Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 09:40:18 +0500 From: ghfostel{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghfostel}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary November 29, 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 ************************************************************ "Bill on HIV Counseling Draws Divided Reaction" "Cambodia HIV Cases Said to Number Up to 90,000" "Treatment's High Cost" "A Vaccine Is the Only Way to Stem the AIDS Epidemic" "Early Expression of SIV Replication by CD8-positive Nef-Specific Cytotoxic T Cells in Vaccinated Macaques" "Update on HIV Transmission and Pathogenesis" ************************************************************ "Bill on HIV Counseling Draws Divided Reaction" Philadelphia Inquirer (11/29/95) P. B1; Collins, Huntly At a two-hour hearing before the Philadelphia City Council on Tuesday, citizens debated a controversial measure that would force health-care professionals in the city to provide HIV counseling and testing to all pregnant women. Champions of the bill claimed it could help prevent maternal-infant HIV transmissions. However critics argued that the measure would encourage discrimination against women, keep women from getting prenatal health care, and alienate the medical community. Councilwoman Joan Specter, who introduced the legislation, described the hearing as "the beginning of a dialogue." Specter said she was pushing the measure because of new findings which show that women who take AZT during pregnancy and delivery significantly reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to their infants. The Councilwoman noted that it was therefore critical that pregnant women be offered HIV screening and information about current and future drug treatments. "Cambodia HIV Cases Said to Number Up to 90,000" Reuters (11/29/95) According to a report from the Cambodian Health Ministry and the World Health Organization, as many as 90,000 Cambodians may be HIV-infected. This estimate is significantly higher than one in August which said there were about 30,000 carriers of the virus that causes AIDS in the country. Health officials noted that only 3,000 people have been confirmed as HIV-positive, but that they "estimated that 50,000 to 90,000 people in Cambodia may have antibodies to HIV." The study also listed a gender ratio for HIV infection of three males to one female, with about 90 percent of those infected between the ages of 15 and 35. "Treatment's High Cost" New York Times (11/28/95) P. A22; Barnes, Mark In a letter to the editor of the New York Times, Mark Barnes--Executive Director of the AIDS Action Council--voices his support of a recent column which concluded that some members of the AIDS community have maintained an atmosphere that seems to limit hopefulness. Although they are not cures, new scientific discoveries should alleviate some of the despair surrounding existing ineffective anti-HIV drugs. Yet Barnes points out that author Andrew Sullivan failed to mention that these promising therapies do little to help the growing number of infected persons who cannot obtain basic health care and medications. There was also no reference to the federal government's efforts against some of the public health programs on which AIDS patients rely, such as Medicaid, Barnes concludes. "A Vaccine Is the Only Way to Stem the AIDS Epidemic" Boston Globe (11/28/95) P. 25; Essex, Max Political leaders must realize that everyone is vulnerable to HIV, which is why a vaccine is so desperately needed, writes Max Essex, chairman of the Harvard AIDS Institute, in the Boston Globe. Essex points out that the heterosexual aspect of the epidemic has been ignored, despite the fact that heterosexual HIV transmission represents 10 percent of U.S. infections and 90 percent of worldwide infections. Political leaders need to better understand the meaning of the rapid evolution and global spread of HIV, Essex claims, so as not to endanger future generations by permitting the virus to continue unchecked. In conclusion, Essex notes that although it is still not certain whether an effective vaccine against AIDS is possible, the work has only just begun and success appears likely if adequate resources are devoted to the effort. "Early Expression of SIV Replication by CD8-positive Nef-Specific Cytotoxic T Cells in Vaccinated Macaques" Nature Medicine (11/95) Vol. 1, No. 11, P. 1167; Gallimore, Awen; Cranage, Martin; Cook, Nicola; et al. Gallimore et al. assessed the protective potential of nef-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in macaques vaccinated with a high intravenous dose of the pathogenic simian immunodeficiency virus, SIVmac251(32H)(pJ5). The researchers observed an inverse correlation between the vaccine-induced nef-specific CTL precursor frequency and viral load measured after the vaccination. Additionally, the early reduction in viremia that was seen in both the vaccinated and the control groups was associated with the development of virus-specific CTL activity, not the presence of virus-specific neutralizing antibodies. These findings suggest that vaccines developed to produce high levels of virus-specific CTLs could help fight off HIV infection, the authors conclude. "Update on HIV Transmission and Pathogenesis" Lancet (11/11/95) Vol. 346, No. 8985, P. 1290; Gozlan, Marc A number of studies put forth at the 10th Cent-Gardes Symposium dealt with the dynamics of HIV multiplication, new animal models, and multiply exposed seronegative individuals. Researcher David Ho, for example, said that a study of five HIV-infected patients treated with the protease inhibitor ABT-538 indicated that 50 percent of the cell-free virus turns over every 5.7 hours and that the HIV life-cycle spans 1.2 days. Meanwhile, George Shaw reported the results of a quantitative analysis of three HIV-positive individuals treated with nevirapine. He found that the largest population of virally infected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (between 310 to 800 cells per million) contains defective virus and has an 80-day half-life. A second group (17 to 29 cells per million) has actively replicating virus and a half-life of two to five days, while a third one was made up of latently infected cells and had a 10-day to 21-day half-life. Additionally, two teams separately reported the development of AIDS in monkeys following the injection of chimeric simian/human immunodeficiency virus, or an SIV (mac) expressing the HIV-1 env gene.