Date: Thu, 3 Oct 1996 09:47:57 -0400 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 10/03/96 AIDS Daily Summary October 3, 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 ****************************************************** "African With HIV Is Granted Asylum" "Life After Death: New AIDS Drug Brings Hope to Provincetown, But Unexpected Woes" "Across the USA: Minnesota" "California Law Chief Takes Drug Fight to 'Doonesbury'" "Letter Writer Finally Gets White House Attention" "Protein May Aid HIV Treatment Without Side-Effects" "Feature: Senegal--The Spectre of AIDS" "Baltimore May Head AIDS Vaccine Panel" "Adultery: A New Furor Over an Old Sin" ****************************************************** "African With HIV Is Granted Asylum" Washington Times (10/03/96) P. A1; Larson, Ruth An African computer engineer was granted asylum by a New York immigration judge on the grounds that he is HIV-positive and fears that he would be alienated if he were forced to return home. Earlier this year, the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV-AIDS recommended the lifting of a 1993 ban on allowing people with communicable diseases to immigrate to the United States. The council suggested that people with HIV should not be deported and that they should be granted asylum. The African engineer applied for asylum based on his HIV status in 1991, after deportation proceedings began against him. He said that he was unable to get a job in his country, and that drugs to treat his illness were not accessible there. "Life After Death: New AIDS Drug Brings Hope to Provincetown, But Unexpected Woes" Wall Street Journal (10/03/96) P. A1; Carton, Barbara Provincetown, Mass., a popular gay resort in the 1970s, has seen its steady rate of deaths attributed to AIDS slow due to the use of powerful new drugs. One of every 15 residents in the town now has AIDS, and 393 have died of the disease. The new protease inhibitors, combined with older AIDS drugs, are helping AIDS patients to live longer, however, impacting both the town's economy and atmosphere. This hope for survival has brought elation to the residents of Provincetown, but, at the same time, has generated anxiety about the unknown path ahead. Patients wonder if they should return to work, and how they can pay for the expensive drugs. With AIDS patients living longer, the town has more difficulty meeting the demand for housing assistance. The economy is not prepared to sustain full-time work for recovering patients, and many say they do not want to return to their former careers. The patients have also voiced concerns about losing aid if they start new ones. The new optimism and energy in Provincetown is evident in the social scene, but counselors worry that people may become too hopeful and stop practicing safe sex. "Across the USA: Minnesota" USA Today (10/03/96) P. 10A The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded a $2.8 million grant to five AIDS research programs conducted by the University of Minnesota and the state health department. The projects will study the effectiveness of CDC prevention programs at controlling the spread of AIDS. "California Law Chief Takes Drug Fight to 'Doonesbury'" New York Times (10/03/96) P. A14; Golden, Tim California Attorney General Dan Lungren, who was identified on Tuesday in a "Doonesbury" cartoon as the man who organized a raid of San Francisco's Cannabis Buyers' Club, called a press conference on Wednesday to criticize the strip. The club claimed to provide marijuana only for medical relief, to people suffering from illnesses like cancer and AIDS. A upcoming proposition on the California ballot will ask voters to decide whether marijuana should be legalized for medical use or not. The "Doonesbury" strip, written by Gary Trudeau, has taken up the issue, generating complaints from Lungren. "Letter Writer Finally Gets White House Attention" Washington Times (10/03/96) P. A6 Stephanie Honore, a 17-year-old from Columbus, Ohio, threatened to blow up the White House after four letters she wrote to the president were not answered. The letters concerned AIDS, education, animal rights, and the environment. Her fifth letter, which also wished President Clinton dead and directed an obscenity at him, got Stephanie a visit by Secret Service agents, but no charges will be filed since no criminal intent was apparent, the Secret Service said. "Protein May Aid HIV Treatment Without Side-Effects" Reuters (10/02/96) Scientists at the University of Bern, Switzerland, announced Wednesday that they have found a protein that can help treat HIV. Marco Baggiolini and colleagues wrote in a letter to the journal Nature that they found that a modified form of a natural chemokine known as RANTES blocks HIV's entry into certain white blood cells without the side effect similar treatments cause. Chemokines bind to cell-surface receptors, which HIV needs to infect a cell. "Feature: Senegal--The Spectre of AIDS" PANA Wire Service (10/02/96); Ndiaye, Cheikh Tidiane In the town of Ourossogui, Senegal, the number of HIV infections is increasing--a trend attributed to men who travel for long periods and bring the virus home with them. Among the cases recorded for 1996, two-thirds of the carriers were men. Prospective blood donors are often found to be infected, including one man who was to give blood to his wife who was giving birth. An education program has been launched, but is ineffective due to a language barrier and a lack of teaching materials. "Baltimore May Head AIDS Vaccine Panel" Science (09/20/96) Vol. 273, No. 5282, P. 1647 David Baltimore, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, may be named director of the new AIDS Vaccine Research Committee, an organization being set up to take over the U.S. government's AIDS vaccine research effort. The new group is being created at the suggestion of a panel of scientists who conducted a review last spring of AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health. The panel recommended that the NIH's $125 million AIDS vaccine research engine be restructured and operated by a committee directed by "a distinguished, non-government scientist." Baltimore said he has been discussing the position with government officials, but noted that he has not made a decision yet and that he does not have a deadline. "Adultery: A New Furor Over an Old Sin" Newsweek (09/30/96) Vol. 128, No. 14, P. 54; Adler, Jerry Americans' attitudes about adultery have changed over the last two decades, as have their views of marriage and fidelity. A 1974 survey found that, while a majority of every age group said that adultery was "always wrong," the smallest percentage, 59 percent, was among those aged 18 to 29. Now in their 40s, 74 percent of this same group condemned adultery. People in their 20s now have the most conservative sexual values, the survey found. Other results of a Newsweek poll indicated that half of those surveyed said adultery was wrong because it is immoral, 25 percent disapproved because it can end a marriage, while 17 percent said it was wrong because of the risk of AIDS and other diseases.