Date: Fri, 06 Dec 96 09:29:40 EST From: "Shelly Olim" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 12/06/96 AIDS Daily Summary December 6, 1996 The CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention makes available the following information as a public service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement by the CDC. 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 ****************************************************** "Digest: NationsBank" "Across the USA: Missouri" "D.C. Vote Sought on the Medical Use of Marijuana" "A Federal Role Urged in the Fight on AIDS" "Lessons on AIDS Hit Home" "Parents Seek Faster Action in Getting New AIDS Drugs to Children" "Inside the Beltway: Marriages That Work" "More Bad News on AIDS Vaccine Attempts" "Physicians Living With HIV/AIDS" "HIV and Cigarettes" ****************************************************** "Digest: NationsBank" Washington Post (12/06/96) P. B12 An HIV discrimination case brought by a former NationsBank employee in Maryland will go to trial, an appeals court ruled this week. A lower court had ruled in favor of the bank in the case of William Runnebaum, who is HIV-positive and was fired from his job in Baltimore. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision, however, finding that Runnebaum had established adequate evidence of discrimination under the Americans With Disabilities Act. "Across the USA: Missouri" USA Today (12/06/96) P. 11A The 89 people who signed up to participate in Missouri's lottery to provide protease inhibitors to poor AIDS patients will all receive the treatment because there is enough money to treat 132 people. The Health Department will still have to hold a lottery, however, to select the remaining patients. "D.C. Vote Sought on the Medical Use of Marijuana" Washington Post (12/06/96) P. C8 A proposal was filed by AIDS activists in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to put a measure on the city's next ballot to legalize the medical use of marijuana. The proposal is based on a similar measure approved by California voters, members of the group ACT UP said. ACT UP spokesman Steve Michael said the group was concerned about a proposal by U.S. Attorney Eric H. Holder Jr. to increase penalties for marijuana possession and sales. Petitions for the measure will be circulated after the city's Board of Elections approves the language of the proposal. "A Federal Role Urged in the Fight on AIDS" Boston Globe (12/05/96) P. A3 Leading pharmaceutical company researchers agree that government leadership is critical to advancing the development of an AIDS vaccine, the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition reported. The group found that investors and managers are reluctant to pursue an AIDS vaccine due to the scientific uncertainty and long development times involved. However, if the Clinton administration promoted the idea that a vaccine is feasible and if the government were to begin investing in research and development, industry interest would follow, the researchers said. The 16 drug companies working on HIV vaccines spend less than $40 million of the $135 million currently invested in the project worldwide. "Lessons on AIDS Hit Home" Washington Post (12/06/96) P. C3; Frazier, Lisa Students at Maryland's Forestville High School learned about HIV and AIDS this week through classroom experiments that simulated the spread of HIV with cups of water and a hidden formula. The students, who were each given a cup of water, were instructed to "mix bodily fluids," represented by drops of water. The "virus," initially concealed, was later revealed with a chemical test. On Thursday, speakers from Washington D.C.'s Whitman-Walker Clinic visited with the students, and an assembly was held at the end of the day in memory of family and friends who have died of AIDS. "Parents Seek Faster Action in Getting New AIDS Drugs to Children" Houston Chronicle (12/05/96) P. 3A; Neergaard, Lauran Because the new AIDS drugs known as protease inhibitors are not approved for use in children, physicians and parents are struggling to determine safe doses for children on their own. Drug companies note that earlier attempts at pediatric studies were stymied and that new studies of the drugs are planned for 1997. "In hindsight, perhaps we should have moved forward to get some experimental data" sooner, said a researcher at Hoffmann-La Roche. "Inside the Beltway: Marriages That Work" Washington Times (12/06/96) P. A7; McCaslin, John AIDS activists in Washington, D.C. applauded the recent Hawaiian court decision to support homosexual marriage. ACT UP's Steve Michael compared his homosexual partnership with Wayne Turner to the Clintons' marriage. "Bill Clinton shouldn't be denigrating loving, committed gay relationships," he said. "He should be taking notes." "More Bad News on AIDS Vaccine Attempts" Reuters (12/06/96) The latest attempt to develop a vaccine against HIV has failed, researchers say. Joseph Eron and colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill tested their vaccine, called MNrgp120, in volunteers who were infected with HIV but had no symptoms. However, after 15 months, the researchers stopped the trial because it was clear the vaccine was not effective. Barton Haynes, of the Duke University Center for AIDS Research, said the findings at least show "that the destruction of the immune system by HIV is due to relentless and high levels of HIV replication." "Physicians Living With HIV/AIDS" Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (11/96) Vol. 2, No. 11, P. 20; Shernoff, Michael The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidelines in 1991 recommending that HIV-infected doctors disclose their status to patients before performing "exposure-prone procedures." The guidelines came largely in response to outcry following the much publicized case of Dr. David Acer, the Florida dentist who is alleged to have transmitted HIV to patient Kimberly Bergalis. Earlier this year, however, leaders of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association urged the government to consider changing these recommendations, on the grounds that there has been no proven case of HIV transmission from health care worker to patient. Many doctors with HIV do not disclose their status for fear that they will be forced from clinical practice. However, some physicians who disclosed that they were HIV-positive report career shifts to positions dealing with HIV/AIDS where their personal experience is beneficial. In Manhattan, HIV-positive doctors have formed a support group to help cope with moral feelings about disclosure and the anxiety of keeping their condition secret. Most of the HIV-positive physicians interviewed said they felt they had a moral responsibility to disclose, though they also felt the need to protect their own interests. "HIV and Cigarettes" AIDS Clinical Care (11/96) Vol. 8, No. 11, P. 94 HIV-positive individuals who smoke are more likely to develop certain medical conditions, but may be protected from the development of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), new research has found. The study, published in the journal AIDS, assessed the incidence of AIDS-defining opportunistic infections and other specific medical conditions among HIV-infected men. Smokers were found to be more likely to develop bacterial pneumonia, oral candidiasis, and hairy leukoplakia, and the effect was stronger in heavy smokers than in light smokers. No impact on Kaposi's sarcoma or other AIDS-related opportunistic infections was found. The researchers did note an almost statistically significant protective effect of smoking against PCP, though smoking cessation and PCP prophylaxis were considered more beneficial overall.