Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary, 12/04/96

From: "Vaux, Lenore" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 09:36:35 -0500

AIDS Daily Summary
                 Wednesday, December 4, 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 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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"Leader of Black Gay Forum Favorite to be AIDS  Czar"
"Devious Efforts to Legalize Drugs"
"California Issues Marijuana Guidelines"
"Criticism of Marijuana Initiatives Mean, Late"
"S. Florida Events to Benefit AIDS Victims"
"Money Crisis Sinks Betak Home for AIDS Patients"
"HIV Positive Not Linked to Suicides"
"AIDS Experts Stress Basic Research"
"Maternal Viral Load, Zidovudine Treatment, and the Risk of
Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 From Mother
to Infant"
"Bad Blood?"
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"Leader of Black Gay Forum Favorite to be AIDS  Czar"
Washington Times (12/04/96) P. A1; Bedard, Paul
     Phill Wilson, co-founder of Los Angeles' National Black Gay and
Lesbian Leadership Forum, is the leading candidate for the vacant
position of AIDS czar, according to White House officials and
AIDS activists.  Wilson, who has AIDS, is the choice of many AIDS
activists who say the appointment would show President Clinton's
commitment to the AIDS battle.  "If Phill Wilson is in the mix,
he'd be an excellent choice with front-line experience," said Kim
Mills, of the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual lobbying group.

"Devious Efforts to Legalize Drugs"
Washington Post (12/04/96) P. A25; Califano Jr., Joseph A.
     In a commentary in the Washington Post, Joseph A. Califano Jr.,
president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
at Columbia University, criticizes the campaigns in Arizona and
California to legalize the medical use of certain drugs.
Califano contends that the Arizona effort falsely led voters to
believe that the measure would toughen penalties for violent
crime and support drug prevention and education, and that the
loosened controls on LSD and heroin were barely mentioned.  He
says the campaign for California's Prop. 215 showed the measure
as a way to help the seriously ill, and did not mention that it
would require only the verbal recommendation of a doctor for
anyone to use marijuana.  Califano says the use of private money
to fund the campaigns contributed to the misleading campaigns,
and he suggests that Congress act to protect states from outside
private interests.

"California Issues Marijuana Guidelines"
Washington Times (12/04/96) P. A8
     In an effort to enforce California's new medical marijuana law,
State Attorney General Dan Lungren issued guidelines for the drug
on Tuesday.  Lungren noted that it is still unclear how federal
officials will treat doctors or others who could be prosecuted
because the state law conflicts with federal law.

"Criticism of Marijuana Initiatives Mean, Late"
USA Today (12/04/96) P. 14A; Barrie, Jeff T.; Harris, Scott
     White House drug chief Barry  McCaffrey's criticism of the
supporters of medical marijuana campaigns was too late and mean,
contends Jeff T. Barrie in a letter to the editor of USA Today.
He says that the opposition should have been presented during the
campaign, and suggests that McCaffrey expected the media to offer
enough negative publicity to defeat the measure.  In a second
letter, Scott Harris says the Senate hearings on the topic were
misleading and featured exaggerated examples of marijuana use.

"S. Florida Events to Benefit AIDS Victims"
Miami Herald (12/03/96) P. 2B; Chey, Elizabeth
     Two AIDS benefits in Miami on Wednesday will help to raise money
for local AIDS patients.  The Food for Life Network, which
supports Meals-on-Wheels, a food bank, nutritional counseling,
and special holiday dinners, will hold a progressive dinner,
"Walk on the Avenue," in Miami Beach.  In addition, the United
Foundation for AIDS will hold a furniture auction the includes
pieces from several South Florida celebrities.  The goal of the
auction is to raise $100,000 for the Community AIDS Project,
which provides testing, treatment, and residential services for
people with HIV and AIDS.

"Money Crisis Sinks Betak Home for AIDS Patients"
Philadelphia Inquirer (12/04/96) P. B2; Collins, Huntly
     Betak, the only nursing home in Philadelphia for AIDS patients,
will be closed after the remaining 20 patients are moved, city
officials and Mercy Health announced Tuesday.  Financial problems
have repeatedly burdened the facility since it opened four years
ago, and Mercy said that the lack of state funding for the home
would almost certainly require that it be closed.  Philadelphia
Health Commissioner Estelle Richman said the city is now
searching for other ways to provide care for AIDS patients.

"HIV Positive Not Linked to Suicides"
United Press International (12/03/96)
     People who test positive for HIV are not significantly more
likely to commit suicide upon hearing the news, researchers
reported Tuesday.  While previous studies have found that the
onset of AIDS sharply increases suicide risk, testing positive
for HIV does not have the same impact.  The study, published in
the Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted
among men who were rejected from military service because of
medical conditions.  The Johns Hopkins University researchers
note the finding may "offer reassurance about suicide risk as a
potential adverse effect of the over-the-counter HIV home test."

"AIDS Experts Stress Basic Research"
United Press International (12/03/96)
     Basic scientific research is needed in the fight against AIDS and
should continue to receive federal funding, AIDS experts told
President Clinton Tuesday.  Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the
National Canter for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he told
Clinton that basic research played a major role in two of the
biggest recent breakthroughs--the discovery of the receptor that
provides HIV protection to some people, and the development of
the protease inhibitor drugs.  Clinton pledged to maintain the
administration's commitment to AIDS research.  "I'm determined to
keep pressing until we have a vaccine and ultimately a cure," he
said.

"Maternal Viral Load, Zidovudine Treatment, and the Risk of
Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 From Mother
to Infant"
New England Journal of Medicine (11/28/96) Vol. 335, No. 22, P.
1621; Sperling, Rhoda S.; Shapiro, David E.; Coombs, Robert W.;
Sperling, Rhoda S.
     While study results have demonstrated that zidovudine therapy
significantly reduces the risk of HIV-1 transmission from mother
to child, the mechanism of this treatment is not known.
Researchers for the AIDS Clinical Trials Group Protocol 076 Study
Group, led by Dr. Rhoda Sperling of Mount Sinai medical school,
analyzed data from a previous clinical trial to determine the
link between maternal viral load, transmission, and the efficacy
of zidovudine therapy.  The researchers report that, out of 402
mother-infant pairs, the rate of HIV-1 transmission with
zidovudine was 7.6 percent, compared to 22.6 percent among women
who took a placebo.  In both groups, transmission was not linked
to maternal viral load.  Zidovudine was found to be effective
across varying viral RNA levels and CD4 counts.  The reduction in
viral load from base line to delivery in the zidovudine group was
not significantly linked to the risk of HIV-1 transmission.  The
authors conclude that a high maternal viral load is a risk factor
for the transmission of HIV-1 from an untreated mother to her
infant, and they suggest that maternal treatment with zidovudine
be initiated in all HIV-positive pregnant women, regardless of
viral load.

"Bad Blood?"
New York (11/25/96) Vol. 29, No. 46, P. 28; Finkelstein,
Katherine Eban
     The New York Blood Center, a non-profit organization that
supplies 80 percent of the blood to New York City hospitals and
tests samples for other blood centers nationwide, is under
investigation for failing to follow government safety guidelines.
New York Magazine found evidence that, in order to compete with
other blood suppliers, the center overlooks government safety
regulations and its own standard procedures for testing and
approving blood for distribution.  Staff members at the center
have also altered test results to allow blood to be shipped that
should have been rejected and discarded documents that recorded
these activities, the magazine reports.  The Manhattan district
attorney and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have each
begun investigations of the center, and the FDA has found dozens
of blood units that were distributed despite improper testing.
"Our sense of what's happening is that there's so much pressure
for production that individuals may be encouraged to cut
corners," an official at the agency said.  "This doesn't
mean--necessarily--that the blood is bad.  But its chances of
being good are not as high as they should be.