Date: Tue, 18 Jan 1994 15:38:21 -0400 (EDT) From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" Subject: CDC's AIDS Daily Summary 01/18 AIDS Daily Summary January 18, 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 1993, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD "Lab Ends Pact on AIDS Drug" New York Times (01/18/94) P. D14 The Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories unit of the American Home Products Corporation announced that it will terminate its agreement to develop and market a potential AIDS vaccine. VaxSyn HIV-1, which is licensed to Wyeth-Ayerst by Microgenesys Inc. of Meridian, Conn., was developed in 1987. Microgenesys has been criticized recently for its refusal to donate VaxSyn to the National Institutes of Health for testing. While a spokesperson for Wyeth-Ayerst declined to comment on whether that situation was key in the decision to end the pact with Microgenesys, at least one AIDS organization heralded the decision. "We're applauding Wyeth-Ayerst for listening to the concerns of AIDS activists, scientists, and Congress," said a spokesperson for ACT-UP, an AIDS advocacy and protest group. "They are pulling out of a company that has clearly put private profits ahead of public health concerns." "Disabilities Act Invoked in Suit by AIDS Patient" Chicago Tribune (01/17/94) P. 1-1 (Crawford, Jan) While AIDS lawsuits invoking the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 have long been in the pipeline, they are just now beginning to make their way into the federal courts. One of the first such cases to do so involves a Chicago man who claims he was fired from his job after the mortgage company for which he worked discovered that he has AIDS. The lawsuit, filed last week, alleges that the Dovenmuehle Mortgage Co.'s dismissal of Shawn Smith, an assistant vice president, was a violation of the ADA, which protects people with disabilities from job discrimination. The legislation is increasingly being used by AIDS patients to challenge different kinds of discrimination, including limits on insurance payouts and changes in job assignment, notes J. Craig Fonda, director of the western regional office of Lambda Legal Defense and Education fund, the nation's largest AIDS advocacy group. Other legal experts agree that the law promises to become the most powerful means of fighting AIDS discrimination. "People living with AIDS face too much hardship without having to endure the loss of their livelihood or other discrimination in the workplace," comments Paul Vickrey, an attorney with Hopkins & Sutter, the law firm representing Smith. "The ADA gives us a valuable weapon to use in attacking the problem." "Box Office Sales Brisk for AIDS Movie" Toronto Globe and Mail (Canada) (01/17/94) P. C2 The AIDS drama "Philadelphia" topped box office sales in its first weekend of widespread release, according to industry insiders. The film earned an estimated $12.1 million in ticket sales, earning it the No. 1 position. "Philadelphia," which stars Tom Hanks as an attorney with AIDS who sues the law firm which fired him, was screened at 1,245 North American theaters over the weekend. "Netherlands--Anti-AIDS Cream" Associated Press (01/15/94) Amsterdam, Netherlands--World Health Organization researchers at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam are preparing to test a vaginal cream that aims to prevent women from contracting the AIDS virus during sexual intercourse. The cream, designated COL-1492, contains the active ingredient of Nonoxynol-9, a spermicidal agent which kills HIV in laboratory conditions. However, when used in large amounts, it can cause minute cracks in the vaginal walls, which would facilitate HIV transmission rather than block it. The goal of the tests is to determine a dosage that is low enough to prevent the vaginal lesions, but potent enough to kill HIV. At no time, however, will the study participants be exposed to the AIDS virus, assures Dr. Peter Reiss of the National AIDS Therapy Evaluation Center, which is collaborating with the medical center on the tests. Reiss adds that the researchers are seeking 550 women in the Netherlands and Thailand to test COL-1492. The women, who would all be sexually active, would use the cream as a spermicide and undergo examinations three times within two weeks to look for symptoms of over-dosage. "Brazil--AIDS Poll" Associated Press (01/16/94) Rio de Janeiro--Despite the high number of AIDS cases reported in Brazil, 40 percent of sexually active Brazilians have never even bought a condom, according to a survey of more than 2,500 people in 16 cities. Less than 50 million condoms were sold last year in Brazil, where 100 million of the country's total population of 150 million are sexually active. "People just don't feel threatened by the virus," explains Arletty Pinel, a psychiatrist with the World Health Organization. She says that some 70,000 Brazilians are believed to be infected with HIV. Already, there have been 18,500 deaths in Brazil that are attributed to AIDS. "Lilly--AIDS" Associated Press (01/15/94) Indianapolis--As part of its restructuring plans, officials at Eli Lilly and Co. announced that the pharmaceutical company has halted in-house research on HIV treatments. The company's HIV/AIDS research was limited, consisting of only one potential drug in the first phase of human testing. While Lilly said that the project would not be abandoned, the company will seek a partner to continue the study. "As you would expect, scientists who have put their heart and soul into trying to discover therapies for what they know is a very, very important medical need are disappointed that the company has to do this," said Carlos Lopez, executive director of infectious diseases research at Lilly. "But they understand why and support it." The move comes as the Indianapolis-based company attempts to downsize its operations and staff to save money, and to "focus these resources in areas where we feel we have a competitive advantage." "AIDS Has Hit 3 Million People--UN Health Agency" Reuters (01/15/94) Geneva--Since AIDS was first identified in the late 1970s, an estimated 3 million people around the globe have developed the full-blown disease, according to the World Health Organization. In a twice-yearly report, the United Nations agency also cited that some 14 million adults and 1 million children have been infected with HIV, the virus that is believed to cause AIDS. The estimates were far higher than previously reported statistics. They represent a jump of a half a million in AIDS cases, and a leap of 1 million in HIV infections since the last report in July. "AIDS Education Fails to Stop Disease in Uganda" Reuters (01/13/94) London--Health rallies, educational programs, and condom distribution are not halting the spread of AIDS through heterosexual transmission in rural Uganda, according to a report in the British Medical Journal. A joint American-Ugandan study found that, despite being informed about AIDS, men and women in the district of Rakai still had multiple sexual partners. In fact, the proportion of adults with more than one partner actually increased from 8.9 to 12.3 percent after the program was implemented in 1989. "Knowledge of AIDS is almost universal and most subjects had attended an AIDS education rally during the period of observation," noted the report. "It is therefore disturbing that the proportion of adults admitting to multiple sex partners in the previous year increased significantly." Uganda has launched one of the most extensive AIDS education programs in Africa, but the researchers say that two of every 100 persons were becoming infected with HIV every year in the Rakai district. The authors suggest that, with more than 70 percent of the African population living in rural areas, more education programs should target these communities. "Wrongly Diagnosed as HIV-Positive, Grand Junction Man Struggles to Pick Up His Life" Business Wire (01/13/94) Grand Junction, Colo.--After experiencing chronic health problems, Nevada businessman Gary McMillan received a call in February 1991 notifying him that he was HIV-positive. Not long after, he was informed that he had developed full-blown AIDS. McMillan, whose health deteriorated rapidly, underwent psychological and physical trauma following his diagnosis. His business collapsed, his wife left, and his three children were removed from his custody and put up for adoption. McMillan ended up wandering the streets, until a policeman took him to a hospital in Arizona. McMillan moved to Las Vegas, where he began working with an AIDS support group. In September 1992, a new AIDS test showed that McMillan did not have AIDS or even HIV infection. By this time, he had already spent thousands of dollars on treatment and survived a life-threatening reaction to AZT. Eventually, he reached a settlement with doctors. His discovery that he did not have AIDS did not, however, cause McMillan to distance himself from the AIDS community. He now volunteers at the Warren McKerrow AIDS Foundation in Grand Junction, helping HIV patients cope with their condition.