Date: Wed, 13 Mar 1996 10:29:50 +0500 From: "Vaux, Lenore" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 03/13/96 AIDS Daily Summary March 13, 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 ************************************************************ "Eager for Gay History and Finding Library Allies" "Japanese Leaders in Logjam" "Dingwall Wants Meeting to 'Renew Blood System'" "Somatic Growth of HIV-Positive Infants Impaired" "HIV Diagnosis Before Birth on the Increase" "FDA Official Rebuts Criticism of Drug Approval Process" "Gilead Sciences Makes Vistide Available in France" "Continued Sexual Risk Behavior Among HIV-Seropositive, Drug-Using Men--Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; and San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1993" "Montagnier Sets Up AIDS Research Center" "Marshals Pay AIDS Activists" ************************************************************ "Eager for Gay History and Finding Library Allies" New York Times (03/13/96) P. A12; Dunlap, David W. Public libraries and museums in cities across the United States have begun to allocate space for exhibits of gay and lesbian culture. The New York Public Library added the exhibit "Becoming Visible: The Legacy of Stonewall" in 1994 and has also focused on AIDS-related materials. The library has received the archives of the AIDS protest and advocacy group ACT UP/New York. The San Francisco Public Library, the Boston Public Library, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum also have exhibits or plans for exhibits on gay and lesbian history and culture. "Japanese Leaders in Logjam" Washington Post (03/13/96) P. A15; Sullivan, Kevin Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, in office for two months, faces declining popularity as his government faces a $6.8 billion financial crisis and other conflicts. His approval rating has dropped from 61 percent in January to 36 percent now, according to a recent poll. Some possible contributing factors to the declining rate include the fact that Hashimoto's Health Ministry has been caught covering up an AIDS-related scandal, the main opposition party is holding a protest to block passage of next year's budget, and that public confidence in Japan's bureaucracy has also dropped. "Dingwall Wants Meeting to 'Renew Blood System'" Toronto Globe and Mail (03/12/96) P. A4; Picard, Andre Canadian Health Minister David Dingwall has planned a meeting of province and territory health ministers, the Canadian Red Cross Society, the Canadian Blood Agency, and consumer groups to discuss how the recommendations of a public inquiry will be implemented. Meanwhile, several provinces, the Red Cross, three pharmaceutical companies, and many individuals are posing a legal challenge to the report's findings of wrongdoing. Dingwall said he will not stop the legal challenge, as consumer groups have demanded. The inquiry's goal is to determine the causes of the tainted-blood that infected more than 1,200 hemophiliacs and transfusion recipients with HIV and to recommend changes to the blood system. Justice Horace Krever, who is leading the inquiry, has said that the system has unclear lines of accountability and authority. Dingwall is interested in reforming the program quickly to restore public confidence, which has waned with the news that Krever's report will be delayed beyond the Sept. 30 deadline. "Somatic Growth of HIV-Positive Infants Impaired" Reuters (03/12/96) Infants born infected with HIV have early and progressive decreases in linear growth, head growth, and body mass index, according to a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. The researchers found that HIV-positive infants were lighter, shorter, and leaner than exposed, but uninfected infants. The infected infants' altered growth patterns were similar to those resulting from acute and chronic malnutrition. Dr. Jack Moye Jr. led the study, which followed 282 infants of HIV-positive women from birth to 18 months Moye said that while further research is needed, the findings support the use of growth outcomes as a measure of the effects of early treatment of pediatric HIV infection and its complications. "HIV Diagnosis Before Birth on the Increase" Reuters (03/12/96) The number of women diagnosed with HIV before they become pregnant or during pregnancy is increasing, according to results from the European Collaborative Study, a study of 1,690 HIV-positive women. The percentage of HIV-positive women found to have HIV before they became pregnant rose from 7 percent in 1984 to 65 percent in 1994. The study also reported that about 13 percent of the infants born to HIV-positive women who did not know they had the virus until after delivery were breast-fed, compared to 2 percent of those born to women who knew they were HIV-positive before pregnancy. The researchers conclude that the best way to prevent HIV-positive women from breast-feeding is to determine their HIV status early. "FDA Official Rebuts Criticism of Drug Approval Process" Knight-Ridder (03/12/96); Rosenberg, Ronald Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner David Kessler said Monday that charges of U.S. drug approval delays are invalid, that the United States has access to new drugs before the United Kingdom, Italy, France, and Japan. As evidence, he cited the 72-day approval of ritonavir, a new AIDS drug developed by Abbott Laboratories. Congress is considering legislation that would attempt to speed up the approval process. Kessler, who is opposed to the proposals on the grounds that they would threaten public safety, also pointed out that the FDA has improved its drug approval time since the 1980s. "Gilead Sciences Makes Vistide Available in France" Healthwire (03/12/96) Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced Tuesday that its drug, Vistide, is now available in France under a temporary authorization program for the treatment of relapsing cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in AIDS patients who have not responded to currently available intravenous treatments. CMV retinitis is caused by a viral infection that may lead to blindness if left untreated. The drug is currently available in the United States and Canada under an expanded access program. "Continued Sexual Risk Behavior Among HIV-Seropositive, Drug-Using Men--Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; and San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1993" Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (02/23/96) Vol. 45, No. 7, P. 151; Kalichman, S.C. A 1993 study of HIV-positive men in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and San Juan, Puerto Rico who use illicit drugs found that continue to have unprotected sex. The study, which was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was based on interviews with 116 men who were injection drug users and were known to be HIV-positive. Most of the respondents were participating in two or more HIV-related services. Twenty-eight percent of the men reported having sex without a condom, and were significantly more likely than those who used condoms to report other high risk sexual behaviors, such as multiple sex partners, having oral sex, trading sex for money or drugs, and having intercourse more than 12 times in the past 30 days. An editorial accompanying the study says the results emphasize the need for HIV-infected individuals to have ongoing counseling about safe sex practices. "Montagnier Sets Up AIDS Research Center" Nature (02/22/96) Vol.379, No.6568, P. 667; Butler, Declan The Integrated Center for Clinical and Biomedical AIDS Research, founded by Luc Montagnier, a member of the French team that discovered HIV, was recently inaugurated at St. Joseph's Hospital in Paris. The $3.6 million construction costs for the center were raised via a television campaign, while the operating costs will be provided by the national AIDS research agency. Research at the center will focus on the association of various antivirals at a very early stage of HIV infection. The center will treat patients with CD4 levels greater than 500 cells per microliter, although patients are not usually treated unless their CD4 count drops below 200. The strategy raises ethical questions about treating otherwise healthy patients with drugs that cause side effects, but Montagnier says the center's focus will be patient care. A variety of markers will be used to evaluate the treatment. Other research at the center will focus on immunological aspects of the control of viral replication "Marshals Pay AIDS Activists" National Law Journal (02/19/96) Vol. 18, No. 25, P. A8 The U.S. Marshals Service has agreed to pay $20,000 to each of 10 members of the AIDS activist group ACT UP for strip-searching them after their arrests following a 1989 protest. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided last June that the strip search was unconstitutional because there was no reasonable basis for it. The Marshals settled rather than facing a damages hearing in federal court.