Date: Fri, 13 Oct 1995 10:00:34 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 10/13/95 AIDS Daily Summary October 13, 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 ************************************************************ "New Blood-Safety Organization to Oversee Nation's Supply" "Small Stock Focus: Procept" "Gene-Based Vaccines Ride Directly to Cells on Backs of Bacteria" "Two 'Rainbow' Nonprofits Fight Over Moniker" "Production of Wind-Up Radio Starts in S. Africa" "China: AIDS Programme" "Washington Whispers: Chimps and AIDS" "Advertising and Marketing: And the Winner Is...The Hannaford Co." "Foscarnet and Ganciclovir Equally Good for GI CMV" "Health Locus of Control Among HIV-Positive Indigent Women" ************************************************************ "New Blood-Safety Organization to Oversee Nation's Supply" Baltimore Sun (10/13/95) P. 4A The first move of the new Blood Safety Council will be to determine whether thousands of people should be informed that they may have contracted hepatitis C from transfusions before 1990. Until now, there has been relative confusion in regards to government coordination of blood safety. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates blood banks, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notifies the public of new blood diseases and the National Institutes of Health conducts blood research. The Institute of Medicine noted last summer that such confusion and fear among agencies left U.S. citizens unprotected when HIV appeared in the 1980s. More than 10,000 hemophiliacs and thousands of other blood recipients were infected with HIV while the government debated its options. Related Story: New York Times (10/13) P. A26 "Small Stock Focus: Procept" Wall Street Journal (10/13/95) P. C7; Baker, Molly Following Procept's announcement that it would delay clinical trials of an anti-HIV drug by two to three months, the biotechnology company's shares dropped 44 percent. Investors may also have become nervous because Procept was unable to comment on specific matters because it is in registration for a common-stock offering. The company discovered in its Phase I/II trial that its HIV treatment had a toxic effect on some patients, though none were deemed sick in a "clinically significant" manner, according to Procept. Related Story: New York Times (10/13) P. D8 "Gene-Based Vaccines Ride Directly to Cells on Backs of Bacteria" Wall Street Journal (10/13/95) P. B3; Langreth, Robert Scientists from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and Merck & Co. have discovered a new way to insert genes into animal cells, a finding which could aid in the development of preventive vaccines for AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The researchers used bacteria to convey genes into the animal cells, and said that the bacteria should be able to carry gene-based vaccines to difficult-to-reach parts of the body. The team, however, warned that the method has only been tried on animal models and that it could be years before any possible use for humans is established. Dr. Jerald Sadoff, who led the research team at Walter Reed prior to taking his current position overseeing vaccine research at Merck, said the researchers will next determine whether a bacterial technique can be used to stimulate an anti-HIV immune response in mice. "Two 'Rainbow' Nonprofits Fight Over Moniker" Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News (10/12/95) Two nonprofit groups are clashing over the use of the word "rainbow" in their titles. The Rainbow Foundation, a charity that helps sick children in New Jersey, delivered a "cease and desist" order to Rainbow Card Foundation on Monday. The Rainbow Card Foundation provides funding for important issues in the gay and lesbian community, including AIDS and breast cancer research. "Their causes are not our causes," said Rainbow Foundation attorney Robert S. Bonney Jr. But Mark Momjian, an attorney for the Rainbow Card Foundation, responded that his "client finds it deeply offensive that the Rainbow Card Foundation is labeled as a 'gay charity.'" Momjian also noted that hundreds of charitable organizations use "rainbow" in their names. "Production of Wind-Up Radio Starts in S. Africa" Reuters (10/11/95) On Wednesday, a company in South Africa started production of the first wind-up radio. The radio is powered by a wound-up spring which spins a generator inside it--it uses neither batteries or electricity. British Overseas Development Minister Lynda Chalker said the radio would be useful for isolated or impoverished regions of Africa, where many people cannot afford batteries even when they are available. The radio, for example, could keep people informed about local developments and support literacy and AIDS awareness projects. Britain's Overseas Development Administration has contributed about $238,000 to the manufacturers of the BayGen "Freeplay" radio. "China: AIDS Programme" Far Eastern Economic Review (09/28/95) Vol. 158, No. 39, P. 15 Beginning this year, China's nearly 3 million college students will take AIDS prevention courses, according to the State Education Commission. There have been 1,774 cases of AIDS reported in China, more than half of which are among people between the ages of 20 and 29. "Washington Whispers: Chimps and AIDS" U.S. News & World Report (10/09/95) Vol. 119, No. 14, P. 30 A teenage chimpanzee has contracted HIV, say sources within the scientific world. Until now, it was thought that chimpanzees were immune to the deadly effects of the virus that causes AIDS, though researchers have infected more than 100 in the hope that the animals would and therefore could become models for the human version. Jerome, as the chimp is called, lives in Atlanta's Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center, and was first infected with HIV 10 years ago. Tests two years later reveal that Jerome's immune system underwent changes similar to those seen in HIV-infected humans, yet he exhibited no signs of disease. Now it seems that Jerome has developed AIDS, and although Yerkes scientists refused to comment, it is known that they are conducting additional tests to confirm that the chimp has the disease. "Advertising and Marketing: And the Winner Is...The Hannaford Co." Washington Business Journal (09/15/95-09/21/95) Vol. 14, No. 18, P. 61; Rabin, Phil; Myles, Carolyn AIDS Project LA has selected the Hannaford Co., which has offices in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, to manage its public affairs account. The group's objective is to reach Republican legislators--a group often ignored by AIDS organizations, according to Allen Carrier, director of communications for AIDS Project LA. Carrier noted that AIDS groups should look at the new "political realities" because they have become too accustomed to working with the Democratic "mindset." "Foscarnet and Ganciclovir Equally Good for GI CMV" AIDS Clinical Care (10/95) Vol. 7, No. 10, P. 87 An open-label, randomized European study demonstrates that foscarnet is as effective as ganciclovir, the first drug to be approved for gastrointestinal (GI) cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections in AIDS patients. The participants, who all had biopsy-proven CMV and baseline CD4 levels between 4 and 183, were given either of the two drugs twice daily for fourteen days. A total of 75 percent of the group had a complete or good clinical response to acute treatment. The clinical responders indicated similar endoscopic and histologic response rates to the two therapies. Overall, most patients developed persistent GI CMV in the six months or so of follow-up, and the speed of relapse was about equal for both foscarnet and ganciclovir. Disease progression was not delayed in the roughly 20 percent of the patients who received maintenance therapy--a finding which the researchers do not consider definitive because the continued therapy was not allocated randomly. The researchers concluded that foscarnet and ganciclovir seem to be equally effective in treating acute GI CMV infections. "Health Locus of Control Among HIV-Positive Indigent Women" Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (09/95-10/95) Vol. 6, No. 5, P. 29; Ragsdale, Diane; Kotarba, Joseph A.; Morrow Jr., James R.; et al. Ragsdale et al. conducted an exploratory survey to assess the multidimensional construct of health locus of control among 14 poor HIV-infected women, comparing the patients' average responses on the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) Scales with standard normative data. The MHLC is an instrument designed to gauge locus of control in terms of internal sources, chance, or powerful others. In general, the women said they were in control of their health, though they felt that powerful others and chance governed their health outcomes. Compared to normative populations of college students, healthy adults, and those who engage in preventive health activities, these HIV-infected women were also much more chance oriented. The high external MHLC scores may indicate the perception that HIV is just another problem of life. However, the high internal scores suggest these women's practical understanding of the final outcome of HIV and the realization that they will have to participate more actively when AIDS is diagnosed.