Date: Fri, 13 Dec 96 09:12:00 EST From: "Vaux, Lenore" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary, 12/13/96 AIDS Daily Summary Friday, December 13, 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 ****************************************************** "Study of Anti-AIDS 'Needle-Exchange' Programs Is Ethical, NIH Panel Concludes" "Nobel Laureate to Head Panel Pushing for AIDS Vaccine" "FDA Panel Recommends Hemophilia-Drug Approval" "What Do We Want?--What Kind of Impact Do You Feel These Social Movements Have Had on Today's Values?" "Blood Is 'Filthy,' Inquiry Told" "Medical Marijuana Reply Due Soon" "The Reliable Source: Now You Know..." "Cora Masters Barry's 'Gal'a For Women" "Spread of HIV Gains Pace" "T Cell Telomere Length in HIV-1 Infection: No Evidence for Increased CD4 T Cell Turnover" ****************************************************** "Study of Anti-AIDS 'Needle-Exchange' Programs Is Ethical, NIH Panel Concludes" Washington Post (12/13/96) P. A3; Schwartz, John A controversial study designed to determine the benefit of needle-exchange programs is not unethical, an expert panel told the director of the National Institutes of Health on Thursday. The $2.4 million study, proposed by Dennis Fisher of the University of Alaska, calls for the random assignment of two groups of drug users--one group which would have access to the program, and one which would not. Previous studies have shown that needle-exchanges can reduce the spread of HIV but have raised questions about other problems the programs may cause. The proposed study was criticized by a consumer advocacy organization, which asked NIH Director Harold Varmus to reject funding for the study. The study was postponed, while an expert panel reviewed it. The group, chaired by Yale University professor Robert J. Levine, approved of the study, and Varmus said he would make a final decision on the study by next week. "Nobel Laureate to Head Panel Pushing for AIDS Vaccine" New York Times (12/13/96) P. B15; Leary, Warren E. Nobel Laureate microbiologist David Baltimore will head the government's AIDS vaccine research effort, the National Institutes of Health announced Thursday. Baltimore will chair a committee to search for new vaccine approaches and revitalize the decade-long project. The appointment of a vaccine research leader was called for in a major report on the nation's AIDS research effort released earlier this year. Baltimore's appointment was applauded by researchers, advocates for AIDS patients, and critics of current vaccine development efforts. "FDA Panel Recommends Hemophilia-Drug Approval" Wall Street Journal (12/13/96) P. B4 An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration recommended for approval a treatment for hemophilia B developed by Genetics Institute. The panel also suggested that safety studies continue while the drug, called BeneFix, is marketed. Genetics Institute noted that the drug would be the first of its kind not derived from human plasma, lowering the risk of transmitting blood-borne viruses like hepatitis. "What Do We Want?--What Kind of Impact Do You Feel These Social Movements Have Had on Today's Values?" Wall Street Journal--American Opinion (12/13/96) P. R4; Kirkpatrick, David A Wall Street Journal poll of 2,003 Americans on values and morals found that the country's social movements over the past 30 years have improved society. Americans agreed, by margins of four to one, that the civil-rights movement, the environmental movement, the AIDS-awareness movement, the religious or family-values movement, and the women's movement have all had positive impacts on society. The AIDS awareness movement was more widely approved of than the "religion and family-values movement." Even among those who said they were very religious, 78 percent said the AIDS-awareness movement has had a positive impact on society. "Blood Is 'Filthy,' Inquiry Told" Toronto Globe and Mail (12/11/96) P. A12; Grange, Michael To prevent further tragedies involving the use of tainted blood, Canada's blood system should look to self-donations and directed donations, a lawyer for relatives of people who received HIV-tainted blood told the inquiry into Canada's blood system. Making her final statements to the inquiry on Tuesday, Dawna Ring said that "to create a safe blood system, we must recognize the true characteristics of blood--that it is filthy." Ring recommended that hospitals, rather than the Canadian Red Cross Society, take responsibility for blood collection. "Medical Marijuana Reply Due Soon" USA Today (12/13/96) P. 3A; Nichols, Bill President Clinton will receive recommendations by Christmas on how to handle new state laws that allow the use of marijuana for medical reasons, administration officials said Thursday. White House Drug chief Gen. Barry McCaffrey and other anti-drug policy officials met with Clinton Thursday, and encouraged him to speak out more on the two propositions. Clinton objects to the new laws because they threaten to increase teen drug use or the process by which drugs are approved for medical use. "The Reliable Source: Now You Know..." Washington Post (12/13/96) P. C3; Gerhart, Ann; Groer, Annie For her 65th birthday celebration on Feb. 16, Liz Taylor will host a Hollywood benefit to raise $1 million for her AIDS foundation. Whoopi Goldberg, Liza Minnelli, Carol Burnett, and Michael Jackson will make appearances. "Cora Masters Barry's 'Gal'a For Women" Washington Times--Metropolitan Times (12/13/96) P. C14; Marshall, Toni Cora Masters Barry, wife of Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, hosted a luncheon Thursday for nearly 100 women, including ambassadors' wives and other prominent women in the city. The hostess said she held the event for the "professional women involved with issues concerning your countries and dealing with struggles such as breast cancer, AIDS, and hunger, an opportunity to relax and to share resources." "Spread of HIV Gains Pace" Nature (12/05/96) Vol. 384, No. 6608, P. 399 The rate of HIV infection is increasing in Africa and Asia, and the virus is appearing in Central and Eastern Europe for the first time, the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS reported. The agency said that sub-Saharan Africa is the hardest-hit area, with more than one in 20 people infected. UNAIDS Director Peter Piot criticized complacency about AIDS in the industrialized world and urged renewed commitment to prevention efforts. Three million people have contracted HIV this year, and 1.5 million have died of AIDS. "T Cell Telomere Length in HIV-1 Infection: No Evidence for Increased CD4 T Cell Turnover" Science (11/29/96) Vol. 274, No. 5292, P. 1543; Wolthers, Katja C.; Wisman, G. Bea A.; Otto, Sigrid A.; et al. HIV-1 infection results in the progressive loss of CD4 T cells, a gradual increase in CD8 T cells, and a decline in immune function. CD4 T-cell count starts to drops at an accelerated rate about one-and-a-half years to two years before the onset of AIDS. One theory holds that the rapid CD4 T cell turnover caused by HIV infection eventually results in the exhaustion of the regenerative capacity of the immune system. Frank Miedema, of the Netherlands Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, and colleagues, used an analysis of telomeric terminal restriction fragment length to measure the turnover of CD4 cells, compared to that of CD8 cells, over the course of HIV-1 infection. They found that turnover increased in CD8 T cells, but remained stable in CD4 T cells. The authors suggest that increased CD4 T cell counts after drug therapy may not be due to repopulation by new cells but may represent a redistribution of activated memory CD4 T cells.