Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 09:41:18 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary March 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 ************************************************************ "Learning from the Tragedy of AIDS" "Across the USA: South Dakota" "U.S. Government Begins Testing Celgene's..." "Bleckner's Melodrama; a Minimalist's Quietude" "The Reliable Source: Louganis Threatened" "Chronicle: Harold H. Koh" "Child AIDS Victims in Romania Face Prejudice" "Hemet Schools Scrap Classes in Sex Education" "Mechanism of Inhibition of HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase by Nonnucleoside Inhibitors" "Changes in Taste Associated with Intravenous Administration of Pentamidine" "Fire In Our House" ************************************************************ "Learning from the Tragedy of AIDS" Philadelphia Inquirer (03/10/95) P. A4; Shaw, Donna On Wednesday, Donald Francis, a retired epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), testified in Canada before the Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System. One of the first scientists to study AIDS, Francis testified that the CDC made a mistake in not being more forceful in the early days of AIDS. He admitted that the exact cause of AIDS had not been identified in the early years of the epidemic. He noted, however, that lack of public knowledge had not prevented public health officials from taking strong measures to block other threats, such as Legionnaires' disease and toxic shock syndrome. Francis also said that there was little hesitation among government officials to issue early, written warnings to health-care workers about tainted blood. That effort began in November 1982, long before HIV was identified. The warnings came just four months after the National Hemophilia Foundation first informed its members that the CDC had found three HIV-infected hemophiliacs. Francis said that he and Bruce Evatt, the foundation's main contact at the CDC, were shocked to see that the foundation's newsletter urged people to continue using Factor VIII. The newsletter said that although a virus might be causing the disease, there was little risk and that the "CDC is not recommending any change in blood product use." Francis claimed that he and Evatt never said any such thing. "Across the USA: South Dakota" USA Today (03/10/95) P. 6A South Dakota has the lowest rate of AIDS cases in the United States, according to a state report. In 1994, 24 new cases of HIV infection were reported. "U.S. Government Begins Testing Celgene's..." PR Newswire (03/09/95) Celgene Corp. has announced that it is joining forces with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to test Synovir, or thalidomide, for treatment of HIV/AIDS. Phase I studies will be sponsored and conducted by NIAID. Dr. Gilla Kaplan of The Rockefeller University, a Celgene collaborator, originally demonstrated thalidomide's in vitro efficacy against HIV. The principal investigator of the trial, which will be conducted by the AIDS Clinical Trials Group, is Dr. Hedy Teppler of Thomas Jefferson University. "Bleckner's Melodrama; a Minimalist's Quietude" New York Times (03/10/95) P. C23; Kimmelman, Michael Two artists, whose works are being exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, both deal with real-life issues, such as AIDS. Ross Bleckner has combined Op Art effects with themes involving death and dying. Bleckner has reinforced the view that his work's melancholia is a sincere reaction to AIDS by filling his dimly lighted pictures with urns, candelabra, flowers, and other funerary motifs, as well as giving them titles that explicitly refer to AIDS and death. Felix Gonzalez-Torres allusively explores themes--such as Minimalism, AIDS, and the metaphoric possibility of light--that Bleckner investigates as well. Bleckner's work, however, has received more attention, not only because he is a prominent society figure, but because his work appears to address big and timely concerns involving the vitality of abstract painting and the relationship between real-life issues and art. "The Reliable Source: Louganis Threatened" Washington Post (03/10/95) P. C3; Romano, Lois Because of the threats that Greg Louganis has received since revealing he has AIDS, Lambda Rising--a Washington, D.C., bookstore that caters to the gay community--said that extra security precautions were taken at the Olympic diver's book signing on Wednesday. Nearly 2,000 people waited in the wind and pouring rain to see Louganis--and 300 ended up being turned away. "I have been stressing security at all the stores he has been going to," said Tom Perry, publicity manager for Random House. "There's always that lunatic fringe." Louganis' autobiography, "Breaking the Surface," is already in its seventh printing, with 255,000 copies in circulation. "Chronicle: Harold H. Koh" New York Times (03/10/95) P. B2; Brozan, Nadine Harold H. Koh, a professor of international law at Yale Law School, and about 500 other guests tonight will pay tribute to Michael Ratner, former legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, for his work battling human rights violations around the world. Koh and Ratner worked closely when they led a group of Yale law students in an effort to release HIV-positive Haitians being held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. "That was a true labor of love," said Koh. "He brought hundreds of Haitians from Guantanamo to the United States who would still be sitting there." "Child AIDS Victims in Romania Face Prejudice" Reuters (03/09/95); Dascalu, Roxana In Butimanu, Romania, frightened villagers have ostracized five-year-old Sorina Preda--who is dying of AIDS--and her mother, Geta, who is HIV-positive. "I'm a nobody now. I used to earn some money working on people's land, or helping them at autumn harvest. Now nobody wants to hire me," said the 25-year-old Geta. Last year, doctors informed the mother of three that she was infected with HIV and that her daughter Sorina had AIDS. Geta believes that she contracted the virus during one of her five abortions and that Sorina became infected when she had a blood transfusion in the hospital. The Preda family survives on a state child allowance worth 19,000 lei, or about $10 a month. The family depends of the Romanian AIDS charity ARAS, whose volunteers drove to Butimanu one Saturday with cakes and presents for Sorina's fifth birthday. ARAS is also helping Iasmina Calinciuc and her mother in Iasi, Romania. The Calinciucs are suing the local hospital and the Ministry of Health because they claim that Iasmina became HIV-infected in Iasi Hospital in 1992. This is Romania's first AIDS court case and lawyers hope it will set a precedent for other children who have become infected. "Hemet Schools Scrap Classes in Sex Education" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (03/09/95) P. B1; Gorman, Tom Due to a costly lawsuit challenging the use of a sex education curriculum that advocates abstinence and avoids mention of contraception, trustees of California's Hemet Unified School District have opted to eliminate the program. On Tuesday, the school board voted 4-to-3 to teach only the state-mandated AIDS health education. The board said it would rather offer no sex education to seventh- and ninth-graders than offer a program that involves discussions of contraception. The district was sued in October by parents who said three programs--"Sex Respect," "Teen-Aid," and "Choosing the Best"--violated state curriculum guidelines. They also claimed that the programs were distorted and contained misinformation and inaccuracies. The lawsuit was supported by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the civil liberties advocacy group People for the American Way. Although sex education is not mandatory in California, most school districts offer it in some form, and most include some discussion of contraception. "Mechanism of Inhibition of HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase by Nonnucleoside Inhibitors" Science (02/17/95) Vol. 267, No. 5200, P. 988; Spence, Rebecca A.; Kati, Warren M.; Anderson, Karen S. et al. Spence et al. studied the mechanism of inhibition of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase by three nonnucleoside inhibitors. Nevirapine, O-TIBO, and CI-TIBO each bind to a hydrophobic pocket in the enzyme-DNA complex near the active site catalytic residues. The researchers used pre-steady-state kinetic analysis to determine the mechanism of inhibition by these noncompetitive inhibitors. Analysis of the pre-steady-state burst of DNA polymerization showed that the inhibitors blocked the chemical reaction, but did not interfere with nucleotide binding or the nucleotide-induced conformational change. In the presence of saturating concentrations of the inhibitors, however, the nucleoside triphosphate bound tightly but nonproductively. The findings suggest that an inhibitor that combines the functionalities of a nonnucleoside inhibitor and a nucleotide analog could bind very tightly and specifically to reverse transcriptase and could be very useful in the treatment of AIDS. "Changes in Taste Associated with Intravenous Administration of Pentamidine" Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (01/95-02/95) Vol. 6, No. 1, P. 43; Glover, Jennifer; Dibble, Suzanne; Miaskowski, Christine In an attempt to describe the incidence of taste changes associated with intravenous pentamidine isethionate (IV PENT) treatment and to determine the factors that affect the taste changes, Glover et al. studied 18 adult males with AIDS who were receiving outpatient treatment for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) with IV PENT. All of the participants reported an unpleasant taste after treatment. While 89 percent described the taste as metallic, 67 percent experienced a bitter taste. The participants said that factors such as sweet foods and drinks, juice, and chocolate improved the unpleasant taste. The items most frequently cited as making the taste worse were milk and tap water. The study suggests that taste changes associated with IV PENT occur and produce accompanying decreases in food intake and appetite. Healthcare providers caring for patients receiving IV PENT should assess for alterations in taste and inform patients of them, as well as the concomitant decrease in appetite. "Fire In Our House" MayDay Media (03/09/95) Despite the wealth of information supporting needle exchange programs and their ability to prevent HIV,many exchanges remain illegal and underfunded. The AIDS epidemic continues and people are dying. "Fire in Our House" is a 10-minute video that illustrates the impact that needle exchange programs have had on addicts, their families and communities. As a strategic tool that personalizes the terms of the debate, "Fire in Our House" increases public awareness about needle exchange, influences policies and inspires grassroots mobilization. The cost of the tape is $15.00. For a free preview of "Fire in Our House" and Viewer's Guide, contact: MayDay Media, 1077 30th St. N.W., Suite 102, Washington, DC 20007, (202) 338-1094, Fax (202) 342-2660.