Date: Fri, 10 Feb 1995 09:24:55 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary February 10, 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 ************************************************************ "AIDS Cases Rising Sharply Among Women" "Teen Gets Life for Murders of 2 Gay Men" "Pentagon May Hold Up AIDS Study Funds" "Marijuana Defendant Can Tell Jury He Needs Drug to Fight AIDS" "Va. Group to Give Latex on Day of Love" "Killer Injects Himself with HIV-Tainted Blood" "Liposome Company's Amphotericin B Lipid Complex Approved for Marketing in the United Kingdom Under Trade Name 'Abelcet'" "ChemTrak Files for FDA Approval of Home Access HIV Test; Completes Acquisition of Coonan Clinical Laboratories" "No Salk Phase III Trials Yet" "Your Health: HIV Answers" ************************************************************ "AIDS Cases Rising Sharply Among Women" New York Times (02/10/95) P. A11 The number of AIDS cases among women in the United States has increased sharply and shows no signs of slowing down, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. Cases among women are increasing by about 17 percent a year, they said, and growing numbers of women are contracting the disease through heterosexual contact. "Women need to consistently use condoms when they're having heterosexual sex," said Dr. Patricia Fleming of the center's Division of HIV and AIDS. Women accounted for 18 percent of the new AIDS cases among adults in 1994. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization reported that globally, infection with HIV is growing faster among women than any other group. Related Stories: Wall Street Journal (02/10) P. C7; Washington Times (02/10) P. A15 "Teen Gets Life for Murders of 2 Gay Men" Washington Times (02/10/95) P. A13 Despite claims that he was trying to avoid being raped and infected with HIV, Marvin McClendon--the teenager accused of murdering two homosexual men in a robbery--was sentenced to two consecutive life prison terms Thursday. The prosecution said that the 16-year-old is a troubled youth who stole $100 from the men, and then killed them. The defense said that McClendon shot Robert Walters and Joseph Shoemake while fighting off unwanted sexual advances and out of fear that he might be infected with HIV. Related Stories: New York Times (02/10) P. A25; Washington Post (02/10) P. A2 "Pentagon May Hold Up AIDS Study Funds" Washington Post (02/10/95) P. A8; Brown, David The Defense Department may withhold about $30 million earmarked for AIDS research and about $150 million for breast cancer research because it does not consider these studies essential segments of the military's medical program. This money funds three-quarters of the military's research on AIDS, including drug trials, laboratory experiments, and a large study of HIV's "natural history." In the past few years, Congress has placed large sums of money in the defense budget that the Pentagon has not requested, and in this year's budget, added $33 million to the Pentagon's requested $14 million for AIDS research, for a total of approximately $47 million. Scientists directing some of the studies stopped recruiting new patients this week and warned employees of possible layoffs. The Army, Navy, and Air Force will continue research in areas seen as directly related to military preparedness such as AIDS prevention, epidemiology, and vaccine development, according to a source in the armed forces. "Marijuana Defendant Can Tell Jury He Needs Drug to Fight AIDS" Baltimore Sun (02/10/95) P. 14B; O'Brien, Dennis A Charles County, Md., judge ruled Thursday that Jerome E. Mensch may argue to a jury that he needs to smoke marijuana to combat the effects of AIDS--the first time the "medical necessity defense" has been allowed in Maryland. The 43-year-old dairy farmer has been charged with the unlawful manufacture and possession of marijuana. On Dec. 19, Mensch told Circuit Judge George W. Bowling that the marijuana he began smoking about a year prior to his arrest worked better than prescription drugs to alleviate the weight loss and nausea he experienced from being infected with HIV. He admitted growing the marijuana, saying he did it "because it was free, because it was at my home, and because I needed it." Judge Bowling ruled that Mensch met the three requirements for using the medical necessity defense: it was done to avoid an evil, there was no other means of avoiding the evil, and that the remedy was not disproportionate to the evil to be avoided. Both sides expect a trial to begin in April. "Va. Group to Give Latex on Day of Love" Washington Post (02/10/95) P. C4; Bates, Steve On Feb. 14, as part of "Safer Sex Valentine's Night," volunteers from Hopkins House--a private social service agency based in Alexandria, Va.--will distribute candy and condoms at homeless shelters, jails, and places where drug dealers and prostitutes hang out in Northern Virginia. "Condoms should be on par with candy" on the day set aside to emphasize sweetness and love, said Glenn Hopkins, director of Hopkins House. Health officials and community groups are increasingly concerned that many at-risk people do not take the initiative to pick up free condoms or buy them at drugstores. The Whitman-Walker Clinic and several other Washington, D.C., area community groups have also developed outreach programs to combat AIDS. "We have a little bit more freedom than a government health employee," said Sean Bugg of Whitman-Walker, who sends volunteers to distribute condoms and answer health-related questions at District bars and clubs frequented by gay men. In the last four years, the number of Northern Virginians infected with HIV has increased more than 350 percent, according to Hopkins House figures. "Killer Injects Himself with HIV-Tainted Blood" Reuters (02/09/95) In a bizarre form of self-inflicted capital punishment, multiple-killer Terry Fitzsimmons deliberately injected HIV-tainted blood, the Canadian Press reported Thursday. "I knew society wouldn't be satisfied with this (prison) sentence, so I thought I'd give them the capital punishment they always wanted," said Fitzsimmons in a taped interview with his lawyers. Last year, he plead guilty to the murders of three people. He told his lawyer he intentionally injected blood in his own veins when taking cocaine with an HIV-positive gay man. Fitzsimmons tested HIV-positive in Kingston Penitentiary last month and prison doctors told him he would develop full-blown AIDS in about five years. "Liposome Company's Amphotericin B Lipid Complex Approved for Marketing in the United Kingdom Under Trade Name 'Abelcet'" PR Newswire (02/09/95) Liposome Co. Inc. has received marketing approval from the Medicines Control Agency for Abelcet in the United Kingdom. The drug is approved for first-line treatment of cryptococcal meningitis and systemic cryptococcosis in AIDS patients and as an alternative to amphotericin B for severe systemic fungal infections. Chairman and chief executive Charles A. Baker called Abelcet "a significant advancement over conventional anti-fungal treatment." Liposome Co. has filed additional marketing applications in seventeen countries and expects to receive more approvals beginning in 1995. "ChemTrak Files for FDA Approval of Home Access HIV Test; Completes Acquisition of Coonan Clinical Laboratories" Business Wire (02/08/95) ChemTrak Inc. announced on Wednesday that it has filed a premarket approval application with the Food and Drug Administration for the ChemTrak home access HIV test. The test for detecting antibodies against HIV-1 will not require doctor participation or a prescription. Unlike a conventional home test, the ChemTrak home access HIV test includes testing as well as counseling and referral to local care. "An important weapon in the fight against HIV and AIDS is early, accurate disease detection. Expanded access to HIV testing will be made possible by offering a home testing option to people unable or unwilling to use current test alternatives," said Stephen J. Coonan, founder of ChemTrak's home access HIV test business. ChemTrak also announced that on Feb. 3, it completed the acquisition of Coonan Clinical Laboratories Inc., through which it acquired the home access HIV test. "No Salk Phase III Trials Yet" Lancet (02/04/95) Vol. 345, No. 8945, P. 313; Rowe, Paul M. Jonas Salk and officials from the Immune Response Corporation recently appeared before a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee, seeking approval of large-scale efficacy trials of their whole inactivated HIV as a therapeutic vaccine for HIV infection. The panel, however, found the data for the effectiveness of the product to be extremely weak, although it appeared to be safe. The panel said that the FDA should permit expanded trials, but that it was too early for phase III trials. While the sponsors claimed that the treatment improved surrogate markers and reduced disease progression, FDA analysts argued that no pre-specified marker showed statistically significant improvement. Some other markers did--with marginal p values, but they are not strictly significant because the finding was post hoc. Salk's main theory links the stimulation of cell-mediated immunity with a decrease in viral burden. "Your Health: HIV Answers" Advocate (02/07/95) No. 674, P. 43; Cohan, Gary R. Seborrheic dermatitis--the most common HIV-related skin problem--usually appears as a red, scaly, greasy rash on the forehead, cheeks, nose creases, eyebrows, and ears. Although the rash is rarely itchy on the face, it can be if it affects the scalp or the trunk, which can happen in severe cases. Predisposing factors for seborrheic dermatitis include immune suppression, inherited genes, and increased sebum production. While it is common in the general population, it is even more so among HIV-infected persons, with over 80 percent of people diagnosed with AIDS exhibiting some form of this condition. Treatment involves a daily skin regimen that includes using the proper soap for moisturizing, shampooing with products that contain selenium sulfide or zinc pyrithione, and avoiding harsh scrubbing with washcloths or abrasive scrubs.