Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 13:01:30 -0400 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 06/20/96 AIDS Daily Summary June 20, 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 National AIDS Clearinghouse, or any other organization. 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 ****************************************************** "5 Research Teams Identify Key Step in HIV Infection" "Lifeline: HIV and Birth" "Bad Blood Left Her Life in Ruins" "BioChem Shares Plummet" "Lawsuits by Hemophiliacs to Result in Special Losses" "Kiki Mason, a Writer on AIDS, Dies at 36" "Spine-Tingling" "Spread of Intestinal Infection Baffles Scientists" "Viral Load Approved; Free Test Offered to All in U.S. With HIV" ****************************************************** "5 Research Teams Identify Key Step in HIV Infection" Washington Post (06/20/96) P. A14; Brown, David An essential receptor for HIV to infect the body's immune cells was simultaneously found by five different research teams. While the finding will not have an immediate impact on treating HIV infection, it will provide a new target for future drugs. The research was published this week in the journals Cell and Nature, and another paper will be published next week in Science. The finding, that a receptor called CKR5 must exist on the surface of immune system cells for HIV to infect them, adds to previous knowledge of HIV's infection process. Scientists had found another receptor, called CD4, that is necessary for the virus to infect a cell, but were seeking the other critical element. A co-receptor called fusin was identified earlier this year, but was found to only be necessary for a type of HIV found in the late stages of HIV infection. CKR5 appears to be needed for the type of virus that is transmitted between people and infects cells initially. "Lifeline: HIV and Birth" USA Today (06/20/96) P. 1D Delivering a baby immediately after the mother's water breaks may be important to reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to the child, researchers report in today's New England Journal of Medicine. A baby born more than four hours after a woman's water breaks is twice as likely to be infected as one delivered sooner. Being exposed to the mother's body fluids may make the difference, researchers speculate. The study was conducted, however, before pregnant women and newborns were routinely treated with AZT, so shorter labors may not have an affect on women and babies treated with the drug, the researchers warn. "Bad Blood Left Her Life in Ruins" Philadelphia Inquirer (06/20/96) P. A1; Shaw, Donna Judith Trullinger, who lost her only son to AIDS after he became infected with HIV through tainted blood products he used to treat his hemophilia, is now in severe debt, without support from government agencies. She would be eligible to receive at least $100,000 under a settlement being offered by four pharmaceutical companies, but the money could prove to be a disadvantage for several reasons. Trullinger, for example, would have to repay income taxes she owes, and the government could deny her potential benefits based on financial need. The settlement proposal could fail because of the benefits issue, since many of the HIV-positive hemophiliacs depend on public assistance. Lawyers for the hemophiliacs are trying to resolve the issue, possibly by including a provision that the government would not have access to the money from the settlement. Another solution may be for the government to compensate HIV-infected hemophiliacs through a special fund. "BioChem Shares Plummet" Toronto Globe and Mail (06/19/96) P. B1; Northfield, Stephen BioChem Pharma saw its shares drop Tuesday over concerns that its AIDS drug 3TC would face competition from a drug being developed by Glaxo Wellcome. 3TC had won 35 percent of the North American market since it was introduced earlier this year, passing sales of AZT, Glaxo's older drug that had been the dominant AIDS treatment. An article in Monday's issue of Barron's reported that Glaxo is likely to release an AIDS drug to challenge 3TC in July. Some analysts said the situation is based on rumors and that the drug is actually an improvement of Glaxo's AZT and could be used in combination with 3TC. "Lawsuits by Hemophiliacs to Result in Special Losses" Wall Street Journal (06/20/96) P. B4 Japanese pharmaceutical company Green Cross has said that it will report at least 3 billion yen, or $27.8 million, in extraordinary losses for the year ending March 1997 resulting from lawsuits brought by HIV-infected hemophiliacs. The number of plaintiffs who are suing the company for supplying unheated blood products that potentially carried HIV has increased by 120 since May, raising the company's legal fees by 1.4 billion yen. More lawsuits this fiscal year could further increase the drug maker's losses. "Kiki Mason, Writer on AIDS, Dies at 36" New York Times (06/20/96) P. D21 Kiki Mason, an AIDS advocate and writer, died of the disease on Wednesday at the age of 36. Mason served as vice president of the board of the Community Research Initiative on AIDS, a nonprofit organization that explores new medical treatments, and wrote a column for Poz magazine about his own struggle with AIDS. He was active in the gay-rights movement in New York in the 1980s, and in 1993 founded a group that advocated increased treatment for people with Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-related cancer. "Spine-Tingling" Washington Times (06/20/96) P. A5 ACT UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, is planning a protest today at Democratic Party headquarters in Philadelphia. The demonstration is designed to make sure President Clinton does not allow the state to waive welfare and health care. The group claimed that it would give Clinton "a spine so that he can resist his urges to attempt to please ultra-conservatives seeking to tear down key safeguards for people with HIV/AIDS and poor people." "Spread of Intestinal Infection Baffles Scientists" New York Times (06/20/96) P. A14; Altman, Lawrence K. Since early May, a few hundred cases of intestinal infection caused by an exotic microbe have been reported in Canada and the United States. Health officials are perplexed by the outbreak of cyclospora, which causes cramping, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, fever, and fatigue. The microbe has appeared in several areas, including New York City, New Jersey, Houston, Florida, Boston, and Toronto. Strawberries are one suspected carrier, although some people became infected without eating them. The Ontario health department has warned people to wash strawberries imported from the United States, and has recommended that people with compromised immune systems, including AIDS and cancer patients, not eat the berries. "Viral Load Approved; Free Test Offered to All in U.S. With HIV" AIDS Treatment News (06/07/96) No. 248; P. 1; James, John S. On June 3, when the Food and Drug Administration approved the first viral load test for clinical use in the United States, the manufacturer, Hoffmann-La Roche, said each HIV-infected person in the country would be eligible for two free baseline tests. It is recommended that two tests be performed, and that a patient not be tested within a month of an acute illness or immunization. The new test, called the Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor, is based on polymerase chain reaction, one of three models for measuring viral load. Although viral load testing has been available to U.S. doctors for two years, the approval of Roche's test makes such testing more reliable. A commentary accompanying the article, discusses the controversy over approved uses of the test. At issue is whether the test would be recommended for prognosis only or also for monitoring a patient's progress over time. A statement from the FDA on clinical use of the test says that while the value in monitoring viral load has not been firmly established, it is now being evaluated.