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1996-03-22
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AIDS Daily Summary
March 13, 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 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
************************************************************
"Eager for Gay History and Finding Library Allies"
"Japanese Leaders in Logjam"
"Dingwall Wants Meeting to 'Renew Blood System'"
"Somatic Growth of HIV-Positive Infants Impaired"
"HIV Diagnosis Before Birth on the Increase"
"FDA Official Rebuts Criticism of Drug Approval Process"
"Gilead Sciences Makes Vistide Available in France"
"Continued Sexual Risk Behavior Among HIV-Seropositive,
Drug-Using Men--Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; and San Juan, Puerto
Rico, 1993"
"Montagnier Sets Up AIDS Research Center"
"Marshals Pay AIDS Activists"
************************************************************
"Eager for Gay History and Finding Library Allies"
New York Times (03/13/96) P. A12; Dunlap, David W.
Public libraries and museums in cities across the United States
have begun to allocate space for exhibits of gay and lesbian
culture. The New York Public Library added the exhibit "Becoming
Visible: The Legacy of Stonewall" in 1994 and has also focused on
AIDS-related materials. The library has received the archives of
the AIDS protest and advocacy group ACT UP/New York. The San
Francisco Public Library, the Boston Public Library, and the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum also have exhibits or plans for
exhibits on gay and lesbian history and culture.
"Japanese Leaders in Logjam"
Washington Post (03/13/96) P. A15; Sullivan, Kevin
Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, in office for two
months, faces declining popularity as his government faces a $6.8
billion financial crisis and other conflicts. His approval
rating has dropped from 61 percent in January to 36 percent now,
according to a recent poll. Some possible contributing factors
to the declining rate include the fact that Hashimoto's Health
Ministry has been caught covering up an AIDS-related scandal, the
main opposition party is holding a protest to block passage of
next year's budget, and that public confidence in Japan's
bureaucracy has also dropped.
"Dingwall Wants Meeting to 'Renew Blood System'"
Toronto Globe and Mail (03/12/96) P. A4; Picard, Andre
Canadian Health Minister David Dingwall has planned a meeting of
province and territory health ministers, the Canadian Red Cross
Society, the Canadian Blood Agency, and consumer groups to
discuss how the recommendations of a public inquiry will be
implemented. Meanwhile, several provinces, the Red Cross, three
pharmaceutical companies, and many individuals are posing a legal
challenge to the report's findings of wrongdoing. Dingwall said
he will not stop the legal challenge, as consumer groups have
demanded. The inquiry's goal is to determine the causes of the
tainted-blood that infected more than 1,200 hemophiliacs and
transfusion recipients with HIV and to recommend changes to the
blood system. Justice Horace Krever, who is leading the inquiry,
has said that the system has unclear lines of accountability and
authority. Dingwall is interested in reforming the program
quickly to restore public confidence, which has waned with the
news that Krever's report will be delayed beyond the Sept. 30
deadline.
"Somatic Growth of HIV-Positive Infants Impaired"
Reuters (03/12/96)
Infants born infected with HIV have early and progressive
decreases in linear growth, head growth, and body mass index,
according to a study sponsored by the National Institutes of
Health. The researchers found that HIV-positive infants were
lighter, shorter, and leaner than exposed, but uninfected
infants. The infected infants' altered growth patterns were
similar to those resulting from acute and chronic malnutrition.
Dr. Jack Moye Jr. led the study, which followed 282 infants of
HIV-positive women from birth to 18 months Moye said that while
further research is needed, the findings support the use of
growth outcomes as a measure of the effects of early treatment of
pediatric HIV infection and its complications.
"HIV Diagnosis Before Birth on the Increase"
Reuters (03/12/96)
The number of women diagnosed with HIV before they become
pregnant or during pregnancy is increasing, according to results
from the European Collaborative Study, a study of 1,690
HIV-positive women. The percentage of HIV-positive women found
to have HIV before they became pregnant rose from 7 percent in
1984 to 65 percent in 1994. The study also reported that about
13 percent of the infants born to HIV-positive women who did not
know they had the virus until after delivery were breast-fed,
compared to 2 percent of those born to women who knew they were
HIV-positive before pregnancy. The researchers conclude that the
best way to prevent HIV-positive women from breast-feeding is to
determine their HIV status early.
"FDA Official Rebuts Criticism of Drug Approval Process"
Knight-Ridder (03/12/96); Rosenberg, Ronald
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner David Kessler
said Monday that charges of U.S. drug approval delays are
invalid, that the United States has access to new drugs before
the United Kingdom, Italy, France, and Japan. As evidence, he
cited the 72-day approval of ritonavir, a new AIDS drug developed
by Abbott Laboratories. Congress is considering legislation that
would attempt to speed up the approval process. Kessler, who is
opposed to the proposals on the grounds that they would threaten
public safety, also pointed out that the FDA has improved its
drug approval time since the 1980s.
"Gilead Sciences Makes Vistide Available in France"
Healthwire (03/12/96)
Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced Tuesday that its drug, Vistide,
is now available in France under a temporary authorization
program for the treatment of relapsing cytomegalovirus (CMV)
retinitis in AIDS patients who have not responded to currently
available intravenous treatments. CMV retinitis is caused by a
viral infection that may lead to blindness if left untreated.
The drug is currently available in the United States and Canada
under an expanded access program.
"Continued Sexual Risk Behavior Among HIV-Seropositive,
Drug-Using Men--Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; and San Juan, Puerto
Rico, 1993"
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (02/23/96) Vol. 45, No. 7,
P. 151; Kalichman, S.C.
A 1993 study of HIV-positive men in Atlanta, Washington, D.C.,
and San Juan, Puerto Rico who use illicit drugs found that
continue to have unprotected sex. The study, which was conducted
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was based on
interviews with 116 men who were injection drug users and were
known to be HIV-positive. Most of the respondents were
participating in two or more HIV-related services. Twenty-eight
percent of the men reported having sex without a condom, and were
significantly more likely than those who used condoms to report
other high risk sexual behaviors, such as multiple sex partners,
having oral sex, trading sex for money or drugs, and having
intercourse more than 12 times in the past 30 days. An editorial
accompanying the study says the results emphasize the need for
HIV-infected individuals to have ongoing counseling about safe
sex practices.
"Montagnier Sets Up AIDS Research Center"
Nature (02/22/96) Vol.379, No.6568, P. 667; Butler, Declan
The Integrated Center for Clinical and Biomedical AIDS Research,
founded by Luc Montagnier, a member of the French team that
discovered HIV, was recently inaugurated at St. Joseph's Hospital
in Paris. The $3.6 million construction costs for the center
were raised via a television campaign, while the operating costs
will be provided by the national AIDS research agency. Research
at the center will focus on the association of various antivirals
at a very early stage of HIV infection. The center will treat
patients with CD4 levels greater than 500 cells per microliter,
although patients are not usually treated unless their CD4 count
drops below 200. The strategy raises ethical questions about
treating otherwise healthy patients with drugs that cause side
effects, but Montagnier says the center's focus will be patient
care. A variety of markers will be used to evaluate the
treatment. Other research at the center will focus on
immunological aspects of the control of viral replication
"Marshals Pay AIDS Activists"
National Law Journal (02/19/96) Vol. 18, No. 25, P. A8
The U.S. Marshals Service has agreed to pay $20,000 to each of 10
members of the AIDS activist group ACT UP for strip-searching
them after their arrests following a 1989 protest. The Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals decided last June that the strip search
was unconstitutional because there was no reasonable basis for
it. The Marshals settled rather than facing a damages hearing in
federal court.