Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 09:36:50 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary June 27, 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 ************************************************************ "Speed Is of the Essence" "An Underground Pharmacy Flourishes" "Doll Project Helps Those Who Have HIV" "The TV Column" "Banned No Longer, Albanian Gays Want Acceptance" "Takara Technique Could Be Alternative to Gene Therapy" "HIV Incidence Among Injection Drug Users Enrolled in a Los Angeles Methadone Program" "Tuberculosis Falling in LA" ************************************************************ "Speed Is of the Essence" Financial Times (06/27/95) P. 10; Cookson, Clive Last week, Swiss drug maker Roche announced that it was holding a lottery of its protease inhibitor, saquinavir (Invirase), for AIDS patients in the United States. The lottery is part of a "compassionate treatment programme"--a cross between a clinical trial and full availability--that was agreed upon by Roche, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the AIDS lobby. Close behind Roche is Merck, which began Phase III trials of its protease inhibitor, indinavir sulphate (Crixivan), this spring. Recent clinical evidence indicates that protease inhibitors are at least as effective as the first generation of reverse transcriptase inhibitors in fighting HIV. Despite their success, protease inhibitors--like reverse transcriptase inhibitors--also suffer from the tendency of HIV to develop resistance to them. It appears the best way to fight such resistance is by combining anti-HIV drugs. There have also been indications that HIV is weakened by the multiple mutations required to adapt to drug combinations. Protease inhibitors represent the largest class of AIDS drugs in development; other therapies include improved reverse transcriptase inhibitors, gene therapy, and biochemical messenger molecules. "An Underground Pharmacy Flourishes" Washington Post (Health) (06/27/95) P. 9; Paddock, Richard C. The Cannabis Buyers' Club is part of a growing movement aimed at winning sick people the right to use marijuana. Authorities in San Francisco have long ignored the illegal market, saying that sick people who can benefit from the plant should be able to purchase it. "We should bend the law and do what's right," declares Mayor Frank Jordan. Federal officials, however, disagree. A Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) official says that efforts to make the drug available for medical use are just a smoke screen for the campaign to legalize marijuana. Because of the controversy, the government has been slow to approve studies of marijuana's medicinal effects. For example, researcher Donald Abrams of the University of California at San Francisco has been trying without success for three years to obtain federal approval for a rigorous clinical trial to determine whether smoking marijuana can help ease wasting syndrome in AIDS patients. The head of the DEA rejects Abrams' and others' claims that his agency is stalling such research. He says the DEA merely insists on a high standard of research and limited access to the drug. "Doll Project Helps Those Who Have HIV" Washington Times (06/27/95) P. C8; Marshall, Toni The Children's Hope Foundation and Little Souls Inc. have joined forces to create Ribbon Kids--dolls designed by children with HIV or AIDS. The Children's Hope Foundation is a volunteer group dedicated to improving the quality of life for more than 3,500 children living with HIV and AIDS by meeting both their medical and social needs. Little Souls Inc. is a doll manufacturer based in Ardmore, Pa. Each doll wears a red ribbon and a unique tag describing the life story of the doll, including information about the foundation and the Ribbon Kids project. The Ribbon Kid line was introduced to great success earlier this year through Macy's and a Children's Hope Foundation benefit in New York City. The line will be introduced later this summer in stores carrying Little Souls dolls. "The TV Column" Washington Post (06/27/95) P. E4; Carmody, John As part of CBS News' "Before Your Eyes Series," the network will air "Angelie's Secret" on Thursday. The two-hour program follows a brave 11-year-old girl as she tells her friends, classmates, and neighbors that she has AIDS. The film--which spans eight months--includes several visits to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where Angelie Diyia is one of a small group of children with AIDS who receive monthly experimental drug treatments. Philip Pizzo, chief of pediatrics at NIH's National Cancer Institute, is also featured in the film. The "Before Your Eyes" series is not a reenactment; it follows actual events as they occur. Two previous programs followed the search for a runaway teenager and the world's youngest infant heart transplant. "Banned No Longer, Albanian Gays Want Acceptance" Reuters (06/26/95); Koleka, Benet Despite overcoming some major obstacles, Albania's gay community has yet to be accepted by the country's conservative society. Following the overthrow of forty years of Communist leadership, the Albanian state has become less intrusive and people appear to be less concerned about what other people do in their private lives. New laws in the country permit consensual homosexual relationships and condemn violence against gays and lesbians. There are still problems, however, that need to be overcome before gays will feel at ease in Albania. Employers, for example, routinely fire homosexuals. In addition, isolation and ignorance have added to the threat of HIV in Albania's gay community. Four of 11 HIV-infected patients in the country were either homosexual or had contracted the virus through homosexual contact. Gay activists now visit houses and parks to instruct younger people about careless intercourse. The gay community's next plan is to screen the award-winning film "Philadelphia." "Takara Technique Could Be Alternative to Gene Therapy" Nikkei Weekly (06/12/95) Vol. 33, No. 1675, P. 11 A major Japanese distiller working with a research team at Indiana University has developed an inexpensive way to rehabilitate genetically defective blood cells, claiming an almost 100 percent success rate. Takara Shuzo Co.'s technique involves incorporating therapeutic genes into the center of hemopoietic stem cells, thus ensuring production of blood cells with the genes for the rest of the patient's life. Animal trials provide evidence that once injected with the genes, the cells produce blood cells with the genes. Sources say that the new method costs one-tenth of what conventional techniques have required for gene-therapy treatment. The low cost is likely to prompt research into uses of the technique to treat AIDS and other diseases. The company is expected to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for trial treatments using this method within a few months. "HIV Incidence Among Injection Drug Users Enrolled in a Los Angeles Methadone Program" Journal of the American Medical Association (06/21/95) Vol. 273, No. 23, P. 1831; Kerndt, Peter R.; Weber, Mark; Ford, Wesley et al. In a letter to the editor published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention present a 56-month case study in which almost 4,000 injection drug users (IDUs) entered methadone drug treatment. More than half accepted confidential HIV testing. Of those who had originally tested negative and had additional HIV tests, one person seroconverted. The rate was 0.7 seroconversions per 1,000 person-years. According to the authors, the low HIV seroconversion rate is consistent with the low seroprevalence found among IDUs in methadone treatment in Los Angeles. Because it was a retrospective observational study of a highly self-selected group of IDUs, the observed seroconversion rate is probably a minimum estimate for the total IDU population in Los Angeles, the authors conclude. "Tuberculosis Falling in LA" Lancet (06/17/95) Vol. 345, No. 8964, P. 1565; Frankel, David H. In 1994, the number of reported tuberculosis cases in Los Angeles County (LAC) fell by 7.5 percent to 1794. Although just 3 percent of the U.S. population reside in the county, 8 percent of the nation's TB patients live there. In addition, LAC--which represents about 10 percent of California's population--has more than one-third of the state's TB cases. Officials from the LAC Tuberculosis Control Program also note that the age distribution of TB cases in LAC more closely resembles the pattern seen in developing countries than the more typical American pattern. They credit some of their progress to increased government funding, which has been put toward directly observed therapy. Public health authorities are encouraged by the reduction; however, some are concerned that continued delays in the state's economic recovery and the effects of the "anti-immigrant" Proposition 187 may pose endanger the success of their programs. THE END.