Date: Wed, 7 Jun 1995 09:35:54 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary June 7, 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 ************************************************************ "A Dying Writer Finds Solace in the Heart of Africa" "Plea by Judges Fails to Block Sentencing Bill" "German Dating Agency for HIV-Positive People" "Italian Police Seize Blood Plasma" "Scandipharm Introduces New Enzyme Microsphere Product" "United Way Funding Focuses on Issues, Impact" "Peter Jennings Gets Angry" "PCP Therapy: Aerosolized Pentamidine vs. TMP-SMX" "Handicapped Rights" "Antiviral Conference Reports" ************************************************************ "A Dying Writer Finds Solace in the Heart of Africa" New York Times (06/07/95) P. A4; French, Howard W. The days of Sony Labou Tansi, whom many consider to be Central Africa's greatest writer, are filled with mystical ceremonies in a remote village in Congo. Worshipers surround him for religious songs and spells that combine African traditional healing and Christian evangelism. According to his friends, Tansi--who has AIDS--was close to death a few weeks ago. Now, however, he is eager to prove that rumors of his death were premature. "It wasn't until I came here, following the voice of a prophet, that my condition really began to change," he explains. Tansi believes his recovery was a miracle of faith in African traditions and in the power of God. "Plea by Judges Fails to Block Sentencing Bill" New York Times (06/07/95) P. A1; Dao, James Despite a last-minute appeal from a group representing the state's Supreme Court, the New York State Legislature on Tuesday approved a bill that significantly revises criminal sentencing laws. The plan would increase minimum sentences for many violent criminals, and would deny parole to repeat violent offenders. The Legislature also passed a measure that would require convicted rapists and other sexual offenders to be tested for HIV if their victims so request. Although some said the bill would provide critical information to people who have been raped, opponents claimed the test results would be useless to the victims because the tests might be done months or years after the crime was committed. "German Dating Agency for HIV-Positive People" Reuters (06/06/95) On Tuesday, a German company announced that it has established Europe's first dating service for people infected with HIV. "Healthy people want nothing to do with HIV-positive people and that makes the search for a partner very difficult," explained Stefan Wehner, founder of the PV dating agency. To become members, candidates must pay $1,695 plus a 15 percent value-added tax to be listed for one year in the company's database. Wehner said that to prevent abuse of the service, potential members must contact PV through the mail and must supply a doctor's certificate verifying that they are HIV-positive. "Italian Police Seize Blood Plasma" Reuters (06/06/95) Italian police reported on Tuesday that they confiscated 32,000 pints of surgical blood plasma--some of it smuggled from the United States--after import and storage violations were discovered. An inspection of a medical company near the town of Siena revealed that some 7,000 pints of plasma had been illegally brought from the United States, and that 5,700 other pints had passed their expiration dates. The police also found several irregularities in the way that the remaining Italian plasma had been registered. In May, investigators reported violations in 50 private clinics in Rome. The infractions included failing to properly test blood destined for transfusions, and the sale of blood at inflated prices by public sector practitioners to private clinics. More than 300 people have been ordered to take tests for HIV and hepatitis B and C after the investigators learned that many donors at a private clinic in Rome had not been properly screened. "Scandipharm Introduces New Enzyme Microsphere Product" PR Newswire (06/06/95) Scandipharm's latest pharmaceutical product, ULTRASE (pancrelipase) Microspheres, is designed to provide enzymatic activity during nutrient transit in the intestinal tract. ULTRASE will be marketed as a branded alternative to the current leading product PANCREASE, and will cost 29 percent less than PANCREASE based on the Average Wholesale Price. The new microsphere product can be used by patients with malabsorption of nutrients due to pancreatic insufficiency caused by cystic fybrosis, chronic pancreatitis, alcohol-induced liver and pancreas disease, and HIV. "United Way Funding Focuses on Issues, Impact" PR Newswire (06/06/95) The United Way of Allegheny County, Pa., is continuing to focus contributors' funds on the health and human service programs that are having the greatest impact on the community's most important issues, said volunteers on Tuesday. "United Way is taking the initiative to tackle the issues our community is most concerned about," said William F. Roemer, chairman of the United Way of Allegheny County Board of Directors. Among others, United Way gifts from the 1994 campaign will benefit programs that enhance health and support health education. A total of $3.4 million, for example, will be distributed to 41 programs, including the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force's project that helps educate the public about HIV and AIDS and the American Red Cross' health and safety services. "Peter Jennings Gets Angry" POZ (04/95-05/95) No. 7, P. 62; Doppelt, Steve In an interview with POZ magazine's Steve Doppelt, ABC's Peter Jennings explains why, according to Daniel Wolf of the Gay Men's Health Crisis, he is the "most visible newscaster" on AIDS. Jennings says he has many friends with AIDS or HIV. But when he was selected to host the "AIDS Quarterly," a series of AIDS specials on PBS, it was a fairly new subject to cover. The people on the program "really exposed me to a failing in [the media's] coverage," Jennings explains. He believes that the media has contributed to the some of the fear and resentment that people in the AIDS community experience. Still, he does not consider himself courageous for devoting so much time to AIDS because he learned early "that any disease in the country is a disease affecting all of us." "PCP Therapy: Aerosolized Pentamidine vs. TMP-SMX" AIDS Clinical Care (06/95) Vol. 7, No. 6, P. 51 As part of a randomized study of treatments for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), researchers assigned 367 patients to 21 days of treatment with either aerosolized pentamidine or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX). Each group also received placebos imitating the opposite treatment. After 35 days, mortality in the TMP-SMX group was higher, but not enough to be statistically significant. However, significantly more TMP-SMX recipients changed therapy because of toxicity, while significantly fewer did so because of slow clinical response. The greatest difference in response was among patients with an initial alveolar-arterial oxygen gradient greater than 30 mm Hg. After six months, there were fewer PCP recurrences with TMP-SMX, but the survival rates for the two drugs were almost identical. The researchers concluded that TMP-SMX appears to lead to more rapid improvements in oxygenation, more treatment successes, and fewer relapses than aerosolized pentamidine, but they are not sure why it did not also reduce mortality. "Handicapped Rights" National Law Journal (05/29/95) Vol. 17, No. 39, P. B17 In the case of Doe v. The University of Maryland Medical System Corp., a judge affirmed the award of a summary judgment to the defendant under Sec. 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The HIV-infected plaintiff, a doctor, was not an otherwise "qualified individual" with a disability. He, instead, poses a significant risk to patients that cannot be removed by reasonable accommodation. "Antiviral Conference Reports" AIDS Treatment News (05/19/95) No. 223, P. 4; James, John S. Following the Eighth International Conference on Antiviral Research, 256 abstracts of the drugs presented at this conference were submitted to the March 1995 issue of Antiviral Research, some of which are mentioned below. NIM 811, a derivative of cyclosporin, has no immune suppressive activity, but is still active against HIV, according to research conducted by Sandoz. Ingenol, a compound derived from the dried roots of Euphorbia Kansui Liou, inhibits HIV in extremely low concentrations of .1 nanomolar, which is thousands of times less than the amount of AZT required. Although chemically related to carbovir, Burroughs-Wellcome's 1592U89 is more active against HIV, more bioavailable, and can penetrate the brain more easily. PMEA is chemically related to the anti-CMV drug cidofovir (HPMPC); however, PMEA is active against HIV as well as CMV and other herpes viruses. In addition to treating alcoholism, Antabuse targets the "zinc fingers" in HIV proteins. PETT compounds in the non-nucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRT) series cause HIV resistance to develop ten times faster than they do with other non-nucleoside compounds. In addition, a new series of NNRTs was found to cause different mutations than known NNRTs and delay the development of resistant HIV in combination with other drugs. As an approved drug for treating CMV, foscarnet also has anti-HIV activity when combined with AZT and non-nucleoside RT inhibitors. Furthermore, different ratios AZT and ddI were tested for the biochemical activation of these drugs in cells.