Date: Mon, 14 Aug 1995 09:50:27 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 08/14/95 AIDS Daily Summary August 14, 1995 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 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "Senate Gets Bill to Assist Hemophiliacs with AIDS" "Possibly Tainted Blood Products Face FDA Recall" "The Middle Class Rediscovers Heroin" "Lifeline: AIDS Ride" "Glaxo May Bid for BioChem Biotech Firm--Paper" "Youths Infected or Affected by HIV Seal Bond at Camp" "Megace May Cause Adrenal-Pituitary Suppression" "Preventing AIDS: Have We Lost Our Way?" "Oral Manifestations of HIV Infection" ************************************************************ "Senate Gets Bill to Assist Hemophiliacs with AIDS" Philadelphia Inquirer (08/12/95) P. A2; Shaw, Donna A measure that would create a $1 billion fund for hemophiliacs who became infected with HIV from tainted blood-clotting medicines was introduced to the U.S. Senate on Friday. The Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act, which is named for a Florida teenager who died of AIDS in 1992 after using a contaminated blood-clotting product, would award $125,000 to each of the approximately 10,000 U.S. hemophiliacs who were infected with HIV in the late 1970s and early 1980s. A similar version of the bill was introduced to the House in February, and has thus far, gained the bipartisan support of at least 110 members, sources say. According to the bill, the U.S. government "failed to fulfill its responsibility to properly regulate the blood-products industry" by not sooner requiring the use of available technology to purify the blood-clotting drugs. "Possibly Tainted Blood Products Face FDA Recall" Philadelphia Inquirer (08/12/95) P. A2; Shaw, Donna The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising the recall of any blood products that may be tainted with the rare Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). There is no test for CJD, an incurable, neurodegenerative disease that leads to dementia and death. Although the blood-products industry had cautioned that such recalls could lead to shortages of plasma-based medicines, the FDA said that if shortages occur, the products could be released with warning labels. In addition, the federal agency overruled its Blood Products Advisory Committee on the issue of whether a new HIV test should be used by blood and plasma collection centers once it receives government approval. The new test is expected to reduce the 22-day "window"--the period between infection with HIV and the time it takes to be identified--by about six days. The committee had decided that the test would be too costly to justify the five or 10 lives it might save each year. The announcements are the latest in a series of changes made by the FDA, which was chastised last month in a report by the Institute of Medicine for being too dependent on the blood industry. "The Middle Class Rediscovers Heroin" New York Times (08/14/95) P. B3; Alvarez, Lizette Many doctors and drug counselors in New York City report treating an increasing number of professionals and college students for heroin addiction. One reason that heroin has become so popular among college-educated drug users is that it now can be snorted, instead of injected intravenously. This method has eliminated many users' fears of contracting HIV from dirty needles and the image of drug addicts with track marks running down their arms. "We're coming off a generation where it was O.K. to snort cocaine," says Dr. David M. Ockert of the Parallax Center, an outpatient chemical dependency treatment center. "Now you have this white powder and no HIV fears...this has allowed a lot of people--the very broad middle class--access to it without the stigma." Heroin is less expensive than cocaine, and the high can last more than six hours. The drug, however, has also become more hazardous for new users because of its high potency increases the risk of overdose, and because buyers do not always know what has been mixed in it. "Lifeline: AIDS Ride" USA Today (08/14/95) P. 1D; DeRosa, Robin Tanqueray's Boston/New York AIDS Ride departs from Boston on Sept. 15. Each participant in the three-day bicycle ride must collect at least $1,200 in donations for the event which, overall, is expected to raise more than $3 million. The funds will benefit AIDS-related services at New York's Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center and Community Health Project and Boston's Fenway Community Health Center. "Glaxo May Bid for BioChem Biotech Firm--Paper" Reuters (08/13/95) Glaxo Wellcome Plc is considering a potential takeover bid of approximately $2 billion for BioChem Pharma Inc. Robin Gilbert, a pharmaceutical analyst with Panmure Gordon in London, says, "a takeover would make a lot of sense." In addition, Glaxo and BioChem are currently developing two drugs, 3TC, an AIDS treatment, and lamivudine, a treatment for hepatitis B. "Youths Infected or Affected by HIV Seal Bond at Camp" Chicago Tribune (08/11/95) P. 1-7; Church, Barb Camp Heartland is a two-year-old, non-profit program to provide special summer camps for children who have somehow been affected by HIV. "Many are grieving over the loss of a loved one, some have a parent or a sibling who suffers from the disease and those kids have a lot of emotions to deal with," explains founder Neil Willenson. Willenson started the free one-week camp because he wanted to provide a young neighbor with AIDS and other children with the same summer camp-type experiences as other children. Camp Heartland offers a time where there are no secrets, and where a supportive community understands what each guest has been through or will go through in the future. Most importantly, however, the camp is meant to be fun. It offers such activities as archery, sailing, swimming, drama, and computer classes. "By providing the kids with enough happiness and acceptance, some kids can find the strength to live another whole year to come back," says Willenson. "Megace May Cause Adrenal-Pituitary Suppression" AIDS Clinical Care (08/95) Vol. 7, No. 8, P. 69 Researchers at Albany Medical College present a case of adrenal insufficiency in an AIDS patient that appeared to be caused by megestrol acetate (megace). After taking the drug for four years, the patient abruptly discontinued its use--two weeks before experiencing weight loss, vomiting, extreme fatigue, and orthostatic hypotension. His levels of basal cortisol and ACTH were abnormally low, but replacement hydrocortisone significantly eased his symptoms. In addition, four other patients with cachexia were studied. After one month, they had impressive weight gains, but cortisol and ACTH levels had decreased dramatically. A letter to the editor published in the Annals of Internal Medicine also reports a case of adrenal insufficiency which developed after six weeks of megace therapy. These reports indicate that patients taking the appetite and weight increasing drug may need monitoring for adrenal-pituitary suppression and supervision when ending long-term treatment. "Preventing AIDS: Have We Lost Our Way?" Lancet (07/29/95) Vol. 346, No. 8970, P. 262; Lifson, Alan R. Although the best way to curb AIDS is by preventing the transmission of HIV, millions of people already test positive for the virus, notes Alan R. Lifson in the British medical journal The Lancet. Prospective studies have demonstrated that years can pass between HIV infection and the emergence of related infections and disorders. Two findings, however, now challenge the theory that HIV resides for years in a quiescent phase. The first is that active viral replication occurs in the lymphoid system well before significant replication is evident in the peripheral circulation. The second finding is that HIV replication occurs continuously in vivo at high rates, which results in the rapid turnover of CD4 cells. These findings, along with others, suggest that AIDS should not be considered a separate entity from HIV infection, that current reliance on reverse transcriptase inhibitors needs to be re-evaluated, and that HIV-related opportunistic infections need to be prevented. As more becomes known about HIV, Lifson concludes, it is important to refrain from concentrating on one strategy to the exclusion of others, and that whatever preventative strategies are developed are useful to the millions of infected persons as well. "Oral Manifestations of HIV Infection" New England Journal of Medicine (08/03/95) Vol. 333, No. 5, P. 328; Seldin, Edward B. "Oral Manifestations of HIV Infection," edited by John S. Greenspan and Deborah Greenspan, is a service to both the medical and dental fields, in part because it marks an interdisciplinary effort to identify often-ignored medical and dental aspects of HIV and AIDS. The chapters--which were contributed by participants in the Second International Workshop on the Oral Manifestations of HIV Infection--include descriptions of specialized dental facilities that have been built for the treatment of AIDS patients, as well as formal reports from research laboratories. The majority of the chapters are grouped according to the clinical manifestations of HIV or AIDS in the oral cavity, such as candidiasis, salivary-gland disease, and Epstein-Barr virus. One particularly interesting section contains six chapters on periodontal disease in the context of HIV or AIDS. Overall, the book clearly conveys a sense of urgency in regards to HIV and its path of destruction.