Date: Mon, 10 Apr 1995 14:07:33 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary April 10, 1995 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 ************************************************************ "Marijuana Defense" "Positive Thinking Key to AIDS Group" "Alton Meister, 72, a Biochemist Who Advanced AIDS Research" "Building Slated for AIDS Housing Razed" "Mozambique Urges People to Make Love with 'Skill'" "Rapper's AIDS Death May Teach Others" "Anonymous Donor Saves AIDS Hospice" "OIC Muslim Scholars Issue Draft Fatwas on AIDS" "Clearance of HIV Infection in a Perinatally Infected Infant" "Herpesvirus-Like DNA Sequences in Patients with Mediterranean Kaposi's Sarcoma" ************************************************************ "Marijuana Defense" Washington Post (04/10/95) P. B3; Meyer, Eugene L. Once just a farmer in Welcome, Md., Jerome Edward Mensch is now the first defendant in the state to be permitted to raise medical use of marijuana as a defense to the charge of illegally manufacturing and possessing the drug. On Nov. 12, 1993, Mensch was arrested and charged with possession of 10 grams of marijuana and with manufacturing with intent to sell. Mensch, who is infected with HIV, claimed he needed the substance for his physical well-being, to prevent him from experiencing the exhausting side effects of drugs he needed to maintain his health. In February, Circuit Court Judge George W. Bowling ruled that Mensch could use the defense. Bowling said that testimony offered in a hearing by and on behalf of Mensch was "sufficient to raise a factual issue as to the defense of medical necessity." The jury trial is scheduled to begin May 23. "Positive Thinking Key to AIDS Group" Washington Times (04/10/95) P. C9 Youth Positive DC is an organization aimed at education and peer-based support for young persons infected with HIV. Although many programs deal with preventing HIV, the field was open for helping the increasing population of teenagers and young adults faced with the diagnosis. A study of patients at Children's Hospital found that the number of teenagers aged 13 to 19 who tested HIV-positive increased 400 percent in five years. Youth Positive founder Demetri Moshoyannis and six other youths across the country were recently selected by Youth Service America to become the first group of social entrepreneurs to begin their own community organizations. The Fund for Social Entrepreneurs will provide $36,000 over three years to each of the recipients. Youth Service America will supervise their progress and offer training sessions in management and project development. "Alton Meister, 72, a Biochemist Who Advanced AIDS Research" New York Times (04/10/95) P. B14; Thomas Jr., Robert McG. On Thursday, Alton Meister--a biochemist whose research became part of the fight against AIDS and other diseases--died in Connecticut at age 72. His wife said the cause of death was the combined complications of a stroke and infections he later acquired during interim treatment at New York Hospital, where Meister had been chief biochemist for many years. Meister had a feel for implications--particularly his notion that glutathione, an amino acid compound, could play an important role in the body's immune system. His suspicion was partially confirmed when it was discovered that HIV-infected persons have reduced levels of glutathione. Meister helped transform glutathione into a drug that has shown early promise of reducing the growth of HIV in laboratory tests. He is survived by his wife, two sons, five grandchildren, and a sister. "Building Slated for AIDS Housing Razed" Boston Globe (04/08/95) P. 21; McLaughlin, Jeff Originally, Cape Cod's first affordable housing for people with AIDS, a 10-unit studio apartment building in Provincetown, was to be converted from a century-old, town-owned house. Now, however, the building will be built to the same design and for the same cost, but with predominantly new materials. On Thursday, a subcontractor accidentally demolished the existing structure, instead of just a small cottage on the property. "What we lost was an old facade, not a dream," said Provincetown Housing Authority director Greg Goolishian Friday. The contractor "has promised to rebuild the main house" exactly as called for in the architect's plan without additional cost, said Foley House president Debbie Meguerdichian. The house will be named after Alice Foley, former town nurse and founder of the Provincetown AIDS Support Group. "Mozambique Urges People to Make Love with 'Skill'" Reuters (04/08/95) On Saturday, the government of Mozambique counseled its citizens to make love with skill, cleverness, and versatility--the approximate translation of a new brand name of condom launched to stop the spread of AIDS. "Jeito," a colloquial Portugese word, was chosen after market research in the former Portugese colony where officials estimate that as many as 400,000 adults are infected with HIV. "Make love with me only with jeito," says a Radio Mozambique jingle, advertising a bundle of four condoms for the equivalent of seven U.S. cents. The condom will be sold in pharmacies, markets, bars, discotheques, and other places which serve people most at risk on contracting HIV. "Rapper's AIDS Death May Teach Others" St. Louis Post-Dispatch (04/07/95) P. 15C; Freeman, Gregory AIDS is an issue that has largely been ignored by the rap community, in part because of homophobia and the "macho" image that rap portrays, writes Gregory Freeman in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Rapper Eazy E's death forces another community to look closely at the frightening prospect of AIDS. The death of tennis star Arthur Ashe, the HIV diagnosis of basketball great Magic Johnson, and the AIDS diagnosis of champion diver Greg Louganis have forced the sports world to confront the disease. The death of Eazy E, whose real name is Eric Wright, may have an impact on young people who did not feel as close to someone like Magic Johnson. Wright's death has triggered interest in AIDS among minority teenagers in St. Louis, said Erise Williams, executive director of Blacks Assisting Blacks Against AIDS. The death of Eric Wright should make it clear that AIDS is an equal opportunity killer, writes the author. Hopefully, it will make some people realize the danger of having multiple sex partners, something that too many rap groups glamorize, Freeman concludes. "Anonymous Donor Saves AIDS Hospice" Philadelphia Inquirer (04/08/95) P. B3 An unknown donor has donated two-thirds of the $3,000 required to avoid closing an AIDS hospice. Last Monday, Joy Ufema, director of the York House Hospice, said she needed the money by this weekend for salaries and expenses or she would be forced to close. "OIC Muslim Scholars Issue Draft Fatwas on AIDS" Reuters (04/07/95); Hauser, Christine Islamic scholars representing Islamic affairs ministries from Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) countries said that HIV carriers who knowingly transmit the virus should be punished for premeditated murder if the recipient dies. The scholars also said that a pregnant woman who has AIDS does not have the right to an abortion even though she might infect her child. More than 140 scholars from 51 Muslim nations form the Council of Islamic Jurisprudence, which issued the decisions after its recent annual meeting in the United Arab Emirates. The decisions will only become law if they are issued by Islamic officials in the countries involved. This is the first time the council has issued fatwas, or edicts, on AIDS, said Mahmmoud Salem, a council official. The statement also recommended that steps be taken during the annual haj to Saudi Arabia, which starts next month, "to confirm pilgrims are free of contagious diseases, especially AIDS." "Clearance of HIV Infection in a Perinatally Infected Infant" New England Journal of Medicine (03/30/95) Vol. 332, No. 13, P. 833; Bryson, Yvonne J.; Pang, Shen; Wei, Lian S. et al. Bryson et al. present the case of an infant who was identified shortly after birth as HIV-positive, but whose infection appears to have cleared. During her fourth month of pregnancy, the mother was diagnosed with asymptomatic HIV infection. The baby was delivered vaginally at 36 weeks, received no blood products, and was not breast-fed. At 19 and 51 days of age, HIV-1 was detected by culture of the baby's peripheral-blood mononuclear cells. After one year, the infant was HIV-seronegative. Several subsequent cultures and tests by PCR have also been negative for HIV. Currently, at five years of age, the child remains HIV-seronegative and exhibits no evidence of HIV infection. The researchers conclude that although the infant was perinatally infected with HIV-1, the infection later cleared, leaving the child without detectable HIV-1 infection five years later. "Herpesvirus-Like DNA Sequences in Patients with Mediterranean Kaposi's Sarcoma" Lancet (03/25/95) Vol. 345, No. 8952, P. 761; Dupin, N.; Grandadam, M.; Calvez, V. et al. Chang et al. identified DNA sequences closely related to herpesvirus in AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Dupin et al. detected herpesvirus-like DNA sequences in Kaposi's lesions and unaffected skin from patients with Mediterranean KS. The sequences were not found in people without the disease. Semi-quantitative PCR identified significantly more herpesvirus-like sequences in Kaposi's lesions than in normal skin. The findings emphasize the theory that an infectious agent closely related to gamma-herpesvirus is involved in the pathogenesis of Mediterranean and AIDS-related KS.