Date: Tue, 30 Jan 1996 10:11:32 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 01/30/96 AIDS Daily Summary January 30, 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 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "Three-Drug Therapy May Suppress HIV" "Magic Johnson Returns to NBA" "Cutting a Lifeline to AIDS Study" "AZT Slashes HIV Rates in Newborns" "Administration to Seek Repeal of Military HIV Ban" "HIV and DOD" "Dow Closes Above 5,300 on Rate-Cut Hopes" "Blood Liability Put at $1-Billion" "AIDS Trials Take on Peer Review" "Fighting Infectious Disease Threats via Research: A Talk with Anthony S. Fauci" ************************************************************ "Three-Drug Therapy May Suppress HIV" Wall Street Journal (01/30/96) P. B1; Waldholz, Michael According to new research to be presented this week, both Abbott Laboratories and Merck & Co. have developed protease inhibitors that--when combined with existing antiviral drugs--are capable of sending HIV into hiding. Results of preliminary trials reveal that one triple-drug combination was able to eliminate 99 percent of the HIV detectable in the bloodstream of almost all of 45 patients studied. Furthermore, one combination trial--involving Abbott's Norvir (ritonavir)--eliminated the virus to such an extent in six of 21 patients that researchers speculated the drugs may have eliminated the virus from the patients' bloodstreams altogether. Few scientists expect the new drugs to provide a cure, but if early test results hold up, Merck's Crixivan (indinavir) and Abbott's Norvir will be the first significant advance in AIDS treatment since the launch of AZT in 1987. Related Stories: Investor's Business Daily (01/30) P. A3; Washington Post (01/30) P. A8; New York Times (01/30) P. C5; Philadelphia Inquirer (01/30) P. A1; Washington Times (01/30) P. A3; USA Today (01/30) P. 1A "Magic Johnson Returns to NBA" Washington Post (01/30/96) P. A1; Claiborne, William Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who announced that he was HIV positive and retired from the NBA on Nov.7, 1991, is returning to the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team tonight. Johnson said he is not worried about concerns of playing against someone who is HIV positive, a fear some players expressed during his brief return to the sport in 1992. He said more is known now about HIV and AIDS than when he retired and that his teammates and other league players are not concerned. He also said his doctor has approved the decision. Related Stories: New York Times (01/30/96) P.B11; USA Today (01/30) P. 15C "Cutting a Lifeline to AIDS Study" New York Times (01/30/96) P. B1; Goldberg, Carey Three of six New York sites of the nationwide AIDS drug trial network, the AIDS Clinical Trials Group, have been cut in the competition for federal funds. The three programs are located at Columbia University/Harlem Hospital, SUNY-Brooklyn and Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medial Center in the Bronx. New York City researchers and politicians say they will fight the cuts, because New York is the center of the U.S. AIDS epidemic. The programs that were cut had the highest enrollment of poor blacks, women and Hispanics, meaning that many patients will lose the level of medical care that may have included free medications and car-fare to the clinics. The programs were cut in a peer review process in which experts judge all the sites on factors including number of patients and quality of research. "AZT Slashes HIV Rates in Newborns" USA Today (01/30/96) P. 1D; Painter, Kim The number of babies born infected with HIV has decreased significantly in some areas thanks to a 1994 study, researcher said Monday. The study showed that the drug anti-HIV AZT reduced transmission of HIV from mothers to children by two-thirds, if given during pregnancy and just after birth. The proof that the strategy is working was presented at the Third Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Washington, D.C. In North Carolina, for example, the infection rate in children of HIV positive mothers dropped from 21 percent in 1993 to 8.5 percent in 1994. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Susan Fiscus reports that the rate of transmission in babies who were treated was less than 6 percent, compared to 19 percent in untreated infants. Similar trends were found in other areas, but Robert Biggar of the National Cancer Institute cautions that the result may not be found throughout the country. "Administration to Seek Repeal of Military HIV Ban" Washington Post (01/27/96) P. A11; Priest, Dana Although President Clinton will sign the defense authorization bill recently passed by Congress, the administration announced Friday that it will try to repeal the provision forcing the discharge of all HIV-positive service members. The provision was criticized by AIDS activists and the White House AIDS policy office. The administration may seek to repeal the policy by claiming, in a Justice Department lawsuit, that the measure is unconstitutional. Several AIDS advocacy groups, who claim the bill is discriminatory, said they would also challenge the bill in class-action suits. Michael McCurry, a White House spokesman, said the administration is working with members of the House and Senate to reverse the policy before it takes effect, six months after it is signed. "HIV and DOD" Washington Post (01/30/96) P. A14 In a Washington Post editorial, the editors argue that the proposed law to force the discharge of all HIV-positive military personnel is discrimination that would not be allowed in the private sector. They point out that, since the discovery of HIV in the early 1980s, the Department of Defense has kept HIV-infected military personnel in their positions until they were unable to work. When they could not work, the policy has been to give them medical discharges, disability benefits, and medical care for themselves and their families. Under the proposed law, a part of the Department of Defense authorization bill, people with the virus would be discharged immediately, and would not receive medical discharges, disability benefits, or medical care for their families. The editors claim that the proposed policy change does not make sense, that current policies are sufficient. "Dow Closes Above 5,300 on Rate-Cut Hopes" New York Times (01/30/96) P. D8; Sloane, Leonard Drug stocks rose yesterday, with Merck increasing 1 after a study was released showing that an experimental AIDS drug reduced HIV to undetectable levels. Johnson & Johnson rose 1, and Rhone-Poulenc Rorer increased 4 1/4. "Blood Liability Put at $1-Billion" Toronto Globe and Mail (01/29/96) P. A1; Picard, Andre The estimated cost to the Canadian government of lawsuits from people who received tainted blood could be more than C$1 billion, documents released under the Access to Information Act reveal. The average award to people who got HIV from the blood was estimated to be C$3 million, and legal costs of C$150,000 are added for each lawsuit. At the time of the estimate, 1989, Health Canada thought there would be about 1,500 people affected. Now twice that many are expected. Several assistance programs have been set up by the federal government, the provinces, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies. To get the money, however, those infected had to promise not to sue the federal government, the provinces and their institutions, the Red Cross and a number of insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. Compensation has been one of the few issues not investigated in Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada. "AIDS Trials Take on Peer Review" Science (01/05/96) Vol.271, No.5245, P. 20; Cohen, Jon Some members of the largest AIDS drug testing network, the adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), say the peer reviewers who decide their funding are not knowledgeable enough to make such decisions. The peer review process generated some concern last year when researchers objected to the reviewers decisions. Some researchers say the original review panels are too sanitized against insider influence, and therefore comprised of non experts. The funding agency, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, admits it had trouble finding reviewers who did not have some conflict of interest, but that 80 percent of the people selected had M.D.s, PhD.s, or both. Researchers were unhappy with the reviewers' rankings, however, and concluded that they did not know enough about AIDS research to make the best decisions. The reviewers, though, say the applications that got lower rankings were just not as good as others. The NIAID reconsidered the rankings and expanded the number of research sites to be funded This restored funding for some of the disappointed researchers, including a group at Harvard that had helped start the program 8 years ago. "Fighting Infectious Disease Threats via Research: A Talk with Anthony S. Fauci" Journal of the American Medical Association (01/17/96) Vol.275, No.3, P. 173; Stephenson, Joan In an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association, Anthony Fauci--director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)--explores his view of the battle against infectious disease and the role the public and private sector should play. Fauci is a leading AIDS researcher and served as director of the Office of AIDS Research before it was separated from the NIAID in 1994. Fauci said, to battle emerging and re-emerging diseases, the NIAID is involved in basic and clinical research to identify, treat, and vaccinate against emerging diseases. He said one of the most serious constraints is lack of funding, and allocating resources to unidentified threats. He advocates coordination with the private sector to develop new drugs and vaccines. Fauci observed that practicing physicians' role in handling infectious disease is "to be alert to the possibility of such infections, as were the physicians who first noted the emergence of [what turned out to be] HIV in California and New York." He added that "better security and support for biomedical research" would attract and keep more people in biomedical careers. For the future, Fauci hopes the public will become more aware of the threats of emerging microbes and lend more support to efforts to detect and respond to them.