Date: Wed, 10 Apr 1996 10:27:22 +0500 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 04/10/96 AIDS Daily Summary April 10, 1996 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 National AIDS Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information. Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "FDA Clears DaunoXome for HIV-Related Cancer" "A Little Shop Of Condoms (Horrors!)" "A Ray of Light in Africa's Struggle with AIDS" "UK: Faulty AIDS Test Affected Very Few" "Zimbabwe's AIDS Organizations Praise Nkomo" "Britons Swamp HIV Clinics After Test Scare" "Endocytosis of Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I Molecules Is Induced by the HIV-1 Protein" "Ninth International Conference on AIDS and STD in Africa" "Teleconferences Share Info on Fighting AIDS" "AIDS Update: Absorbing News" ************************************************************ "FDA Clears DaunoXome for HIV-Related Cancer" Wall Street Journal (04/10/96) P. A4 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved NeXstar Pharmaceuticals' anticancer drug DaunoXome for the treatment of advanced HIV-related Kaposi's sarcoma. NeXstar said the drug is as effective as other treatments but has fewer adverse side effects. The company noted that it will start selling DaunoXome at "competitive" prices. Following the announcement of approval, NeXstar stock rose 12 percent in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. "A Little Shop Of Condoms (Horrors!)" New York Times (04/10/96) P. B1; Nieves, Evelyn When Bethany Drucker opened Condom Sense, Long Island, N.Y.'s first condom store, in Huntington last month, she received a telephone threat, a rock through the store's window, and complaints from parents, townspeople, and store owners. Drucker, 26, says she did not expect the criticism. She saw the store as a way to promote safe sex and take the stigma from buying condoms. "It doesn't take a genius to know that Long Island has the highest incidence of AIDS in this country for a suburban area," she said. She says she chose Huntington, which has 80 arts organizations and 300 stores and restaurants, for its sophistication and notes that, previously, her greatest concern was that her store would be lost in a sea of better known stores in the crowded business district. Condom Sense sells more than a hundred types of condoms, as well as a few accessories and novelties, but not X-rated tapes, books, magazines, or sexual paraphernalia. "A Ray of Light in Africa's Struggle with AIDS" New York Times (04/07/96) P. 1; McKinley, James C. For the first time since Ugandans began dying of AIDS in the early 1980s, studies now show that the rates of HIV infection among teen-agers and pregnant women have decreased. Disease experts say that if the decline in infection continues, the new generation of Ugandans will be less burdened by disease and early death than previously expected. The trend also suggests that controlling AIDS in Africa may be more possible than many thought. For years, health experts had little hope of controlling the rapid spread of HIV in the continent. Condoms were seen as too expensive or unfamiliar, and high-risk sexual habits were thought to be entrenched. But Ugandan teens say that having seen so may people die of AIDS that they have changed their sexual habits to avoid infection, including insisting on condom use and having HIV tests before having sex. Mass education efforts, advocating condoms, abstinence, and faithfulness are also credited for the attitude change among teens. "UK: Faulty AIDS Test Affected Very Few" United Press International (04/09/96) According to a leading British AIDS charity, in spite of concerns over a faulty AIDS test, only a small number of the 40,000 people who tested negative for HIV over the past six months are in fact HIV-positive. Nick Partridge, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, a charity which has criticized the British government for not revealing information about the faulty tests, says that fewer than five of the 20,000 people screened with the faulty test may be infected. The Department of Health said it did not want to disclose the information until hospitals and clinics using the test had been notified and a plan to retest individuals was designed. "Zimbabwe's AIDS Organizations Praise Nkomo" Xinhua News Service (04/09/96) Zimbabwe's AIDS organizations praised Vice-President Joshua Nkomo on Tuesday for breaking with tradition by announcing that one of his sons had died of the disease. The groups said they hope that Nkomo's disclosure would help people to accept the disease as they would any other. One group, Zimbabwe AIDS Network, intends to meet with President Robert Mugabe in the near future to talk about declaring AIDS a national disaster so that more resources can be allocated to fight the disease. According to health experts, 10 percent of Zimbabwe's citizens have been infected with HIV and more than 150,000 have developed full blown AIDS since 1987. "Britons Swamp HIV Clinics After Test Scare" Reuters (04/09/96) Worried Britons flooded hospitals and clinics on Tuesday after spending the long Easter weekend wondering if they needed to be re-tested for HIV. It was estimated that some 20,000 British who had tested negative for the virus would need to be tested again because the test, made by Abbott Laboratories, was found to be faulty. When the announcement was made on Friday, however, doctors' offices and laboratories were already closed for the four-day Easter holiday. Ben Kernighan, of the Terrence Higgins Trust AIDS Charity, said the people most upset by the news were those who based decisions, such as having unprotected sex or getting pregnant, on their test result. The London Lighthouse, another AIDS charity, received more than 6,000 calls over the weekend. Doctors note that only a tiny proportion of people may have been given the wrong result. "Endocytosis of Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I Molecules Is Induced by the HIV-1 Protein" Nature Medicine (03/96) Vol. 2, No. 3, P. 338; Schwartz, Oliver; Marechal, Valerie; Le Gall, Slyvie; et al. HIV-1 and other pathogenic viruses reduce the surface expression of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-1) molecules on the cells they infect, thereby protecting them from attack by cytotoxic T-cells. French researcher Oliver Schwartz and others found that the expression of the protein Nef by HIV was necessary for this reduction of MHC-1. Nef, which is known to stimulate the endocytosis of CD4, is required for maintaining high viral loads and inducing AIDS, but is not necessary for viral replication in vitro. The researchers report that, in the presence of Nef, MHC-1 synthesis and transport occurred normally, but the molecules were destroyed by the cell before they could be expressed on the cell surface. Without this surface expression, T-cells are not able to attack infected cells. The authors say that the role of Nef in MHC-1 endocytosis, and the virus' ability to escape the immune system, is a previously undocumented key to HIV and AIDS. "Ninth International Conference on AIDS and STD in Africa" Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (03/96) Vol. 2, No. 3, P. 25; Perriens, Joseph At the Ninth International Conference on AIDS and STD in Africa, more than 3,000 scientists, activists, and people with HIV and AIDS reviewed what progress has been made in the battle against AIDS in Africa. Most African countries are facing large and growing AIDS epidemics and have limited resources to fight the disease. One focus of the conference was the link between sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV, highlighted by a study that found that communities with better STD services had lower HIV incidence. Another focus of the meeting was AIDS prevention and care in the community, in which people with AIDS are active. Medical care for AIDS patients in most African hospitals is inadequate, and a movement is now underway to bring AIDS care into the primary healthcare system and the community. Several studies revealed that many HIV-related deaths are the result of preventable diseases, like bacterial infections and tuberculosis. Also, women who exchange sexual favors for money were found to have less ability than men to protect themselves against HIV and STDs, a situation which could be improved through use of vaginal microbicides and the female condom. The use of anti-HIV drugs to prevent perinatal transmission of HIV was also discussed, as was the impact of HIV on families and the economy. "Teleconferences Share Info on Fighting AIDS" Communications News (03/96) Vol. 33, No. 3, P. 52 More than 10,000 U.S. health care providers regularly participate in the International HIV Clinical Conference Call series, sharing news about the most recent developments in the battle against AIDS. The U.S. Public Health Service sponsors the toll-free conferences for health care workers in such facilities as hospitals, clinics, prisons, and homeless shelters. The agency's Capt. Abe Macher claims that the calls are the most efficient way to keep people informed of the rapid developments in AIDS research. "AIDS Update: Absorbing News" Men's Health (03/96) Vol. 11, No. 2 , P. 54 While vitamin supplement labels offer recommendations for healthy people, people with HIV may need a higher dose. Dr. Mary Romeyn, author of "Nutrition and HIV: A New Model for Treatment," says a body under stress requires more of the supplements.