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1994-12-20
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AIDS Daily Summary
December 20, 1994
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 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
************************************************************
"Going Off the Beaten Path to Track Down Clues about AIDS"
"Judge Gives Defense Time to Explain Marijuana Use"
"Will New HIV Test Kits Ease the Stigma?"
"AIDS Victim's Family Has 'Celebration of Life'"
"Prostitution Boom Boosts AIDS Risk in Zaire"
"Xerox Service Engineer Granted Leave to Work with AIDS Patients"
"Elders Vows to Continue Speaking Out"
"Cellular Immune Response to Common Mycobacterial Antigens in
Subjects Seropositive for Trypanosoma Cruzi"
"Heated Debate over a Law for the Dying"
"The WHO and Why of HIV Vaccine Trials"
***********************************************************
"Going Off the Beaten Path to Track Down Clues about AIDS"
New York Times (12/20/94) P. C3; Altman, Lawrence K.
Because Dr. Yuan Chang and Dr. Patrick S. Moore were new to the
field, they were more able to try wild ideas than many others
working in established laboratories. Together, they form the
husband-and-wife team that announced last week that they had
detected fragments of a possible new virus and that the agent
might cause Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Chang and Moore explored the
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory technique, known as
representational difference analysis, which compares DNA in cells
from diseased and normal tissues of the body, and pinpoints
significant differences in their chemical sequences. Working
with colleague Dr. Melissa S. Pessin, the team hoped to spot
genetic differences that might be the inserted genetic material
of an infectious agent. While the discovery raised many
questions, the doctors' conclusions emphasize the need to grow
the full virus in the laboratory, to identify it through an
electron microscope, and to prove its relationship to KS. A
blood test to diagnose the disease is also needed. A blood test
might also answer questions about KS and AIDS if frozen samples
from AIDS patients are screened.
"Judge Gives Defense Time to Explain Marijuana Use"
Baltimore Sun (12/20/94) P. 5B; O'Brien, Dennis
At the end of an AIDS patient's hearing on Monday for the
possession and manufacturing of marijuana, a Charles County, Md.,
judge said that he would give the defense lawyers 10 days to
submit legal memos supporting their position. The prosecution
will have five days to respond before a decision is made. Jerome
E. Mensch, a 43-year-old dairy farmer, told the judge that the
marijuana he was growing in his back yard was helping him fight
the effects of AIDS. The marijuana cigarettes, he said,
stimulated his appetite and curbed the nausea that accompanied
his illness. Mensch's physician testified that he was so
convinced of the drug's effects that he wrote a note certifying
that Mensch was HIV-positive and allowing him to buy marijuana
through a "Cannabis Buyers Club" for AIDS patients in Washington.
Assistant State's Attorney Patrick Devine claimed that Mensch did
not try legal alternatives--such as Marinol, which contains the
active ingredient in marijuana and is legal for use by AIDS
patients--before turning to marijuana. Related Story: Washington
Post (12/20) P. D1
"Will New HIV Test Kits Ease the Stigma?"
Houston Chronicle (12/19/94) P. 21A; Lum, Lydia
Although HIV home test kits may soon become available, a stigma
still surrounds the HIV screening process. Although the AIDS
epidemic has been around for more than 10 years, proponents of
the home test say that people still tiptoe around the topic of
HIV testing. Both health providers and clients alike often have
so much difficulty approaching a subject with sexual implications
that the test is postponed or avoided. Many people cite feelings
of awkwardness or paranoia that someone will know they have been
tested or will have seen them leave the building. The home test
kits--in which the user would learn the results over the
phone--have raised concerns of a possible gap in counseling and
education about HIV and AIDS. The idea of home convenience,
however, has drawn support from those who say more people would
be willing to test if the home test is approved.
"AIDS Victim's Family Has 'Celebration of Life'"
Houston Chronicle (12/19/94) P. 17A; Zuniga, Jo Ann
Instead of mourning his death from AIDS on Dec. 5, Brian
Cammack's family organized a "celebration of life" party on
Sunday. As a tribute to her brother, 19-year-old Nicole Turpeau
organized Stop AIDS Let's Unite to Educate (SALUTE) last year.
Turpeau speaks to high school groups and community groups about
how to avoid contracting the disease. Cammack, who died at the
age of 30, was diagnosed with AIDS when he was just 19--before
the government began educating the public about how the disease
could be contracted. Much of the last two years of Cammack's
life were spent in Twelve Oaks Hospital. Staff members attended
the celebration and spoke of how strong Cammack's family support
remained. "The main difference in this case was the caring
manner of the family, how they were there to support him, taking
turns to be with him night or day, even when he may not have
known they were there," said activity therapist Evelyn Riggs.
"Prostitution Boom Boosts AIDS Risk in Zaire"
Reuters (12/19/94); Wrong, Michela
An increasing number of women in Zaire are turning to casual
prostitution, thus providing a breeding ground for AIDS. Because
Zaire's recession is leaving many men without work and because an
8,500 percent annual inflation rate is undermining living
standards, women of all ages have become prostitutes.
Researchers estimate that 7 percent to 8 percent of the general
population and as much as 40 percent of prostitutes in Zaire are
now HIV-infected. In a sample group of 1,000 prostitutes tested
over a period of 30 months, 27 percent who were HIV-negative at
the beginning of the study had become infected by the end.
Doctors blame ignorance about HIV and AIDS on a cultural
reluctance to speak openly of sex and on the lack of media
coverage.
"Xerox Service Engineer Granted Leave to Work with AIDS Patients"
PR Newswire (12/19/94)
Xerox Corporation has granted Stephan Lee Clark six months of
leave with pay to care for AIDS patients at the Bailey-Boushay
House in Seattle--the first skilled nursing home in the nation
for people dying of AIDS. Clark made a promise to a Xerox
colleague, George Robbins, shortly before Robbins' death from
AIDS, that he would do something to help others in the final
stages of the disease. "So many patients have been abandoned by
their family and friends," said Clark. "Bailey-Boushay helps to
lessen their fears and loneliness." Robbins was on the waiting
list for Bailey-Boushay. When he became too weak to care for
himself, his insurance company paid for someone to care for him
during the day, while Clark and his wife cared for him at night.
"Elders Vows to Continue Speaking Out"
Reuters (12/19/94)
Former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders said she will continue to
speak out about the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs). Elders was forced out of office after she publicly
condoned teaching schoolchildren to masturbate as a way to avoid
the spread of AIDS. "Sexual practices are, of course, best left
to consenting adults, behind closed doors. But sex becomes a
proper subject for government when sexual behavior endangers
public health, as is clearly the case with AIDS and other
diseases..." she said. Elders said she could not remain silent
when more and more teenagers are engaging in sexual
intercourse--particularly when fewer than half of them use
condoms and when the rates of STDs continue to grow.
"Cellular Immune Response to Common Mycobacterial Antigens in
Subjects Seropositive for Trypanosoma Cruzi"
Lancet (12/03/94) Vol. 344, No. 8936, P. 1540; Bottasso, O.A.;
Ingledew, N.; Keni, M. et al
Researchers studied the impairment of immune responses in
patients in the silent stage of Chagas' disease, which is caused
by Trypanosoma cruzi and affects about 20 million people in Latin
America. Bottasso et al used quadruple skin-testing with new
tuberculins in 37 adults who were symptom-free but seropositive
for T. cruzi, and in 37 matched seronegative controls. While
none of the seropositive group responded to them, nearly
one-fifth of the control group responded, with variable
specificity, to common mycobacterial antigens. The researchers
suggest that the loss of response to mycobacterial antigens may
influence the course of Chagas' disease. Individuals who are
infected with T. cruzi may be more susceptible to tuberculosis,
leprosy, and HIV infection--all of which are associated with
immune unresponsiveness.
"Heated Debate over a Law for the Dying"
U.S. News & World Report (12/19/94) Vol. 117, No. 24, P. 36;
Shapiro, Joseph P.
Two AIDS patients in Oregon are taking opposite sides in the
debate over assisted suicide. Oregon is seeking to become the
first place in the world where doctors can legally provide lethal
drugs to help the dying end their lives. Michael Vernon wants
the ban lifted because he wants control over how and when his
life ends. Vernon says that personal choice is the central issue
for him because he has seen friends die of AIDS--often after a
long and painful assault on their minds and bodies. Eric Dutson,
however, is afraid the law will let doctors and the government
decide when he should die. "I am concerned that [medical service
providers] will subject me to undue influence or duress to end my
life myself in order to enable them to avoid" the dilemma between
providing treatment at a reduced charge and denying treatment,
said Dutson. Supporters of the law say that it has many
safeguards, including second opinions and multiple requests to
die. In response to a challenge filed by Dutson and others, a
federal judge recently issued a temporary restraining order to
keep the law from taking effect.
"The WHO and Why of HIV Vaccine Trials"
Nature (11/24/94) Vol. 372, No. 6504, P. 313; Moore, John;
Anderson, Roy
John Moore of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and Roy
Anderson of the Centre for the Epidemiology of Infectious
Diseases discuss the reasoning behind the World Health
Organization (WHO) advisory committee's decision to approve Phase
III HIV vaccine trials in developing countries. Ninety percent
of the 16 million people estimated by the WHO to be HIV-infected
live in poor communities in the developing world. While the main
concern of the committee members was that the products would not
work, clinicians and epidemiologists argued that the only way to
determine efficacy is to run an efficacy trial. The WHO
committee concluded that, ultimately, any decision to go ahead
with a trial of any product must be made by the host country for
the trial. Phase I/II safety trials should precede a Phase III
trial. The panel also stated that the specific HIV-1 subtypes
among the proposed trial population should be a significant
consideration, as should counseling of the trial populations
about the potential risks of vaccination and the necessity of
following safe sex practices. The WHO committee emphasized a
long-term commitment to AIDS vaccine development and testing
worldwide.