order to be protected. Michael S. Wyand of Massachusetts informed the group that an attenuated SIV construct with three genes deleted generated protective immunity in adult macaques. He also found that the number of monkeys protected from an SIV challenge expanded with time after vaccination. Ruth M. Ruprecht, also of Massachusetts, however, injected three newborn macaques with the attenuated SIV construct with three genes deleted and all have developed persistent high levels of replicating virus and AIDS--one has died. Raymond A Daynes of Utah presented a report showing that mucosal immunity can be induced through vaccination using 1.25 dihydroxy vitamin D(3) as an adjuvant. The findings suggest that lymphocytes adjust their pattern of cytokine secretion and choose the tissue to which they will return after circulation through the lymph system. "Health: AIDS in Developing Nations" Futurist (11/94-12/94) Vol. 28, No. 6, P. 57 A U.S. Census Bureau study reports that the AIDS epidemic will probably increase child mortality in developing countries. The disease will undo decades of improvement in child-survival rates. For example, infant and child mortality levels in Zambia have clear links to HIV and AIDS, and are currently 15 percent higher than 10 years ago. Death rates and life expectancies in nations such as Thailand, Haiti, and Brazil will also be affected by the disease. The death rate due to AIDS will double in Haiti by the year 2010, and will triple in Thailand. AIDS, however, will not overcome the population growth in affected countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa. The region's high growth rate will counteract the AIDS-related deaths. "AIDS has already begun to substantially revise our thinking about patterns and trends of mortality in countries around the world," write the authors of the report. "Hevesi Unmoved" Crain's (11/21/94) Vol. 10, No. 47, P. 50 Moving companies routinely steal $3 million from New York City by overcharging for the cost of moving welfare and AIDS patients, claims city Comptroller Alan Hevesi. Poor or sick clients have to submit three bids before New York will pay for a move. The city Human Resources Administration, says Hevesi, has been unwilling to crack down on the companies, who allegedly overcharge by as much as three times the cost.