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1995-03-27
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AIDS Daily Summary
March 27, 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
************************************************************
"Ad Ventures for the Disabled"
"Rap Star Eazy-E, 31, Dies of AIDS"
"Experimental Journey"
"Dutch Nurse Sentenced in Euthanasia Test Case"
"Haven of Hope"
"A Randomized Trial of Three Antipneumocystis Agents in Patients
with Advanced Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection"
"HIV Transmission Through Donor Artificial Insemination"
"CDC Addresses Failure to Reduce PCP in Infants"
"Interview: Paul W. Ewald"
"Industry Bash Set to Battle AIDS"
************************************************************
"Ad Ventures for the Disabled"
Washington Post (03/27/95) P. D1; Span, Paula
After years of lobbying for inclusion, people with disabilities
are becoming more visible in mainstream advertising. For
example, a television ad for Nike featuring an athletic young man
running through Malibu Canyon presents his story in
white-on-black titles: "Ric Munoz, Los Angeles. 80 miles every
week. 10 marathons every year. HIV-positive." The titles are
followed by Nike's slogan "Just Do It." Traditionally,
advertising has been the domain of the perfect, and has been
off-limits to not only the disabled but almost everyone who is
not young, lithe, and beautiful. Sandra Gordon, a former Easter
Seals executive who now consults with major corporations on
disability issues, recalls in the 1970s urging advertisers to
include a single wheelchair-user in group pictures. She was told
that she "was crazy, that it was a disgusting idea." The
inclusion of people with disabilities in marketing, however,
serves several purposes. It shows sensitivity, goodwill, and
some business executives believe it may even help effect social
change.
"Rap Star Eazy-E, 31, Dies of AIDS"
Washington Post (03/27/95) P. A20
Rapper Eazy E, whose real name was Eric Wright, died on Sunday
from AIDS-related complications at the age of 31. Wright's
pioneering "gangsta" rap group N.W.A helped bring inner-city rap
to the suburbs. In announcing that he had AIDS on March 16,
Wright said he did not know how he became got the disease, but
that he wanted to warn his friends and their families. "I've
learned in the last week that this thing is real and it doesn't
discriminate," Wright said in a statement. Related Story: USA
Today (03/27) P. 1D
"Experimental Journey"
Washington Post (Business) (03/27/95) P. 1; Day, Kathleen
Launched over the past two decades with predictions of miracle
cures, large profits, and rapid expansion, the U.S. biotechnology
industry has yet to fulfill its grand expectations. Maryland's
biotech industry is a microcosm of the national trend, and many
analysts believe that an industry shakeout could severely reduce
the number of biotech companies and jobs in the state. Although
the National Institutes of Health, and academic institutions such
as Johns Hopkins University continue to draw venture capitalists
and scientists to the state, the more than 100 biotech firms in
Maryland are likely to follow national trends and diminish in
number over the next few years, analysts say. Still, the
industry has 27 drugs--including human insulin, a blood clot
buster, and a cancer drug for AIDS patients--on the market, and
another 270 drugs are in various stages of human trials. Some of
the industry's major challenges, however, include failed tests,
lawsuits, and a lack of promotion of products.
"Dutch Nurse Sentenced in Euthanasia Test Case"
Reuters (03/23/95)
A Dutch court recently imposed a two-month suspended jail
sentence on a nurse who administered a lethal dose of drugs to a
36-year-old man dying of AIDS. In a landmark decision, the court
ruled that euthanasia was permissible under Dutch law only if it
was carried out by a doctor. The court rejected the nurse's
claim that she was acting as a proxy for her supervising doctor.
Under the suspended sentence, the nurse will only go to jail if
she commits another offense within one year.
"Haven of Hope"
Chicago Tribune (03/24/95) P. 1-5; Miller, Sarah Bryan
Former pediatric nurse Anne Bradley is a photographer and a
foster mother for infants in need. Many of the children she
cares for are AIDS babies--babies whose mothers are HIV-positive.
While some of these children may develop the disease themselves,
most--once their mothers' antibodies pass from their
systems--will eventually test negative. Bradley has been working
through the Lutheran Social Services of Illinois since 1986,
specializing in care for infants a few days old to two months.
When AIDS became a significant problem for children, she
volunteered for the agency's Positive Care program, to apply her
skills to AIDS babies. "There was a real need, and it resonated
with me," she says. The need for foster parents is great, says
Wade Ek, supervisor of Positive Care. Ek notes that Bradley and
her husband were the among the first to volunteer for the
program. Bradley says that aside from getting up in the middle
of the night, the most difficult part for her is giving the
babies up when the time comes, whether to long-term care or to
return to the birth mother.
"A Randomized Trial of Three Antipneumocystis Agents in Patients
with Advanced Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection"
New England Journal of Medicine (03/16/95) Vol. 332, No. 11, P.
693; Bozzette, Samuel A.; Finkelstein, Dianne M.; Spector,
Stephen A. et al.
Bozzette et al. evaluated the efficacy of three treatments for
the prevention of a first episode of Pneumocystis carinii
pneumonia (PCP) in HIV-infected patients. A combination of
zidovudine and either trimethroprim-sulfamethoxazole, dapsone, or
aerosolized pentamidine was given to 843 patients with HIV and
CD4 counts lower than 200. The estimated three-year risks of PCP
were 18 percent, 17 percent, and 21 percent for the groups
receiving trimethroprim-sulfamethoxazole, dapsone, and
aerosolized pentamidine, respectively. There was an
insignificant difference in risk among treatment strategies for
the patients who entered the study with 100 CD4 lymphocytes or
more. For those who began treatment with less than 100 cells,
however, the risk was 33 percent with aerosolized
pentamidine--compared to 19 percent with
trimethroprim-sulfamethoxazole and 22 percent with dapsone. The
average survival rate was about 39 months in all three groups.
The researchers concluded that the three strategies have similar
effectiveness in patients with advanced HIV infection.
Treatments that begin with trimethroprim-sulfamethoxazole or with
high doses of dapsone are more effective in patients with less
than 100 CD4 lymphocytes.
"HIV Transmission Through Donor Artificial Insemination"
Journal of the American Medical Association (03/15/95) Vol. 273,
No. 11, P. 854; Araneta, Maria Rosario G.; Mascola, Laurene;
Eller, Andrea et al.
Araneta et al. investigated the transmission of HIV through
donor
artificial insemination (AI) before 1986 at five infertility
clinics in the United States and Canada. The researchers used
two methods to identify the HIV-infected donors or recipients:
identification of an HIV-infected woman who reported previous AI,
followed by identification of the infected donor, and contact
tracing of the women inseminated with his semen; and
identification of an HIV-infected donor and ensuing examination
of women receiving AI using his semen. At the clinics, 230 women
were found to have been inseminated with semen from any one of
five HIV-infected donors. Of the 199 who agreed to be tested for
HIV, seven women, or 3.52 percent, were seropositive for HIV.
The researchers concluded that HIV infection through donor AI
performed before routine testing of semen donors could be a
potentially serious threat to women who had procedures performed.
Retrospective studies among women who had AI procedures before
1986 are necessary so that the women can be notified of their
infection risk, and, if seropositive, so they can benefit from
early therapeutic intervention.
"CDC Addresses Failure to Reduce PCP in Infants"
AIDS Alert (03/95) Vol. 10, No. 3, P. 35
Due to a failure to reduce the rate of Pneumocystis carinii
pneumonia (PCP) in infants, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) has revised its recommendations for preventing
the disease. Recent data for exposed children show that just 16
percent of infants received PCP prophylaxis at the time of PCP
diagnosis. Data collected from Florida, California, and
Massachusetts show that as many as two-thirds of infants exposed
to HIV have not been tested for HIV. The new guidelines will
recommend that all HIV-exposed infants begin PCP prophylaxis at
four to six weeks, regardless of CD4 count and HIV test results.
PCP prophylaxis should be stopped once a child has been diagnosed
as HIV-negative. The drug regimens previously recommended will
remain the same. The new guidelines emphasize how the failure to
identify HIV-exposed children has contributed to the increase of
PCP in children. It is recommended that HIV testing and
monitoring be made more available to children at risk.
"Interview: Paul W. Ewald"
Omni (03/95) Vol. 17, No. 6, P. 75; Hooper, Judith
In an interview with Omni magazine, evolutionary biologist Paul
W. Ewald explains how Darwinian ideas of fitness and natural
selection apply to parasites. Ewald theorizes that HIV began
centuries ago as a mild affliction in an isolated population.
During the 1960s and 1970s, war, drought and urbanization in East
Africa created a climate where prostitution prospered. That
environment permitted the virus to travel from host to host,
eventually evolving into the disease known as AIDS. Most of West
Africa, however, was spared such upheaval and, not
coincidentally, the HIV-2 found in West Africa is much milder
than HIV-1. Ewald, who for years argued against premature AZT
treatment, does not think that a combination of drugs might
eliminate all the variants of HIV. "The virus seems to evolve
resistance to the combinations we can generate...We know of five
mutations right now that change its shape to allow it to continue
to form DNA in the presence of AZT. Many more we don't know
about, as well as different combinations of those mutations," he
says. Ewald predicts that AIDS "will burn through the population
of people who change partners frequently without protection"
before the epidemic is over.
"Industry Bash Set to Battle AIDS"
Home Furnishings Network (03/13/95) Vol. 69, No. 11, P. 51
On May 22, Gift for Life--the gift industry's organization
dedicated to raising funds for AIDS research and education--will
host its second annual cocktail reception for industry
professionals. The event, in honor of the organization's third
anniversary, will expand upon the success of last year's party.
All Gift for Life events, projects, and donations benefit the
American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR). The organization
has united the gift, tabletop, decorative accessories,
stationery, and related industries in its goal to provide moral
and financial support to AIDS patients and to help in finding a
cure. Thus far, Gift for Life has raised almost $400,000 for
AmFAR.