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1996-01-29
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AIDS Daily Summary
January 26, 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 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 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
************************************************************
"President to Accept HIV Ban"
"Suspect in Hypodermic Jabbing Is Declared Unfit to Stand Trial"
"A New Drive For an AIDS Vaccine"
"Grieving Siblings Need to Share AIDS Loss"
"Man Wins New Trial After Court Faults Judge's AIDS Precautions"
"Study Finds More Children "Cured" of AIDS"
"Study Queries Claims that HIV Does Not Cause AIDS"
"Protease Inhibitors Studies Probe HIV Resistance to Drugs"
"English HIV and AIDS Projections Made"
"AIDS and Suicide"
************************************************************
"President to Accept HIV Ban"
Washington Post (01/26/96) P. A1; Priest, Dana
President Clinton said he will sign a $265 billion bill for the
Department of Defense, even though it includes a provision that
calls for all HIV-positive service members to be discharged. He
vetoed a previous version of the bill because of the measure, one
that the Defense Department also opposed. It would affect 1,049
male and female service members, who would have to be discharged
within six months. Representative Robert Dornan (R-Calif.)
sponsored the provision, which also bars those discharged from
receiving the medical benefits available to others who are forced
to leave military service for medical reasons. Related Stories:
Washington Times (01/26/96) P. A4; Philadelphia Inquirer
(01/26/96) P. A13
"Suspect in Hypodermic Jabbing Is Declared Unfit to Stand Trial"
New York Times (01/26/96) P. B7
Psychiatrists have determined that Angel Coro, the man charged
with jabbing a 6-year-old girl with a hypodermic needle on a New
York subway train, is unfit to stand trial. The girl's parents
have asked a judge to have Coro tested for HIV, hepatitis and
syphilis, although the tests are not permitted under the current
law. Coro is to remain under psychiatric supervision until he is
found competent or until he serves two-thirds of the maximum
sentence for the charges of attempted assault and criminal
possession of a weapon.
"A New Drive For an AIDS Vaccine"
Washington Post (01/26/96) P. E3; Mann, Judy
The Rockefeller Foundation is leading an effort to stimulate
research and development of an AIDS vaccine, a project which has
been getting less than 10 percent of the $8.8 billion spent on
AIDS worldwide. Seth Berkley, director of health sciences for
the foundation, said he discovered in 1994 that drug companies had
stopped research on a vaccine. The reasons, he said, were the
high cost of the research, the liability problems associated with
testing an HIV vaccine, the scientific risks of pursuing a
vaccine that is not assured of success, and the uncertainty about
its profitability. To deal with these problems, the foundation
has organized three meetings of experts to put together a plan
for an international effort to research a vaccine over seven
years.
"Grieving Siblings Need to Share AIDS Loss"
Houston Chronicle (01/25/96) P. 5D; Herndon, Lucia
People who lose siblings to AIDS suffer--in addition to their
grief--the added problems of dealing with the stigma attached to
the disease. Many siblings try to keep the cause of death a
secret for fear of the reactions of family and friends. Linda
Robinson lost a brother to AIDS and said keeping the cause of
death secret kept her from grieving. She is conducting research
interviews with surviving siblings of people who died of AIDS in
an effort to help people cope with the loss and the special
problems it may create.
"Man Wins New Trial After Court Faults Judge's AIDS Precautions"
Boston Globe (01/25/96) P. 25; Vigue, Doreen Iudica
The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled Wednesday that precautions
taken by Berkshire Superior Court Judge Charles Alberti Jr. to
keep a defendant from using his AIDS-infected blood to escape or
to cause a mistrial were too extreme. Alberti had ordered that
the defendant be held in leg irons during his trial and that he
be separated from his lawyer by a table and a stack of books.
The Appeals Court set aside the conviction and ordered a new
trial. The defendant told the woman he allegedly raped that he
had HIV, but it was never confirmed.
"Study Finds More Children 'Cured' of AIDS"
Reuters (01/25/96)
Results of a European study found that almost three percent of
children born with HIV managed to purge the virus from their
bodies, doctors reported on Friday. Researchers in four European
cities noted that nine out of more than 200 children born with
HIV did not have the virus when tested later. The nine children
are now nearly nine years old and still healthy. The researchers
say exploring how the children rid themselves of the virus could
help in vaccine development.
"Study Queries Claims that HIV Does Not Cause AIDS"
Reuters (01/25/96)
A group of doctors said Friday that their studies of the links
between hemophilia and AIDS have cast further doubt on assertions
that HIV does not cause AIDS. The argument against the
connection, put forth by a few doctors, has never been accepted
by the medical community. Dr. Caroline Sabin and colleagues at
the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in London say results
of their study indicate the theory that HIV could simply be a
"passenger" virus is insupportable. They compared 17
hemophiliacs with HIV to 17 hemophiliacs without the virus and
found that only those with HIV developed AIDS.
"Protease Inhibitors Studies Probe HIV Resistance to Drugs"
Chemical & Engineering News (01/96) Vol.74, No.1, P. 6; Zurer,
Pamela
Indinavir--the new AIDS drug from Merck that works by inhibiting
the protease enzyme of HIV--must be given in doses high enough to
completely suppress viral replication, like other protease
inhibitors. If the dose is not high enough, HIV mutates into
drug-resistant forms. Merck scientists presented these findings
in December at the 1995 International Chemical Congress of
Pacific Basin Societies in Honolulu. Very ill AIDS patients
treated with 2.4 grams of indinavir a day showed a dramatic
decrease in the amount of virus in their bodies, while patients
given a lower dosage of protease inhibitors developed resistance
to the drugs. Giving a person a dose that is too low could make
them resistant to any protease inhibitor. Paul Reider, a vice
president at Merck, observed that efficiently synthesizing up to
one million kg of indinavir a year would be an "incredible
scientific challenge." A factory is currently under construction
for the manufacture of the drug. The company will apply for FDA
approval of indinavir by early spring, Reider said.
"English HIV and AIDS Projections Made"
Lancet (01/13/96) Vol.347, No.8994, P. 109; Ramsay, Sarah
HIV transmission by exposure among homosexual males is occurring
at "substantial levels" in Wales and England, possibly up to
1,000 new infections annually, a new report from the Public
Health Laboratory Service says. The expert group that issued the
report used data up to the end of 1994 to make projections for
1995 to 1999. The report says that since the late 1980s, there
has been a reversal in trends in markers of unprotected sexual
intercourse, like acute hepatitis B infection and rectal
gonorrhoea, among homosexual and bisexual men. The group
suggests that health agencies survey male homosexual behavior
regularly and monitor changes in high-risk behavior patterns.
"AIDS and Suicide"
Journal of the American Medical Association (01/17/96) Vol.275,
No.3, P. 172d; Kirchner, Jeffrey T.
Various medical, neurologic, and psychiatric factors may
contribute to the death of an HIV-infected patient. In this
study, Kirchner presents the case of a 27-year-old man who
committed suicide about 2 years after being diagnosed with AIDS,
although he had no prior psychiatric history. The author
emphasizes the importance for physicians to be aware of the
mental health concerns related to AIDS. He suggests that a
patient's suicide risk be evaluated during the regular office
visit, when appropriate.