Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 11:29:04 +0500 From: gharaghs{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/gharaghs}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 02/12 /96 AIDS Daily Summary February 12, 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 ************************************************************ "Medical Suspension Creates Concern" "Ignoring a Proven Lifesaver" "Shark, Frog Compounds Fight Sex Disease" "Medicaid Cuts Keep Many AIDS Patients from New Treatments" "Clinton Signs Defense Bill, Blasts AIDS Provision" "Doctor Hopes to Repeat Baboon Cell Transplant" "Man Accused of Giving HIV to Four is Slain" "Blood Supply: Possibly Tainted Product Withdrawn" "Reduction of HIV Concentration During Acute Infection: Independence from a Specific Immune Response" "Ship to Shore" ************************************************************ "Medical Suspension Creates Concern" New York Times (02/12/96) P. C1; Eskenazi, Gerald Tommy Morrison, the former World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion, was suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission on Saturday for an undisclosed medical reason. Although no one would say so, the suspected reason is that Morrison tested positive for HIV. Nevada is the only major boxing state that requires a pre-fight HIV test. A commission official said that if the reason had been an injury he would have released it. Neither the official of Morrison's promoter would deny that the fighter had the virus. Related Stories: Washington Post (02/12/96) P.C1; Philadelphia Inquirer (02/12/96) P.D1 "Ignoring a Proven Lifesaver" Washington Post (02/12/96) P. A19; Graham, Jim In a letter to the editors of the Washington Post, Jim Graham, director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington D.C., asserts that the city's needle exchange program could be an effective tool in slowing the spread of HIV, but that it is failing. He claims that the program, which was one of the first, is restricted by bureaucracy and limited funds. Furthermore, he notes, the number of IV-drug users in the city with AIDS has tripled in the last three years. The pilot program has been stopped and no needles are currently being exchanged. Graham adds that the program's costs are modest, and points out that studies of other programs have shown that they are effective. "Shark, Frog Compounds Fight Sex Disease" Washington Times (02/12/96) P. A7 Substances from the dogfish shark and the African clawed frog may be used to fight sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, scientists said Sunday. Dr. Leonard Jacob of Magainin Pharmaceuticals of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., said the compounds, called magainins or squalamines, have already passed preliminary testing and are being tested, or soon will be tested in humans. The substances are derived from the defense systems of the animals. "Medicaid Cuts Keep Many AIDS Patients from New Treatments" New York Times (02/12/96) P. A14; Sharp, Victoria L.; Stoddard, Tom In two separate letters to the editor, the authors argue that government funding is necessary for many AIDS patients, especially as costs for drugs are rising. In one, Dr. Victoria Sharp, of the Spellman Center for HIV-Related Disease at St. Clare's Hospital, claims that proposed New York state and federal cuts in Medicaid will result in a "two-tiered medical system that denies treatment to the poor." Tom Stoddard writes in the second letter that the estimated $70,000 price tag cited by the newspaper for treatments for advanced AIDS patients is low. The hopes offered by new therapies, he says, are unattainable for some patients, even some with medical coverage. Stoddard argues that medical care should be extended to those who need it. "Clinton Signs Defense Bill, Blasts AIDS Provision" Washington Post (02/11/96) P. A8 President Clinton signed the Defense appropriations bill Saturday, despite its inclusion of a provision that requires the discharge of all HIV-positive military members. The president called the provision "blatantly discriminatory," and said he supports efforts in Congress to repeal it before it takes effect in six months. Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Calif.), who sponsored the measure, said that attempts to repeal it will fail. "Bill Clinton continues to ignore the needs and requirements of the military while deferring to the wishes of a vocal minority who donate heavily to his presidential campaign," Dornan said. Clinton has called the provision unconstitutionally discriminatory and has instructed Attorney General Janet Reno not to defend it in court. "Doctor Hopes to Repeat Baboon Cell Transplant" Washington Post (02/11/96) P. A9; Weiss, Rick Suzanne Ildstad, the University of Pittsburgh surgeon who transplanted baboon bone marrow into an AIDS patient two months ago, said she wants to repeat the controversial procedure with another patient in the next six months. She said the transplant was not successful in getting the baboon cells to survive in the patient, but noted that it did result in the patient becoming healthier. Ildstad discussed the transplant at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Baltimore. She said that patient Jeff Getty's improved health could be the result of a small number of surviving baboon cells or of the chemotherapy and radiation Getty received before the transplant. Ildstad said she would increase the chemotherapy dose in the next transplant, which would have to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. "Man Accused of Giving HIV to Four is Slain" Philadelphia Inquirer (02/10/96) P. A11; Rose, Lori Dodge Robert Warren, a married man who was accused of infecting four girlfriends with HIV, was shot and killed, two weeks before he was to be tried for one of those cases. St. Louis police said that a motive was still uncertain, but that revenge and drugs were possibilities. Warren was charged in April with HIV-infecting one of his girlfriends, and was set free on bail. Police said that Warren was known to be popular with women and that one woman continued to date him even after learning he had HIV. Warren admitted he never wore condoms, and police noted that he did not seem sorry for spreading the virus, but was frustrated that the arrest had interrupted his usual lifestyle. "Blood Supply: Possibly Tainted Product Withdrawn" Toronto Globe and Mail (02/09/96) P. A4 The Canadian Red Cross says it is withdrawing two lots of the blood product intravenous immune globulin, for fear that it could be tainted with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The manufacturer, Bayer Inc., requested the withdrawal of about 16,000 vials of the product, which is used to treat patients with immune deficiencies. "Reduction of HIV Concentration During Acute Infection: Independence from a Specific Immune Response" Science (01/26/96) Vol.271, No.5248, P. 497; Phillips, Andrew N. After HIV infection, the virus' concentration in the plasma increases, and then decreases a few weeks later. This decrease was thought to be the result of an HIV-specific immune response. A mathematical model of the population dynamics of early HIV infection was devised to investigate this relationship. Variables were used to represent activated, uninfected CD4 cells, latently infected cells, actively infected cells and free virions. Changes in the virus concentration and CD4 cell count were tracked over time. The patterns resulting from the model approximate those observed in patients, with a peak of virus concentration a few weeks after infection and a rapid decline in CD4 cells which then stabilizes. The decrease, according to the model, was a result of population dynamics, not an immune response. The model did not explain how CD4 cells are gradually depleted after HIV infection. The results of the model suggest that the appearance of an HIV-specific immune response results from the high level of virus but is not a major cause of the decline. This could explain why some patients may have a decline in virus concentration even without a specific immune response. "Ship to Shore" POZ (02/96-03/96) No.12, P. 38; Blotcher, Jay Sue Saunders, who learned she was HIV-positive at the age of 58, had resigned herself to death, until--while visiting one of her four children on a farewell trip--she learned she had several more years to live. Five years later she enjoys gardening, movies and working out. Saunders lives in Fort Lauderdale and volunteers at her local PWA Coalition. She has also videotaped an interview, called "It Can Happen To Me," for the American Association for Retired Persons about living with HIV.