                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      October 06, 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

"President Clinton's National Service Program Selects Philadelphia Project Site"
PR Newswire (10/05/94)
     AmeriCorps-VISTA, President Clinton's national service program, 
has selected Philadelphia Health Management Corporation as a 
project site.  Five VISTA volunteers will be assigned to projects
that concern AIDS prevention and relapse prevention for women 
recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.  Four of the 
volunteers will work with the West Philadelphia Women's Health 
Improvement Project, educating residents about HIV and AIDS and 
developing a volunteer network of residents, businesses, 
religious leaders, and community groups.  "[The volunteers] will 
be providing a critically needed service in some of the poorest 
areas of West Philadelphia," said Lisa Bond, PHMC Project 
Director.  Volunteers for AmeriCorps-VISTA, a federally funded 
full-time volunteer organization, make one- or two-year 
commitments to projects that concern public safety, health, 
education, or the environment.
      
"Hybridon Advances GEM 91 to Phase 1B/II in AIDS Trials in U.S. and France"
PR Newswire (10/05/94)
     Hybridon, Inc. says it will begin Phase 1B/II clinical trials of 
GEM 91, its antisense compound for the treatment of HIV-1 and 
AIDS, in the United States and France.  The trials will be the 
first human trials to measure antiviral activity of a 
systematically administered antisense compound.  Hybridon is also
reporting this week on their findings in Phase 1A studies with 
GEM 91.  No clinically significant side effects were found when a
single dose infusion of GEM 91 was administered to 30 
HIV-infected patients. In a University of Alabama at Birmingham 
Phase 1A study, radiolabeled GEM 91 was given to six HIV-positive
patients and was well tolerated by all, which confirms the 
results of the Phase 1A trial in France.  Hybridon believes that 
the pharmacokinetics and tolerance study is the first systemic 
use of a radiolabeled antisense oligonucleotide.
      
"New Wellcome Antiviral Compound Shows Promise As..."
PR Newswire (10/05/94)
     Scientists from Burroughs Wellcome Co. on Wednesday presented 
findings on the company's investigational anti-HIV compound 
1592U89 at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents 
and Chemotherapy.  The scientists found that the compound was 
powerful and selective against clinical HIV isolates, and showed 
synergy with Retrovir brand zidovudine.  Findings also suggested 
that 1592U89 is not cross-resistant to Retrovir-resistant virus 
and that 1592U89 resistance is very slow to develop in vitro.  
The scientists reported that the compound had very good oral 
bioavailability with no significant side effects at doses much 
higher than the proposed clinical doses.
      
"Atlanta Women Have New Option for Safer Sex; Unconventional Campaign Kicks Off Arrival of New Weapon in Battle Against AIDS"
PR Newswire (10/05/94)
     The Female Health Company on Wednesday, Oct. 12 will announce its
unusual approach for the introduction of the Reality female 
condom in Atlanta.  The female condom is the first means of 
protection with which women can shield themselves from AIDS, 
other sexually transmitted diseases, and pregnancy.  The Campaign
for Women's Health and the American Social Health Association say
that women are at least 10 times as likely to become HIV-infected
during a single act of unprotected heterosexual sex with an 
infected partner than men are.
      
"Argentine Homosexuals Complain of Police Brutality"
Reuters (10/05/94)
     In a news conference Wednesday, Argentine homosexuals complained 
that they are frequently the target police brutality, which the 
government and courts ignore.  Gays for Civil Rights told  
members of Amnesty International attended the press meeting that 
repressive police edicts which allow systemic detention of gays 
and transvestites facilitate the abuse.  The group presented 
Amnesty with a list of violations it has denounced since 
September 1992.  The most recent violation occurred on Tuesday 
when a man with AIDS was beaten up by the police because of his 
condition.  Since 1991, Amnesty has considered gays arrested 
because of their sexual preference as "prisoners of conscience."
      
"AIDS Spawns Viatical Settlement Industry"
Washington Business Journal (09/23/94-09/29/94) Vol. 13, No. 9, 
P. 31;  Keller, Amy
     The viatical settlement industry originated about five years ago 
as a result of the AIDS epidemic.  Since then, more than 50 firms
have opened nationwide, forming a $300 million industry.  A 
viatical settlement refers to a process in which terminally ill 
people sign over their life-insurance policies to investors for a
cash percentage that is usually 55 to 80 percent, based on the 
life expectancy of the policyholder.  Although some other 
terminally ill patients receive viatical settlements, the 
industry targets people with AIDS because their typical life 
expectancy is more predictable than that of other patients, says 
Steve Simon, former president of American Life Resources Corp.  
Per Larson, a financial advisor to the terminally ill, recommends
that people considering settlements get competitive bids from 
different brokers because "they are sick consumers, by 
definition, and many are getting less than the ideal offer (on 
their policies)."  The insurance industry estimates that $7.8 
billion has been paid in AIDS-related claims since 1986.
      
"Medical Briefs: Gender and AIDS"
Advocate (09/20/94) No. 664, P. 26;  Cohan, Gary R.
     Authors of a study comparing rates of new AIDS-defining disease 
and mortality between the genders say that "there appears to be 
little difference between men and women in the clinical course of
AIDS."  The recent study of 2,554 participants--566 of whom are 
women--reflects similar survival times and similar prevalence of 
illness and mortality among the sexes.
      
"Trend Watch: HIV Testing at Home?"
Business Ethics (09/94-10/94) Vol. 8, No. 5, P. 13;  Gaines, 
Susan
     Direct Access Diagnostics, a Johnson & Johnson unit, recently 
filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval to 
market a home access HIV testing and counseling service.  Some 
AIDS activists are concerned over the 800 number method of 
informing people of the results, wondering if telephone 
counseling is adequate--regardless of whether the diagnosis is 
positive or negative.  Marty Delaney, a leading AIDS activist, 
wrote, "For some people, having a face-to-face encounter with a 
stranger is simply not an attractive option for talking about 
HIV..."  A 1992 National Centers for Disease Control Survey 
showed that 29 percent of the adult population would get tested 
for HIV if a home option were available.  The kit will sell for 
about $30 over-the-counter, which is at least $10 less than 
federal reimbursement for public clinic HIV tests.
      
"Around the Nation"
Advocate (09/20/94) No. 664, P. 17
     In California, the Catalyst Foundation for AIDS Awareness and 
Care filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission
against the KHJ radio station because of an on-air exchange 
during which host Herb Nero told Catalyst vice president Brian 
Maxey, "I hope you die of AIDS."  In other AIDS-related news from
across the country, state health department officials in Michigan
expect that, in 1997, AIDS will surpass homicide as the leading 
killer of black men statewide.
      
"Correspondence: Tests for HIV in Lupus"
New England Journal of Medicine (09/29/94) Vol. 331, No. 13, P. 
881;  Soriano, Vicenc;  Ordi, Josep;  Grau, Josep
     In a letter to the editor published in the New England Journal of
Medicine, Vicenc Soriano et al respond to Jindal et al's report 
on false positive HIV tests in a woman with lupus and end-stage 
renal disease, and question the patient's low CD4+ cell count.  
Soriano et al describe their own study of such patients, which 
found that only indeterminate patterns of reactivity for HIV-1, 
HTLV-1, and HTLV-II were seen sporadically and all samples were 
negative on the ELISA test.  Their results do not confirm Jindal 
et al's hypothesis that autoantibodies in autoimmune disorders 
produce false positive results for HIV-1 with ELISAs and Western 
blotting.  The authors conclude that it is difficult to exclude 
HIV-1 infection because false negative findings have been 
described for the polymerase-chain-reaction test, viral culture, 
and antigen testing in HIV-1-infected people and because the 
patient described by Jindal et al had a low CD4+ cell count.
      
"Correspondence: Withdrawal of Conclusion: False Positive Tests for HIV in a Woman With Lupus"
New England Journal of Medicine (09/29/94) Vol. 331, No. 13, P. 
881;  Povolotsky, Jacob;  Polsky, Bruce;  Laurence, Jeffrey et al
     In a letter to the editor published in the New England Journal of
Medicine, Jacob Povolotsky et al report his and Bruce Polsky's 
further findings in the study of the false positive HIV tests 
found in a woman with lupus and renal failure, originally studied
by Jindal et al.  Povolotsky and Polsky isolated HIV-1 on two 
occasions in peripheral-blood mononuclear cells and the 
polymerase-chain-reactions were positive for HIV-1 DNA sequences.
The woman was informed of the results and counseled about 
appropriate therapy for HIV-1 infection.  It is emphasized that 
the Western blot method of testing remains a reliable way of 
diagnosing HIV-1. The authors suggest that HIV-1 cultures may 
have to be studied longer than the standard period of 14-35 days,
and that multiple PCRs may have to be performed in order to 
identify the virus.
      
