NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/sci/med/aids/2013

Text File | 1992-11-16 | 14.5 KB | 239 lines

Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Path: sparky!uunet!gumby!wupost!usc!ucla-cs!usenet
From: Billi Goldberg <[e-mail]>
Subject: CDC Summary 11/16/92
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Note: Copyright 1992, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed.
Sender: [e-mail] (Mr Usenet)
Nntp-Posting-Host: sole.cs.ucla.edu
Archive-Number: 6463
Organization: unspecified
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 07:50:06 PST
Approved: [e-mail]
Lines: 224

                    AIDS Daily Summary
                    November 16, 1992
 The Centers for Disease Control (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. Copyright 1992,
Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
************************************************************************
"'Molecular Knife' Believed to Destroy Part of HIV" Associated Press
(11/10/92)
La Jolla, Calif.--Researchers have developed a tiny "molecular knife"
that cuts and eradicates part of HIV, and they will soon test the
treatment on AIDS patients, a researcher said Tuesday. Dr. Flossie Wong-
Staal, a researcher at the University of California--San Diego who
earned a national reputation during her tenure at the National Cancer
Institute, presented her research at the 30th annual New Horizons in
Science briefing, sponsored by the Council for the Advancement of
Science Writing.  The process  she explained kills the original disease-
fighting white blood  cell and permits new virus particles to spread to
more cells and  kill them.  A research team headed by Wong-Staal and
Northern  Illinois University's Dr. Arnold Hampel designed the
"molecular  knife" to cut and destroy genetic instructions used by HIV,
thus  short-circuiting the virus' ability to multiply and spread
throughout the body.  The scientists used the enzyme knife in  HIV-
infected human white blood cells grown in test tubes.   Consequently,
the virus made only 10 to 30 percent as many copies of itself as it
normally would have done.  Wong-Staal said tests  on AIDS patients "will
start within the year" to discover if the  treatment is safe, and later
to determine if it is effective in  stopping or slowing the progression
of AIDS.  Wong-Staal, Hampel  and their colleagues obtained the
molecular knife, or hairpin  ribozyme, from a potato plant virus, then
used chemical reactions to make it attach onto and slice RNA in HIV,
lessening the virus' ability to reproduce.

"AZT Remains a Mainstay in AIDS Fight" Los Angeles Times (11/15/92), P.
A33  (Hostetler, A.J.)
Although AZT is not the miracle drug AIDS patients once hoped  for, in
the last five years, the drug has become a prominent  treatment for HIV
infection, according to researchers.  AZT was  the first Food and Drug
Administration-approved treatment for  AIDS and gave scientists their
first hope that the disease could  be treated.  However, it cannot
single-handedly fight HIV, said  researchers in a retrospective look at
AZT in the Annals of  Internal Medicine.  In 1985, the first suggestions
of AZT's  ability to fight HIV emerged from its makers at Burroughs
Wellcome Co.  After scientists proved it could prolong the lives  of
AIDS patients two years later, AZT became the first drug to  win federal
approval to treat HIV.  Dr. Sandra Nusinoff-Lehrman,  one of the
Burroughs Wellcome researchers who developed AZT,  said, "To know that
eight years later that there are people alive that otherwise wouldn't be
is a very positive experience."   Nevertheless, others say it is time
for science to progress and  develop other treatments.  David Gold of
the Gay Men's Health  Crisis said of AZT, "It is not the compound that
has made HIV  infection a chronic, manageable disease, and that's a
great  disappointment."  In the Annals review, Gavin McLeod of the New
England Deaconess Hospital and co-author Dr. Scott Hammer said  that the
hastened FDA approval of AZT allowed physicians to learn much about the
drug's side effects and proper dosage once it was  in use.

"Man With HIV Defends Biting Federal Officer" Washington Post
(11/16/92), P. B3  (Goldstein, Amy)
An HIV-positive man arrested after biting a U.S. Secret Service  officer
on the thumb five months ago has spent a month in jail,  has been
committed temporarily to a Washington, D.C.-area  psychiatric hospital,
and has been evicted from his apartment.   Regardless, Wilbert Michael
Yeager said that the bite was  justified.  Yeager was accused of
intending to kill by trying to  transmit HIV deliberately on May 29 when
he bit a Secret Service  officer.  Court documents say he was arrested
after a struggle  near Dupont Circle that began when two members of the
Secret  Service uniformed division asked him to stop blocking traffic.
Yeager bit one of the officers, breaking the skin and causing him to
bleed, police said.  Yeager was held without bail for 30 days  at the
D.C. jail until a Superior Court judge released him on his own
recognizance.  He said that two weeks later, he was committed to St.
Elizabeth's, the city's public psychiatric hospital, for  three weeks.
During that time, he lost his apartment because he  was behind on his
rent and could not attend an eviction hearing.  Yeager mentioned that a
grand jury declined to charge him on the  most serious account, assault
with intent to kill, although he  faces trial next month on lesser
charges, including disorderly  conduct, assaulting a police officer, and
resisting arrest.  The  Secret Service would not reveal whether the
officer, John  Stockwell, has undergone HIV testing.

"Man Charged With Exposing at Least 5 Children to AIDS" New York Times
(11/16/92), P. A15
A Roseburg, Ore., man has been charged with attempted murder for
allegedly exposing at least five children to HIV infection by  having
unprotected sex with them, authorities announced Saturday. The
indictment, which was filed Friday in Circuit Court, charges  Adam Brown
with attempted murder, sodomy, rape, reckless  endangerment, and other
charges, according to Bill Marshall, a  senior deputy district attorney.
Brown, who was incarcerated in  lieu of $50,000 bail, was expected to be
arraigned on Monday,  said Marshall.  The indictment said Brown sexually
abused nine  children, having unprotected sex with five of them, knowing
that  he was HIV-positive the whole time.  The officials indicated that
some of the nine children were enrolled at a day-care center, the name
of which was not disclosed.  Brown, who was a lay minister  at a church
not related to the center, used his position to gain  trust at the
center, said the officials.   Related Story: Philadelphia Inquirer
(11/16) P. A10

"Helping Children Who Live With AIDS" Washington Post (11/16/92), P. A1
(Goldstein, Amy)
A social worker who works in the pediatric AIDS program at the  National
Institutes of Health helps children and their families  cope with the
deadly disease.  Lori Wiener is experienced in  exploring the elusive
inner world of children and easing their  pain and their parents'.
Wiener has formed an intimate community of families, which are scattered
across the country but related  to one another by experiences most
others will never know.  She  has developed a telephone network for the
children so they can  call other children with the AIDS across the
country.  For the  infected children's parents, siblings, and
grandparents, Wiener  offers group therapy by conference call.  Wiener
assists the  children and their parents, two-thirds of whom are HIV-
positive  themselves, shape the way they will be remembered; some make
videotapes or write poems.  Wiener said, "The day the parent and  child
can cry in each other's arms about the fact they may die  ... is a very
difficult, painful day.  But you broke ground."  In the six years Wiener
has served at NIH, she has worked with more  than 300 young people with
the disease, encompassing everyone  from babies to teenagers from 37
states.  On every birthday and  on the anniversary of every death, she
calls or writes the family a letter.  Wiener promotes friendships among
the children, many  who are forbidden by parents to talk about their
condition with  friends at home.  In addition, she encourages parents
with AIDS  to make a videotape to give to their children after they have
died.

"An AIDS Activist Who Helped Women Get Help Earlier" New York Times
(11/15/92), P. 9  (Navarro, Mireya)
One HIV-positive woman has made a difference at a New York  correctional
facility by educating other women about AIDS.  At  first Katrina Haslip
would not disclose her condition to anyone  at the Bedford Hills
Correctional Facility, where she was held.   However, last month when
the Centers for Disease Control revealed plans to expand the AIDS
definition, she felt she had nothing to  hide.  She has addressed her
infection at conferences, protests,  and in one-on-one outreach work.
She has met in private with CDC officials and chastised them in public,
as she pushed for the new definition to be approved.  She says it will
help get women  tested and diagnosed early, when treatment is more
effective.   The government's proposed definition will add pulmonary
tuberculosis, invasive cancer of the cervix, and recurrent  bacterial
pneumonia to the list of 23 other AIDS-related  conditions.  It would
also include any HIV-positive patients with a CD4 cell count of 200 or
fewer cells.  This means that Haslip,  who has been confined to a
hospital bed in New York City for a  month with bacterial pneumonia and
has a CD4-cell count of six,  would be added to the national AIDS
caseload in January, when the new definition is expected to be enacted.
She said that  HIV-positive women coming out of prison need services to
ease  their transition and to avoid problems like homelessness.  While
in prison, Haslip helped found ACE, the AIDS Counseling and  Education
Program.  She also developed ACE-OUT for women who are  released from
prison.

"AIDSFRONT: Whatever Became Of..." Advocate (11/17/92) No. 616, P. 35
(Delaney, Martin)
Many promising anti-AIDS drugs have fallen by the wayside for  various
reasons.  Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., which manufactures the  Roche TAT
inhibitor, has reported virtually no real progress with the drug for
almost a year.  Many people are beginning to believe that the company
knows more than it's disclosing--possibly  because the early test data
didn't show promising signs.  Two  Kaposi's sarcoma drugs which have
been promised for more than two years to enter first-phase human trials
still have not done so.   For cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, an oral
drug is greatly  desired.  Studies using an oral form of ganciclovir for
the  prevention of CMV will begin soon, but results are not expected  in
the near future and are far from definite.  Moreover,  N-acetyl-L-
cysteine (NAC) has had promising data published about  it for two and a
half years.  However, the most significant event is that a lot of
misinformation was revealed about the drug at  July's Eighth
International Conference on AIDS in Amsterdam.  A  federal study
appeared to report that the drug wasn't orally  absorbed, when in fact
the study was incapable of calculating  this.  Federal researchers and
other interested parties are now  rushing to launch at least one
substantial study before the drug  is subjected to bureaucratic abuse.

"Activists Hit NIH Over Funding" Advocate (11/17/92) No. 616, P. 21
(Coward, Cheryl)
The revelation that the National Institute of Health redirected  adult
AIDS drug testing funds to pediatric AIDS research in 1991  and 1992
left activists denying allegations that pediatric AIDS  receives a
disproportionate amount of federal attention and  renewing their demands
for more total AIDS research spending.   NIH deputy director Jack Killen
said the blame should be put on  Congress for allowing the $11 million
diversion of funds.  In  preparing the 1991 budget, Killen said Congress
stipulated that  $22.5 million of a $41 million NIH allotment for
pediatric AIDS  be designated for pediatric AIDS drug testing.  However,
Congress subsequently reduced the total NIH pediatric AIDS budget by $17
million without eliminating the condition that $22.5 million of  the $24
million allocation be specifically for pediatric AIDS  drug testing.  To
compensate for the shortfall, NIH officials  transferred $11 million
from the AIDS Clinical Trials Group, a  program administered by the
National Institute of Allergy and  Infectious Diseases.  The diversion
was reported in an Oct. 5  Washington Post article which said that as a
result of the shift, 40 percent of NIH's drug-testing budget is
earmarked for  pediatric AIDS, even though children account for only 2
percent  of the nation's AIDS cases.  Jeff Levi, director of government
affairs for the AIDS Action Council, a lobbying group, said that  the
article ignored three other NIAID clinical trial programs  that are
targeted only at AIDS drugs for adults.  He said if all  of the NIAID
clinical trials programs are considered together,  the percentage
allocated for research into pediatric AIDS is "a  lot less than 40
percent--more like 20-25 percent."

"News in Brief: New York" Advocate (11/17/92) No. 616, P. 24
New York Gov. Mario Cuomo signed legislation Oct. 8 that calls  for an
advisory committee to be formed to monitor HIV-positive  health-care
workers.  The bill, which will be enacted into law in February,
establishes a panel that HIV-positive health-care  workers may consult
for advice if they wish.  The committee can  suggest that HIV-positive
health-care workers restrict their  practices, but it does not have the
authority to compel them to  do so.  Proposals that required mandatory
testing of all  health-care workers and forced restrictions on the
practices of  those who test HIV-positive were rejected by Cuomo and the
state  legislature.

"News in Brief: Illinois" Advocate (11/17/92) No. 616, P. 25
An Illinois law in which some instances of HIV transmission are  illegal
was ruled unconstitutionally vague by Coles County judge  Ashton Waller
on Oct. 9.  Waller made the ruling in the case of  an HIV-infected
Charleston man who was accused of rape.  The law  prohibits HIV-positive
individuals from having "intimate contact  with another," but Waller
ruled that the ordinance's wording  entails "too much guesswork" to
ascertain exactly what behavior  is prohibited.