Date: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 10:28:12 +0500 From: gharaghs{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/gharaghs}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 3/26/96 AIDS Daily Summary March 26, 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 ************************************************************ "S. Africa Insurer Offers Cover for HIV Infection" "AIDS Drug Is Approved by 4 European Countries" "Review & Outlook: AIDS Babies" "Drawbacks of Mandatory HIV Tests, Counseling" "AIDS Conference Adopts Hopeful Spirit" "Experimental AIDS Vaccine Volunteer Infected" "Anti-HIV Agent Inhibits Early Step in HIV Life Cycle" "Thalidomide: Facilitates Weight Gain in Persons with HIV and M. Tuberculosis Infections" "Persistent Lack of Detectable HIV-1 Antibody in a Person with HIV Infection--Utah, 1995" "Pregnant Nurse Won't Treat HIV Patient" ************************************************************ "S. Africa Insurer Offers Cover for HIV Infection" Financial Times (03/26/96) P. 4; Ashurst, Mark In South Africa, Metropolitan Life has offered the world's first commercial life insurance policy for people with HIV. At least 1.5 million South Africans have the virus, though 80 percent have not developed AIDS. Industry observers note that the plateau of HIV infection in developed countries could deter insurers in the west from developing similar policies. MetLife's coverage is limited to people aged 15 to 55 who are in the asymptomatic stages of HIV infection. The maximum death benefit is $12,800. "AIDS Drug Is Approved by 4 European Countries" Wall Street Journal (03/26/96) P. B8 NeXstar Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Boulder, CO, announced that Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, and Norway have cleared DaunoXome, the company's new drug for Kaposi's sarcoma, for marketing. NeXstar said it would begin selling the drug in Germany and the Netherlands within the next few weeks and that its marketing partner in the Nordic countries would handle the drug's sales in Finland and Norway. The drug was previously approved in Sweden and the United Kingdom. "Review & Outlook: AIDS Babies" Wall Street Journal (03/26/96) P. A18 In a Wall Street Journal editorial, the authors urge the support of an amendment to the Ryan White Care Reauthorization Act that would require mandatory HIV testing of babies born to mothers who were not tested. Members of a House-Senate conference committee are scheduled to work on the legislation on Tuesday. Studies have shown that mothers with HIV who take AZT during pregnancy lessen the chance of infecting their infants by two-thirds. Still, many mothers at risk for HIV are not tested or treated; then, their babies are born with HIV and also often go untreated. AIDS activists and feminist groups have opposed mandatory testing of newborns, arguing that it infringes on the mother's privacy. The authors note, however, that if the Ryan White CARE Act is reauthorized without the Ackerman-Coburn provision, HIV-positive infants will not be included in a measure whose title carries the name of a child that died from the disease. "Drawbacks of Mandatory HIV Tests, Counseling" Philadelphia Inquirer (03/26/96) P. A8; Smith, David Gary In a letter to the editor in the Philadelphia Inquirer, David Gary Smith, a physician at Abington Memorial Hospital, points out that mandatory HIV testing of pregnant women could keep women at risk from getting proper prenatal care. While studies have estimated that counseling women about being tested for HIV can reduce HIV transmission to newborns by 66 percent, inadequate mandatory testing, Smith says, could also have a negative impact. Smith further notes that Philadelphia's health commissioner, Estelle B. Richman, has led the way for maximizing the benefits of testing and minimizing the risks of a health-care intervention by forming an advisory board, which in December stressed the need for effective outreach and counseling for pregnant women. "AIDS Conference Adopts Hopeful Spirit" Toronto Globe and Mail (03/25/96) P. A4 AIDS Researchers and health workers say the 11th International Conference on AIDS, to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, will be optimistic and hopeful. "The mood among this group is that we are taking our understanding of the virus and its effects to unprecedented and exciting new levels," said Vancouver researcher Michael O'Shaughnessy. The conference will be held July 7 to 12 and is expected to be the most significant event of the year for researchers studying HIV. "Experimental AIDS Vaccine Volunteer Infected" Reuters (03/25/96) One of 24 volunteers participating in a test of an experimental AIDS vaccine developed by United Biomedical Inc. of Hauppauge, NY, has been infected with HIV. Dr. James Kahn of the University of California, San Francisco, reports that the individual who was infected had received four doses of the vaccine; however, the vaccine is not thought to be the source of infection because it does not contain live virus. Khan notes the trial was designed to assess the vaccine's safety, not its efficacy. "Anti-HIV Agent Inhibits Early Step in HIV Life Cycle" Reuters (03/25/96) Researchers at Sandoz in Austria and SyStemix Inc. in Palo Alto report promising results with an experimental anti-HIV compound called SID 791. SID 791 is a bicyclam, which inhibits an early step in the life cycle of HIV, presumably a step associated with the virus' entry into cells. Experiments in mice suggest that the compound alone, or in combination with other antivirals, could decrease the viral load in HIV-infected patients, and that HIV therapy should target the virus' entry into the cell. "Thalidomide: Facilitates Weight Gain in Persons with HIV and M. Tuberculosis Infections" Reuters (03/25/96) Thalidomide may help people with HIV and other infections gain weight, researchers at New York University Medical Center and Rockefeller University report. Gilla Kaplan of Rockefeller University led the study of 32 patients with HIV-1, some of whom also had tuberculosis. Kaplan says that tumor necrosis factor-alpha is made by the body to defend against infection, but it may also cause fever, weakness, and wasting. Thalidomide, which is known to inhibit the synthesis of TNG-alpha, might prevent continued wasting, and even help patients gain weight, the researchers surmised. "Persistent Lack of Detectable HIV-1 Antibody in a Person with HIV Infection--Utah, 1995" Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (03/08/96) Vol. 45, No. 9, P. 181; Reimer, L.; Brokopp, C.; Mottice, S.; et al. Last year, a patient in Utah was found to be infected with HIV even though he tested negative for the HIV-antibody beyond the expected "window period." The patient--who experienced fatigue, weight loss, and a respiratory illness--had frequently donated plasma, and each donation was also negative for the antibody. However, his wife, who had sexual contact with a man who later died of AIDS, tested positive for HIV. The patient said he had not used injection drugs, had a transfusion, or had male-to-male sexual contact. Blood samples from the patient were analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. Several test kits were used, and while some showed no reaction, some showed a weak reaction, and a test for HIV-1 p24 antigen showed positive results. An editorial accompanying the report says that the man probably was infected by his wife and that the negative tests were probably a result of an atypical host response to the virus--an occurrence which has been reported in a small number of patients before. "Pregnant Nurse Won't Treat HIV Patient" American Medical News (03/04/96) Vol. 39, No. 9, P. 22 A federal appellate court in Alabama has affirmed summary judgment of a hospital sued for discrimination by a pregnant nurse who refused to treat an HIV-positive patient. The nurse, who was in her first trimester of pregnancy, refused to treat a cryptococcal meningitis patient who was HIV-positive. She was especially concerned about contracting one of the opportunistic diseases associated with HIV because she had gestational diabetes and was immunocompromised. The nurse--who was fired for her decision, but resigned before the termination took effect--sued the hospital four months later when she learned that it had not assumed payment of her student loans, which was part of her employment contract. The hospital was granted partial summary judgment, which the nurse appealed and the appellate court affirmed. The court held that the nurse failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination. She did not show that hospital rules allowed a pregnant nurse to refuse to treat an HIV-positive patient or that the hospital policy concerning patients with HIV resulted in disproportionate impact on pregnant nurses.