Date: Thu, 10 Nov 1994 09:09:13 -0500 (EST) From: "JOHN FANNING, CDC NAC" AIDS Daily Summary November 10, 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 ************************************************************ "Coping with AIDS a 'Fierce Challenge'" "HIV/AIDS Increasing Among Women in Georgia" "Genzyme Says Virus Prevents AIDS in Monkeys" "Boston Biomedica Introduces New Product to Advance the Reliability of AIDS Testing" "ActionAIDS to Receive 1994 Better Business Award" "The Governor's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS to Hold Meeting" "Passive Hyperimmune Therapy: Apparent Patient Benefit" "Synergy Between Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor and HIV-1 Tat Protein in Induction of Kaposi's Sarcoma" "AIDS: Maybe There Isn't a Magic Bullet" "Around the Nation: California" ************************************************************ "Coping with AIDS a 'Fierce Challenge'" Washington Post (11/10/94) P. D.C.1; Young, Vincent AIDS continues to be a mystery to many people--including those affected by it--14 years after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared it an epidemic. In Washington, D.C., the Inner City AIDS Network (ICAN), a peer counseling AIDS education and prevention class, helps people learn more about the disease. Approximately 40 to 50 health care workers, gays and bisexuals, drug addicts, concerned relatives, and people with HIV attend the weekly three-hour confidential sessions. Both the ICAN staff members and the participants share stories that include tales of friends and family members, discrimination, and hospital workers so afraid of the disease that they refuse to serve food trays to the patient. ICAN receives about $300,000 annually from the D.C. Commission of Public Health's Agency for HIV/AIDS. Over 500 people have taken the free, 10-week course since it began in 1989. Many of the graduates go on to work in their communities as AIDS educators. "HIV/AIDS Increasing Among Women in Georgia" PR Newswire (11/09/94) The proportion of women in Georgia reported with AIDS has increased from 4 percent of new cases in 1984 to 15 percent in 1993. "Eighty percent of the women reported with AIDS in Georgia have been African-Americans," said Dr. Kathleen E. Toomey, director of the Georgia Department of Human Resources Epidemiology and Prevention Branch. AIDS was the principal cause of death for black women, black men, and white men ages 20-44, and the eleventh major cause of death for white women in the 20-44 age group in Georgia in 1993. Heterosexual transmission is increasing the fastest. County health departments and several community organizations are holding AIDS and sexually transmitted disease prevention activities which emphasize abstinence and safer sex. For the last year, Georgia Women Preventing AIDS--a coalition of representatives from public health agencies and community groups--has been conducting a campaign that distributes materials and sponsors workshops to help African-American women and men to protect themselves. "Genzyme Says Virus Prevents AIDS in Monkeys" Reuters (11/09/94) Genzyme Transgenics Corp. announced Wednesday that its subsidiary, TSI Corp., has successfully used a mutant virus to prevent the onset of AIDS in monkeys. Scientists from Harvard Medical School and TSI Mason Laboratories demonstrated prevention of clinical and immunological indications of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV)-induced AIDS in monkeys. The Rhesus monkeys were protected against exposure to levels of wild-type SIV that were otherwise lethal. "Boston Biomedica Introduces New Product to Advance the Reliability of AIDS Testing" PR Newswire (11/09/94) Boston Biomedica, Inc. has received 510 (k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to begin marketing ACCURUN 1, a laboratory quality control product designed to increase the reliability of AIDS and other infectious disease testing. The product will aid blood banks, clinical laboratories, and hospitals in monitoring the accuracy of infectious disease tests and testing systems. "ActionAIDS to Receive 1994 Better Business Award" Business Wire (11/09/94) The 1994 Better Business Award for best client services in Eastern Pennsylvania has been awarded to ActionAIDS, Pennsylvania's largest AIDS service organization. The award is one of eight different categories to be presented to leaders in for- and not-for-profit organizations in Eastern Pennsylvania. ActionAIDS has provided a variety of services since 1986 that include helping to coordinate medical care, advocating on the behalf of clients seeking government entitlements, and providing assistance with food, housing, counseling, and support groups. "The Governor's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS to Hold Meeting" PR Newswire (11/09/94) The Washington Department of Health announced that the Governor's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS will hold a regular public meeting on Nov. 18, at which time the council will report on the Oct. 26 meeting with Gov. Mike Lowry. Common goals for prevention and awareness were discussed at the meeting and Gov. Lowry consented to recognize Dec. 1 as Washington State AIDS Day in conjunction with World AIDS Day. On Nov. 18, the council will hear suggestions to improve service to HIV-infected women, children, and adolescents. "Passive Hyperimmune Therapy: Apparent Patient Benefit" AIDS Treatment News (10/21/94) No. 209, P. 7 Passive immune therapy transfuses sterilized plasma from healthy HIV-positive donors to AIDS patients. The antibodies in the plasma may help those recipients who have no longer have the ability to produce them. A study of 220 patients, sponsored by the HemaCare Corporation, found benefits in recipients with baseline T-helper counts between 50 and 200. T-helper count changes were found to be statistically significant. There was an average improvement of 32.7 cells in the full dose group, a 0.9 cell improvement for those receiving a half dose, and the placebo group experienced a loss of 3.5 in T-helper count. In contrast to a study at the National Blood Transfusion Institute in Paris, there were no significant differences in opportunistic infections between the three groups. The Paris study found three times as many AIDS-related illnesses in the group receiving placebos. "Synergy Between Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor and HIV-1 Tat Protein in Induction of Kaposi's Sarcoma" Nature (10/20/94) Vol. 371, No. 6499, P. 674; Ensoli, Barbara; Gendelman, Rita; Markham, Phillip et al Angiogenic Kaposi's sarcoma-like lesions in mice were induced by the combined operation of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and HIV-1 Tat protein. The synergy is induced by Tat, which increases endothelial cell growth and type-IV collagenase expression in response to bFGF imitating extracellular matrix proteins. The bFGF, extracellular Tat, and Tat receptors are found in HIV-1-related Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Their presence may explain the higher incidence and aggressiveness of HIV-1-related KS compared to the classical form of KS--which is rare and mild and found in elderly men of Mediterranean origin--where only bFGF is found. "AIDS: Maybe There Isn't a Magic Bullet" Business Week (10/24/94) No. 3395, P. 108; Carey, John Instead of rushing potential treatments into large clinical trials, the National Institutes of Health has redirected its AIDS research to focus on answering fundamental questions about how HIV disrupts the immune system. Although "we've come from nowhere to a situation where we know an enormous amount," science's understanding of how HIV works "is not what it ought to be," says new chief of AIDS research at NIH, Dr. William E. Paul, who guided the shift. Millions of dollars will be shifted from clinical trials to basic lab and animal studies. The new plan will use increased technology and funding to gather more basic information from the trials by adding regular measurements of parameters, including viral load. One of the most perplexing issues of AIDS is why antibodies do not stop HIV from infecting cells. Antibodies in current vaccines are not good at targeting the specific regions on the virus "envelope" that may stop HIV infection. Researchers are also trying to boost the cytotoxic lymphocytes so they can kill infected cells because HIV hides inside cells, instead of just running free in the blood. In the meantime, scientists have high hopes for hormone therapy in the treatment of secondary AIDS diseases and are trying to understand the complexities of the virus and the disease. "Around the Nation: California" Advocate (11/01/94) No. 667, P. 18 The Orange County Register reported that at least 18 AIDS patients were refused treatment at the University of California at Irvine medical center. The hospital, which receives $25,000 a month in public funds to treat AIDS patients, said the treatment denials were accidental. The AIDS Daily Summary will not publish Friday, November 11, 1994, in observance of Veterans Day. Publication will resume on Monday, November 14.