Date: Wed, 1 Feb 1995 10:13:00 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary February 1, 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 ************************************************************ "Herpes Might Aid HIV Shot" "Researchers Link Sarcoma to New Virus" "Clinton Tells Governors of Plan to Consolidate Federal Grants" "Gym to Pay $35,000 to AIDS Victim's Estate" "Bounty Amid Harsh Realities" "Picower Institute Announces New HIV/AIDS Treatment" "Gilead Sciences Presents Highly Statistically..." "Chiron Vision Reports Interim Results From Clinical Trials of Ganciclovir Implant for CMV Retinitis" ""The Duesberg Phenomenon": Duesberg and Other Voices" "AIDS and Boundaries: Instinct Versus Empathy" "CDC NAC Announces New Service" ************************************************************ "Herpes Might Aid HIV Shot" Washington Times (02/01/95) P. A6 Researchers searching for a safe AIDS vaccine said on Tuesday that they have created one with a built in time-bomb--a gene that will cleanse itself from the body on cue. It is believed that the most effective AIDS vaccine is probably a live virus that will prime the body to stage a spirited reaction to HIV. Many people, however, worry about giving healthy people even a weakened form of HIV because it might cause cancer, immune suppression, or even AIDS. Led by Dr. Kuan-Teh Jeang, the team from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has come up with the novel strategy of a live yet weakened HIV that can be destroyed once it performs its job. The team created a form of HIV that carries an extra gene taken from the herpes virus. The gene allows infected cells to be selectively destroyed with ganciclovir, a widely available herpes medicine. Dr. Stephen M. Smith, who presented the results at an AIDS meeting sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology, said the approach looks promising in the test tube, but much more testing--including extensive testing in monkeys--will be necessary before it can be tried on people. Related Story: Investor's Business Daily (02/01) P. A1. "Researchers Link Sarcoma to New Virus" New York Times (02/01/95) P. A22; Altman, Lawrence K. Columbia University researchers Dr. Patrick S. Moore and his wife, Dr. Yuan Chang, said on Tuesday that they had found very strong evidence that a recently discovered virus causes Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), a cancer that frequently occurs in AIDS patients. The new KS agent belongs to the herpes group of viruses, which is different from the group that includes HIV. Moore and Chang said they had tentatively named the agent Kaposi Sarcoma Associated Herpes Virus, or KSHV. While Moore refused to say flatly that the new virus causes KS, other experts at Tuesday's meeting--which was sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology--did. Dr. Steven Miles of the University of California at Los Angeles, who was co-chairman of the session at which Moore presented the advances his team had made since the preliminary results were released in December, said that his team in Los Angeles and others in the United States and in England had confirmed the findings. Moore's team found evidence of KSHV in 95 percent of the 21 patients with KS studied, while only one of the 21 who did not have KS showed signs of KSHV--which he believes resulted from a technical error. The team also found evidence of KSHV in tissue from 21 African adults and children with KS. "Clinton Tells Governors of Plan to Consolidate Federal Grants" New York Times (02/01/95) P. A19; Jehl, Douglas President Clinton said on Tuesday that the budget he will send to Congress next Monday would propose collapsing 271 federal grant programs worth $50 billion into just 27, and would give states more latitude on issues from housing to health care. The proposal extends far beyond the reductions he recommended last month. The plan would consolidate federal grant programs within the Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation into broad new funds. It would also reward states whose programs proved most effective. While not stating specifically what would be cut, a White House fact sheet named the 27 broad funds that the president would establish as "performance partnerships." They include funds that make money available to states to care for the homeless, to combat drug abuse and AIDS, and to build highways. Related Stories: Wall Street Journal (02/01) P. A2; Washington Post (02/01) P. A4 "Gym to Pay $35,000 to AIDS Victim's Estate" Philadelphia Inquirer (02/01/95) P. B4; Vedantam, Shankar Center City's 12th Street Gym has agreed to pay $35,000 to the estate of Irving Silverman, who had sued the gym for AIDS discrimination. Silverman's sister, however, said what she wanted most of all was an apology. "I resent the fact that they ultimately used us as a PR campaign," she said on Tuesday. Silverman, who died of AIDS on Dec. 10 at age 35, claimed that the gym's owner, Robert Guzzardi, had thrown him out of the gym last March 7. Silverman had asked for a Band-Aid at the front desk after he cut his finger. According to Silverman, Guzzardi said, "We don't want your kind in here. You're careless. You could infect everybody." As part of the settlement, the gym accepted no liability for the incident. The gym announced on Tuesday that it is implementing a model training program for its staff. Managing partner Rick Piper added that the gym is also instituting a policy for "handling hazardous body wastes, where they could potentially pose a risk." "Bounty Amid Harsh Realities" Washington Times (02/01/95) P. C10; Solomon, Goody L. While women make up about 15 percent of the AIDS cases in the United States, they and children are the fastest-growing group of people of AIDS, according to a report in the December issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The number of new female AIDS cases in Washington, D.C., doubled between 1988 and 1993, when it reached 18 percent. Now, almost 12 years into the AIDS epidemic, a large-scale, long-term study of how women react to HIV is under way. Clinics nationwide, including some in the Washington, D.C., area began enrolling in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) in the fall. It will run in tandem with a smaller study of women that was started in April 1993 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new study is the first and largest of its kind in the country. WIHS has a budget of nearly $10 million for the first four years and will follow 2,000 infected women and 500 women at high risk for infection. "Picower Institute Announces New HIV/AIDS Treatment" Business Wire (01/31/95) Dr. Michael Bukrinsky and colleagues from the Picower Institute for Medical Research announced yesterday that they have discovered compounds which prevent HIV-1 infection of macrophages and may slow the progression of AIDS. The researchers synthesized chemical compounds of methyl ketone, blocking the signal in certain amino acids that facilitates infection. Dr. Anthony Cerami, president of Picower, said, "The new compounds are as effective in reducing HIV-1 as AZT." "Gilead Sciences Presents Highly Statistically..." Business Wire (01/31/95) Gilead Sciences Inc. on Tuesday reported positive results of Phase II/III studies of VISTIDE, or cidofovir, against CMV retinitis in AIDS patients. Possible side effects of the drug include proteinuria, neutropenia, peripheral neuropathy, and creatinine increase. An additional study is underway at 11 centers in the United States by the Studies for the Ocular Complications of AIDS (SOCA) research group. Dr. Howard S. Jaffe, vice president of clinical affairs for Gilead, will announce the findings of the first study at the Second National Conference on Human Retroviruses and Related Infections. "Chiron Vision Reports Interim Results From Clinical Trials of Ganciclovir Implant for CMV Retinitis" Business Wire (01/31/95) Dr. Baruch D. Kupperman, an assistant professor at the University of California, Irvine, on Tuesday presented findings of a Phase III clinical trial for Chiron Vision's intraocular ganciclovir implant for AIDS patients with CMV retinitis. In a presentation at the National Conference on Human Retroviruses and Related Infections, Kupperman said the implant appeared to be more effective than intravenous ganciclovir. Chiron Vision expects to file a marketing application for the implant after completing data analysis. The implant uses technology licensed from Control Delivery Systems Inc. to release the drug slowly into the eye for up to eight months. ""The Duesberg Phenomenon": Duesberg and Other Voices" Science (01/20/95) Vol. 267, No. 5196, P. 313; Duesberg, Peter H. In a letter to the editor published in the journal Science, virologist Peter H. Duesberg--who does not believe that HIV is the cause of AIDS--responds to Science articles about the "Duesberg Phenomenon" by Jon Cohen. Duesberg offers two experimental tests to find non-HIV causes for AIDS. First, he proposes to solve Cohen's "mystery" that "KS is almost exclusively confined to male homosexuals." Duesberg suggests exposing animals to nitrite inhalants, the use of which are high among some homosexuals. He predicts the results would be immunodeficiency, pneumonia, and pulmonary KS in animals. Second, he suggests the comparison of the incidence of AIDS-defining diseases in 3,650 homo- or heterosexual American men--who are not under the influence of transfusions, recreational drugs, or AZT--but are HIV-positive, to the incidence in 3,650 HIV-negative men. If the 3,650-day latent period is right, writes Duesberg, then every two days one of the HIV-positive men would develop AIDS. Duesberg predicts that the percentage incidence in the HIV-positive group will be the same as in the HIV-negative group. "AIDS and Boundaries: Instinct Versus Empathy" Focus (01/95) Vol. 10, No. 2, P. 1; Rosica, Thomas C. Boundaries are particularly important for clinicians working with HIV, writes Thomas C. Rosica for Focus. The emotional considerations of therapy far outweigh all others, including theoretical decisions and traditional treatment concerns, because AIDS patients do not get better and because they die. Rosica has identified three principles about boundaries. Therapists must recognize and accept the instinctual responses that naturally occur when working with AIDS. The strong reflexive response to such feeling can lead to hiding or erasing offensive thoughts or feelings or to transforming the feelings, such as the desire to abandon or to reject, into their opposites. Finally, clinicians need to find some middle ground within themselves that provides a realistic, emotionally-grounded base to balance these strong responses. Because HIV places such strong emotional demands on therapists, it is essential to recognize the need for outside support and help. The best position for the therapist, writes Rosica, is tolerance of the very real conflicts that occur and understanding of our emotional responses and humanity. "CDC NAC Announces New Service" Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse, February 1, 1995 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse announces the availability of NAC FAX, a free, 24 hour fax-back service. Now you can get selected documents, including CDC fact sheets, surveillance report tables, and Clearinghouse information faxed from the Clearinghouse directly to you. For a listing of documents available from NAC FAX, call 800-458-5231. Documents currently available include CDC Fact Sheets, Surveillance tables (the entire report or individual tables), Pathfinders, and information on other Clearinghouse services.