Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1996 10:28:07 -0400 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 07/25/96 AIDS Daily Summary July 25, 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 ****************************************************** "Second Home Test for H.I.V. Is Approved" "Doctor Is Accused of Injecting AIDS Virus" "Federal Study of Lubricant Blasted" "U.S. Patent to Be Received on Drugs to Treat HIV" "Expansion of Home for Those With AIDS Virus Upheld" "Aide Held in Theft at AIDS Facility" "The Reliable Source: Now You Know" "Virus Linked to Kaposi's Sarcoma--U.S. Study" "Cost-Effectiveness of Short-Course Zidovudine to Prevent Perinatal HIV Type 1 Infection in a Sub-Saharan African Developing Country Setting" "Double Push for New Vaccine Candidates" ****************************************************** "Second Home Test for H.I.V. Is Approved" New York Times (07/25/96) P. C9 A second home HIV test went on sale Wednesday after being approved by the Food and Drug Administration Monday. Like Johnson & Johnson's Confide, the Home Access Express test, sold by Home Access Health, is available via a toll-free number. Confide was introduced in Texas and Florida, and is now available in most of the country except New York and California. Home Access also expects to sell its test in drugstores later this year. Company spokesperson Kevin Johnson noted that all counselors on the toll-free results telephone line have "bachelors' degrees in a related discipline, such as social-service work, psychology, and counseling," and half have advanced degrees. Moreover, Johnson said, all Home Access counselors have participated in a four-week company training program. "Doctor Is Accused of Injecting AIDS Virus" Wall Street Journal (07/25/96) P. A17 A Lafayette, La., doctor was indicted on a charge of attempted murder on Tuesday for allegedly trying to kill his girlfriend by injecting her with HIV. District Attorney Michael Harson said he would charge Richard J. Schmidt, a 48-year-old gastroenterologist, with murder if the woman dies of AIDS. The woman developed symptoms of AIDS two months after Schmidt gave her what he said was a vitamin injection. Harson said that Schmidt injected blood from an AIDS patient into the woman about a month before their relationship ended and that he had not had physical or sexual contact with her since the injection. "Federal Study of Lubricant Blasted" Washington Times (07/25/96) P. A3; Price, Joyce Despite criticism from conservative groups, a federally funded study is being launched that will determine if nonoxynol-9, a widely used sexual lubricant, is safe for anal sex among homosexuals or whether it could increase the risk of HIV transmission. The $300,000 study, under attack because it is limited to homosexual men engaged in a sexual practice that is illegal in many states, is being funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. AIDS activists are applauding the study, however, saying it is important because anal sex is still the leading mode of HIV transmission. During the 1980s, nonoxynol-9 was found to cause vaginal ulceration, thus increasing the risk of HIV transmission, in a study of Kenyan women. Because rectal tissue is thinner, the problem could be worse for passive participants in anal sex, according to Zeda Rosenberg of NIAID. The new study will evaluate the rectal use of the chemical in 35 homosexual couples. "U.S. Patent to Be Received on Drugs to Treat HIV" Wall Street Journal (07/25/96) P. B14 A patent covering VX-478 and related protease inhibitors will be granted to Vertex Pharmaceuticals, the company reported. Vertex is developing the drug, which is in Phase I and II clinical trials in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, with Glaxo Wellcome and Kissei Pharmaceuticals. Vertex's stock increased 10 percent in Wednesday's Nasdaq Stock Market trading, to close at $28.125. "Expansion of Home for Those With AIDS Virus Upheld" Baltimore Sun (07/25/96) P. 3B Despite opposition by the Mount Royal (Md.) Improvement Association, an area rowhouse for people who have HIV and their families has been cleared for expansion. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld a Baltimore zoning board decision to allow the expansion, requested by D.M. Inc. and AIDS Interfaith Residential Services. "Aide Held in Theft at AIDS Facility" Miami Herald (07/24/96) P. 1B; Gehrke, Donna A volunteer at a Miami-area center for HIV-infected heterosexuals says he was under the influence of drugs when he took the group's funds, stole the director's car, ransacked her home, and took a road trip to Orlando. Jose Rodriguez was thought to be a hard-working, dedicated volunteer who was trusted as Director Sheri Kaplan's right-hand man. Kaplan discovered Rodriguez's actions upon her return from the recent International Conference on AIDS in Vancouver. Rodriguez, who turned himself in, is now in Dade County Jail on charges including forgery, grand theft, credit-card fraud, and car theft. Kaplan started the Center for Positive Connections last year after she learned she was HIV-positive. She wanted to offer counseling and social activities for other heterosexuals with the virus. Rodriguez, claiming to be HIV-positive, became an active volunteer and was trusted with Kaplan's home and car keys so he could feed her cat. "The Reliable Source: Now You Know" Washington Post (07/25/96) P. C3; Groer, Annie; Gerhart, Ann Elizabeth Taylor, who criticized the government's AIDS policies Monday, will serve as grand marshal of the 1996 National AIDS Candlelight March in Washington, D.C., in October, James Millner of the Whitman-Walker Clinic said. Other celebrities expected at the event include: Sharon Stone, Rosie O'Donnell, Lily Tomlin, Judith Light, Greg Louganis, and Michael Feinstein. "Virus Linked to Kaposi's Sarcoma--U.S. Study" Reuters (07/24/96) A form of the herpes virus is often the cause of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), the skin tumors common in AIDS patients, researchers report in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Shou-Jiang Gao and colleagues at Columbia University found that of 40 gay men who developed KS after being infected with HIV, half developed signs of infection with the herpes virus known as KSHV, or Human Herpesvirus 8. The men developed antibodies for the virus 6 months to 75 months before the skin lesions appeared. The researchers suggest that the men who did not show evidence of KSHV infection may not have developed any antibodies to the virus. "Cost-Effectiveness of Short-Course Zidovudine to Prevent Perinatal HIV Type 1 Infection in a Sub-Saharan African Developing Country Setting" Journal of the American Medical Association (07/10/96) Vol. 276, No. 2, P. 139; Mansergh, Gordon; Haddix, Anne C.; Steketee, Mansergh, Gordon Developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, have the highest rates of HIV infection in the world. Perinatal transmission is also especially high in these areas compared to developed countries. Zidovudine treatment of HIV-positive women and their infants, both during pregnancy and during the early postnatal period, is able to significantly reduce perinatal HIV transmission. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed the cost-effectiveness of zidovudine programs in a sub-Saharan African setting, from the perspective of the health care system and of society. Gordon Mansergh and colleagues report that in a setting with 12.5 percent HIV seroprevalence, a national zidovudine program would reduce perinatal HIV incidence by 12 percent at a cost of $1,115 per infant HIV infection prevented. The researchers conclude that such a program would lower the incidence of infant HIV infection in most sub-Saharan African countries and would also provide societal savings in some areas. Substantial initial investment is needed, however, and other immediate health care demands would have to be considered. "Double Push for New Vaccine Candidates" Nature (07/11/96) Vol. 382, No. 6587, P. 101; Macilwain, Colin In an attempt to revive the nearly dead AIDS vaccine research effort, two new strategies were announced at the XIth International Conference on AIDS. William Paul, director of the Office of AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health, pledged to "increase resources for research on vaccines" and to begin a "restructured, redirected vaccine research program." The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVA) promised to raise $50 million over the next three years to help prepare vaccines for poor countries. Meanwhile, IAVA chair Seth Berkley of the Rockefeller Foundation, the financial backer of the initiative, called NIH's current low level of support for vaccine research "scandalous." Although 8 percent of NIH's AIDS budget, or $100 million, goes to vaccine research every year, only about $5 million is spent worldwide on preparing new candidate vaccines, Berkley noted. Vaccine development efforts in the pharmaceutical industry have been halted because of dim hopes of large-scale vaccine trials in the United States. For its first year, the IAVA has $5 million, and it hopes to raise between $8 million and $12 million in 1997, and $20 million to $30 million in subsequent years.