Date: Fri, 2 Jun 1995 09:47:53 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary June 02, 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 ************************************************************ "Gay AIDS Data Give Mixed Picture In a New Report" "Banned in U.S. for Causing Birth Defects, Thalidomide Returns as an AIDS Drug" "Glenn Burke, an Openly Gay Baseball Player, Dies" "Home Access Enters Race to Market New HIV Testing Service" "Aspirin Trial Stopped" "New Trial Proposed for When Drugs Fail" "Encouraging Signs" "The Changing Epidemiology of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in Older Persons" "Everyday Heroes: 'She Makes Us Feel Wonderful'" ************************************************************ "Gay AIDS Data Give Mixed Picture In a New Report" Wall Street Journal (06/02/95) P. B4; de Lisser, Eleena According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of new AIDS cases among white homosexuals has dropped by between 3 percent and 20 percent in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco since 1989. However, cases among black homosexuals increased by 49 percent in New York, 48 percent in Los Angeles, and 53 percent in San Francisco. The number of AIDS cases among gays throughout the country climbed 31 percent since 1989, with about 35,000 new cases reported last year. The nationwide number of cases among black and Hispanic gays jumped 79 percent and 61 percent, respectively. The CDC interpreted these findings as evidence that more culturally appropriate HIV prevention services need to be established. "Banned in U.S. for Causing Birth Defects, Thalidomide Returns as an AIDS Drug" Wall Street Journal (06/02/95) P. B1; Welsh, Jonathan Thalidomide, which caused gross birth defects during its distribution in the 1950s and 1960s, has re-emerged as an experimental treatment for two late-stage symptoms of AIDS. Although the FDA has not officially approved this drug, several AIDS patients and doctors are purchasing thalidomide through an underground network of "buying clubs" for the treatment of aphthous ulcers, or canker sores, as well as for cachexia, or wasting disease. The use of thalidomide as a treatment for these AIDS symptoms resulted from research conducted by Gilla Kaplan, an associate professor of immunology at New York's Rockefeller University. Recently, the FDA sanctioned the clinical trials of thalidomide as an AIDS treatment. Celgene Corp., together with Andrulis Pharmaceuticals Corp., plan to market the drug as a commercial product. "Glenn Burke, an Openly Gay Baseball Player, Dies" Reuters (06/01/95) Glenn Burke, a former outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Oakland Athletics during a four-year major league career, died from AIDS complications at the age of 42 at Fairmont Hospital in San Leandro, Calif. Burke believed his baseball career suffered because of anti-gay bias. Although it was well known during his playing days that he was homosexual, Burke made a public disclosure in a magazine article in 1982 after he leaving the sport in 1980. Burke--who in later used drugs, was often homeless, and served prison time--was helped in his last years by the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco General Hospital. Burke is survived by his mother, five sisters, and a brother. "Home Access Enters Race to Market New HIV Testing Service" Healthwire (06/01/95) Home Access Health Corporation, a Chicago-based company committed to innovative home access telemedicine services, has filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of its HIV testing, counseling, and education service-- making it the third company to submit such an application. "Our medical staff feels anyone wanting to get tested for HIV must feel comfortable with the quality and depth of both pre-and post-test counseling associated with our product," said Richard A. Quattrocchi, Home Access president. Recently, top academics in HIV/AIDS and officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have supported the development of alternative methods for the increase of HIV testing, and the FDA has issued new guidelines for approving HIV home specimen collection testing, thus building momentum for the market. Home Access believes that home testing and counseling is the next step in telemedicine, a communications technology that links physicians and health professionals around the country to share medical expertise and resources and cut healthcare costs. "Aspirin Trial Stopped" POZ (04/95-05/95) No. 7, P. 22; Eisenberg, Jana A continuing study of the anti-HIV effects of high-dose aspirin has been terminated after evidence of toxicity was found. The Community Research Initiative on AIDS (CRIA) was the first research group to study the hypothesis that aspirin has anti-HIV effects. CRIA recently stopped the study, however, on the advice of its safety and monitoring board and the lead investigator, Dr. Donald Kotler, after slight reductions in hematocrit and modest increases in liver enzymes were observed. These are normal side effects of the regular use of high-dose aspirin. Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, CRIA's medical director said that based on data from the aspirin study, less toxic salicylates may be investigated in the future. "New Trial Proposed for When Drugs Fail" AIDS Treatment News (05/19/95) No. 223, P. 1; James, John S. At a recent meeting of the Clinical Trials subcommittee of the Inter-Company Collaboration for AIDS Drug Development (ICC), chairman David Barry said that the type of novel trial design which would receive the most support in the ICC would be studies of combinations of drugs in patients who already have resistant virus. The ICC is composed of 17 pharmaceutical companies which have agreed to share information to facilitate more rapid development of AIDS treatments. Barry's emphasis on "experienced" patients is important because until now many of the trials have sought "naive" patients, which means that many who most need a new drug are disqualified and that there are large numbers of people for whom new treatments are not being developed. Barry proposed a trial design in which a small number of patients are given several different drug combinations. While on a new-drug regimen, the patient's CD4 count and viral load would be monitored so that if he or she stops doing well, he or she can be moved to another of the treatments. Barry believes that if such data is carefully recorded, and if the original resistance is known, the trial could determine which resistance patterns respond to which drugs. "Encouraging Signs" Advocate (05/30/95) No. 682, P. 12 In late April, new AIDS education poster campaigns were launched in the United States' two largest cities. In New York City, the Gay Men's Health Crisis unveiled its first condom-use campaign to target HIV-negative homosexual men with the message "Staying negative--it's not automatic." The Adolescent HIV Consortium of Los Angeles announced "Get sex? Get drugs? Get tested," a campaign geared toward teenagers. "The Changing Epidemiology of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in Older Persons" Journal of the American Medical Association (05/24/95-05/31/95) Vol. 273, No. 20, P. 1558h Using a retrospective chart review of HIV-infected patients aged 60 years or older, Steven M. Gordon and Sumner Thompson of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation attempted to describe the epidemiology of HIV infection in older persons. Thirty-two HIV-infected patients, who were an average age of 64.8 years, were identified. Risk factors among the 27 men included homosexual/bisexual relations, injection drug use (IDU), transfusions, and heterosexual sex. Only one of the five women had an identified risk factor--a blood transfusion. More than 45 percent of these patients were tested for HIV after receiving a diagnosis of an AIDS-related opportunistic infection. The researchers concluded that most of the HIV-infected elderly patients acquired HIV through sexual intercourse or IDU. In general, the clinicians did not consider HIV for these patients until late in the course of infection, despite a high prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases. Clinicians caring for elderly patients should do a complete sexual history and offer sex education, the researchers recommend. "Everyday Heroes: 'She Makes Us Feel Wonderful'" Newsweek (05/29/95) Vol. 125, No. 22, P. 28; Chinni, Dante; Peyser, Marc; Leland, John et al. Anita Septimus, head of the Family Comprehensive AIDS Center's social-work division, and her staff care for more than 300 families of children with AIDS. In addition to teaching infection prevention and helping parents plan for the future, the workers also give the young people a semblance of childhood--with trips to the zoo, the circus, and summer camps. As Septimus says, "You don't choose the day you enter the world and you don't choose the day you leave. It's what you do in between that makes all the difference." She feels that it is her job to help families make the most of the lives they have.