Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 05/03/95

From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/[email-masked]
Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 09:27:00 +0500

AIDS Daily Summary
                        May 3, 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

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"D.C. Fails to Use Millions in Federal Aid"
"Plastic Condom Breakage Rate Is Questioned"
"Minnesota Legislator Votes Down a Death-Penalty Amendment"
"Teen-Ager Sacrifices His Time to Educate Peers on AIDS"
"Benetton Wins in Bloody Ad Suit"
"Planned Parenthood Begins New TV Birth Control Ads"
"Thalidomide and HIV: Several Possible Uses"
"Induction of Apoptosis in Uninfected Lymphocytes by HIV-1 Tat
Protein"
"Photonics Decontaminates Blood"
"News in Brief: French Sex"
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"D.C. Fails to Use Millions in Federal Aid"
Washington Post (05/03/95) P. A1;  Goldstein, Amy;  Loeb, Vernon
     Despite the fact that the city is running out of its own funds,
the District of Columbia is still not using millions of dollars
in federal aid.  This problem has not only brought the city's
road and bridge projects to a virtual standstill, but has also
interrupted subsidies for AIDS services, public housing, foster
care, and drug treatment.  Reasons why the money has become stuck
include a decision to treat federal funds the same as local
funds, a cash shortage so extreme that the city cannot make the
matching payments that some of the grants require, and delays in
contracting with community groups that deliver federally
subsidized services.  One effect of the stalled subsidies is that
Health Care for the Homeless temporarily closed the city's only
special medical unit for homeless people with AIDS because the
federal grant that pays for it was four months late.  The
Whitman-Walker Clinic, the area's largest AIDS organization, is
still awaiting $228,000 in overdue federal payments.  Senior
aides to Mayor Marion Barry acknowledge the problem and say they
are working to correct it, in several cases with intervention
from federal agencies.

"Plastic Condom Breakage Rate Is Questioned"
USA Today (05/03/95) P. 1D;  Painter, Kim
     Government health authorities are concerned that the Avanti
condom might break more frequently than latex brands.  Due to
conflicting information from manufacturer- and government-funded
research, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is unsure about
breakage rates for the new plastic condom and has called for a
new study.  The FDA's Dr. Susan Alpert, however, says the
approval of Avanti was not a mistake because as much as 7 percent
of the population is allergic to latex.  "In the current AIDS
crisis, we thought it would be inappropriate for us to withhold a
condom...even if it might not be as good," she explained.  While
about 2 percent of latex condoms break, the plastic condom broke
0.4 percent to 2.1 percent of the time, according to studies by
London International U.S. Holdings Inc. Five federally funded
studies, however, found breakage rates from 4 percent to 15
percent.  For now, says Alpert, Avanti users should beware.  A
number of other plastic condoms are also under FDA review.

"Minnesota Legislator Votes Down a Death-Penalty Amendment"
Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News (05/03/95)
     In a 96-37 vote, the Minnesota Legislature voted against an
amendment to a crime bill that would have allowed people
convicted of certain aggravated first-degree murders to be put to
death by lethal injection.  After concluding the death penalty
debate, the House unanimously approved an $870 million judiciary
finance bill that provides funds for corrections, public safety,
and related programs.  The bill includes an amendment that would
make it a felony to knowingly engage in behavior that could
result in the transmission of HIV.  The bill would apply to
consensual sex acts if one partner does not know that the other
is infected with HIV.

"Teen-Ager Sacrifices His Time to Educate Peers on AIDS"
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (05/02/95) P. 1B;  Corrigan, Patricia
     On Tuesday, John Needem, 17, was awarded the Clara Barton Award
by the St. Louis Bi-State Chapter of the American Red Cross for
his service as a speaker and a trainer.  He is the first teenager
to receive the award.  Needem is a leader in the Red Cross' Youth
Peer Health and Education Program (Y-PHEP), which emphasizes HIV
and AIDS prevention programs because teenagers often engage in
high-risk activities.  Needem and 40 other teens speak to school,
church and youth groups, and camps about HIV and AIDS prevention.
"I feel like I've helped my peers by giving them answers to
questions they wouldn't ask adults," says Needem.  In addition to
HIV and AIDS, Needem also covers such topics as teen pregnancy,
self-esteem, and substance abuse.

"Benetton Wins in Bloody Ad Suit"
Reuters (05/02/95);  Zeitz, Gundula
     On Tuesday, a German retailer was ordered to pay more than
$662,000 for goods from Italian clothing company Benetton,
despite his claim that the firm's shock ads had lowered his
sales.  The shock ads included pictures of a dying AIDS patient,
and of the bloody clothes of a dead Croat soldier.  The court
rejected the man's claims that the value of the goods should be
compensation for losses the advertising caused him.  The decision
marks Benetton's second victory in a series of suits filed
against various German retailers who alleged that the company's
advertising had offended customers.

"Planned Parenthood Begins New TV Birth Control Ads"
Reuters (05/02/95);  Vinzant, Carol
     Claiming it would reverse two decades of network television
"irresponsibility" toward public service messages on
contraception, Planned Parenthood launched five short TV
advertisements on Tuesday.  The theme of the video
segments--which, like most public service announcements, will run
late at night--is "Birth Control.  Try it.  It works."  In most
parts of the country, birth control ads have not been shown on
television since the mid-1970s.  By 1987, some stations aired ads
for condoms as AIDS prevention, but New York City stations
rejected ads featuring a married couple talking about birth
control.  In 1994, Planned Parenthood was inspired to try again
because public service announcements put out by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention promoting condoms for AIDS control
were accepted by the all three major networks.

"Thalidomide and HIV: Several Possible Uses"
AIDS Treatment News (04/21/95) No. 221, P. 1;  Smith, Denny
     Recently, thalidomide has become the object of research for the
potential treatment of several AIDS-related conditions, including
aphthous ulcers, wasting, and tuberculosis.  The word
thalidomide, however, provokes alarm in those who remember it as
the cause of birth defects in thousands of babies born during the
1950's and 1960's.  However, the drug has been found to inhibit
tumor necrosis factor (TNF), high levels of which are associated
with the development of aphthous ulcers, dementia, fevers,
fatigue, and wasting.  Thalidomide also inhibits angiogenesis,
the development of new blood vessels, which has stimulated
research interest in diseases such as cancer and Kaposi's
sarcoma.  Despite apparent interest in the treatment, several
investigators have said the current thalidomide trials have been
slow to recruit.  One reason may be that many people, including
physicians, do not believe that the drug is being offered for the
treatment of any disease.  Another reason could be that the
wasting and ulcer trials involve a placebo group, which many
people in poor health find unattractive.

"Induction of Apoptosis in Uninfected Lymphocytes by HIV-1 Tat
Protein"
Science (04/21/95) Vol. 268, No. 5209, P. 429;  Li, Chiang J.;
Freidman, David J.;  Wang, Chuanlin et al.
     In most patients, HIV-1 infection is characterized by the
progressive loss of CD4 T lymphocytes and the deterioration of
immune function.  A key unresolved issue in AIDS pathogenesis,
however, is the mechanism behind the T-cell depletion.  Li et al.
demonstrated how the HIV-1 Tat protein induced cell death by
apoptosis in a T-cell line and in cultured peripheral blood
mononuclear cells from uninfected donors.  The Tat-induced
apoptosis could be blocked by growth factors and was associated
with increased activation of cyclin-dependent kinases.

"Photonics Decontaminates Blood"
Biophotonics International (03/95-04/95) Vol. 2, No. 2, P. 16
     While trying to decontaminate the disease-carrying units of blood
that sometimes escape detection, Steritech--a biopharmaceutical
company based in California--developed a process that uses light
and photoreactive compounds to inactivate blood-borne pathogens
while guarding the life-preserving function of blood and blood
components.  Using this process, called photochemical
decontamination (PCD), Steritech says it has inactivated several
of the most common and threatening blood-borne pathogens,
including HIV.  In preclinical tests, the company has shown that
PCD-treated platelets have normal recovery and survival when
treated under conditions that effectively inactivate viral and
bacterial pathogens.  The National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute of the National Institutes of Health has awarded
Steritech two five-year grants to support the company's research
of photochemical inactivation of infectious agents in blood and
blood products.

"News in Brief: French Sex"
Lancet (04/15/95) Vol. 345, No. 8955, P. 979
     When studying the sexual behavior of 6,000 15- to 18-year-olds,
the French National Agency for Research into AIDS found that 80
percent of the boys and 75 percent of the girls said they used a
condom during their most recent sexual encounter.  In addition,
the teenagers were familiar with the modes of HIV transmission,
were tolerant to those affected, and did not support mandatory
HIV testing.