                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      October 19, 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
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Copyright 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"City Disclosed Confidential Data on AIDS Panel Members"
"Secrecy Proposed for Blood Study"
"Health Chief Warns Cambodia Faces AIDS Epidemic"
"Biocontrol Receives Patent for Procedure Used to Treat HIV"
"CEL-SCI Corporation Announces Extension of Warrants"
"International Disunity on HIV Vaccine Efficacy Trials"
"Locallisation of HIV-1 to Human Papillomavirus Associated 
Cervical Lesions"
"Letters: The Efficacy of Zidovudine is Time Limited"
"Around the Nation"
"Grantwatch: AIDS"
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"City Disclosed Confidential Data on AIDS Panel Members"
Philadelphia Inquirer (10/19/94) P. A1;  Collins, Huntly
     The confidentiality of 36 members of a Philadelphia community 
AIDS advisory panel was violated by the city's Health Department,
said City Health Commissioner Estelle Richman on Tuesday.  The 
members' names, sexual orientation, and the HIV status of some 
were accidentally put on a federal grant application to the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by the AIDS Activities
Coordinating Office.  Copies of the application were also 
distributed in Philadelphia, but now all copies of the grant 
application have been sequestered and the confidential data is 
being removed.  Richman said the demands for the resignation of 
Richard Scott, director of the Philadelphia's AIDS office, are 
"symptomatic of the infighting that's gone on" in Philadelphia's 
AIDS community.  "If it weren't [Scott]," she defended, "it would
be someone else."  Scott has been removed from the committee and 
Richman will serve in his place.  The confidential information 
was included because grant applications require that cities 
demonstrate that the groups affected are involved in the 
planning.  The nomination form clearly states, however, that "all
information provided would be held confidential."  Some members 
plan on suing the city for breach of confidentiality of Act 148, 
the Pennsylvania law that limits the right to disclose the names 
of people with HIV without their written consent.
      
"Secrecy Proposed for Blood Study"
Toronto Globe and Mail (10/18/94) P. A3;  Coutts, Jane
     Justice Horace Krever, head of the inquiry into why more than 
1,000 Canadians were infected with HIV from tainted blood 
products, wants to keep a report on the current safety of 
Canada's blood a secret for three months.  Krever wants the 
report, which will be issued at the end of November, to be 
distributed to participating lawyers--including representatives 
of the Red Cross, the government, and those who have contracted 
HIV.   The lawyers would have 10 days to respond in writing to 
the report--on the condition that they not question the experts 
who prepared it and not discuss their responses publicly for 
three months.  Most of the groups involved are not satisfied with
this plan because--as the report is likely to be highly 
technical--they would not be able to respond adequately without 
talking to the specialists who wrote it.  Others claim that, 
because the report was prepared for a public inquiry with public 
funds, it must not be withheld from the public.  The issue was 
discussed privately  between the lawyers and the commission 
counsel last week and will be dealt with publicly later this 
week.
      
"Health Chief Warns Cambodia Faces AIDS Epidemic"
Reuters (10/18/94)
     Michael Merson, executive director of the World Health 
Organization' s global AIDS program, said Tuesday that unless 
action is taken, Cambodia faces an AIDS crisis comparable to the 
one in neighboring Thailand.  "The time for action is now--the 
price will be much greater (to pay) later if action isn't taken,"
he stated during a news conference.  A total of 625 full-blown 
AIDS cases have been reported in Cambodia, and experts estimate 
that as many as 4,000 Cambodians are infected with HIV.  Recent 
surveys in southern Cambodia show that 40 percent of the city of 
Sihanoukville's commercial sex workers are HIV-infected, and that
the infection rate among blood donors in Phnom Penh is 3.5 
percent.  Merson said that because the cash-strapped Cambodian 
government does not have enough of its own resources, United 
Nation organizations, like WHO, will try to help Cambodia fight 
the disease.
      
"Biocontrol Receives Patent for Procedure Used to Treat HIV"
PR Newswire (10/18/94)
     The U.S. Patent Office has issued a patent to Biocontrol 
Technology, Inc. for its specialized method for whole-body 
extracorporeal hyperthermia used in the treatment of AIDS 
patients.  An artificially induced fever of 107. 6 degrees 
Fahrenheit treats the HIV infection.  Studies have shown HIV to 
be heat sensitive.  The BioLogic-HT System automatically balances
blood chemistry changes that occur during hyperthermia--thus 
avoiding the potential imbalances that can lead to neurologic 
brain damage or even death of the patient.  IDT, Inc.--the 
sponsor of the study and Biocontrol's subsidiary--and 
HemoCleanse, Inc.--the manufacturer of BioLogic-HT--studied the 
system in six patients with HIV and found that it could be safely
administered.
      
"CEL-SCI Corporation Announces Extension of Warrants"
PR Newswire (10/17/94)
     CEL-SCI Corporation--developer of Multikine, a potential 
treatment for cancers and other immunodeficiency 
diseases--announced Monday that the expiration date of its 
publicly held warrants trading under the Nasdaq symbol "CELIW" 
has been extended by 12 months to Feb. 6, 1996.  Viral 
Technologies, Inc., the 50 percent owned subsidiary of CEL-SCI, 
is developing the HGP-30 AIDS vaccine.  The vaccine is based upon
a highly conserved piece of the p17 "core" protein of HIV.
      
"International Disunity on HIV Vaccine Efficacy Trials"
Journal of the American Medical Association (10/12/94) Vol. 272, 
No. 14, P. 1090;  Cotton, Paul
     Phase III trials of two experimental HIV vaccines were 
indefinitely postponed this summer by the National Institutes of 
Health.  Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of 
Allergy and Infectious Diseases, cited the lack of clear evidence
showing that a person is actually immunized against HIV infection
as a reason for the postponement.  The possibility that study 
participants would not understand that the vaccine is 
experimental and "assume that they are now protected and so go 
out and have unsafe sex," was also factored into the decision not
to proceed.   Subjects in phase I and II trials of HIV vaccines 
have experienced higher-than-expected new infection rates.  
Researchers outside the United States may continue testing the 
vaccines, which both use the HIV gp120 protein, because there is 
an "urgent need and pressure from the most affected countries to 
move ahead and accelerate vaccine development," says Dr. Peter 
Piot of the WHO Global Programme on AIDS.  Testing may be easier 
and less expensive in countries where the infection rate is much 
higher because the sample size could be much smaller, adds Dr. 
Jose Esparza, also of WHO's Global Programme on AIDS.  Thailand, 
Brazil, and Uganda are preparing to conduct efficacy trials.  
Vaccine testing in the United States will most likely be delayed 
until the correlates of protection--or clear markers of 
protection after immunization--are understood.
      
"Locallisation of HIV-1 to Human Papillomavirus Associated 
Cervical Lesions"
Lancet (10/01/94) Vol. 344, No. 8927, P. 954;  Vernon, S.D.;  
Zaki, S. R.;  Reeves, W. C.
     Symptom-free and immunosuppressed HIV-1 positive women have a 
significantly higher risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasias 
and genital infection with human papillomavirus than HIV-negative
women do.  In a letter to the editor published in The Lancet 
medical journal, Vernon et al describe their study to determine 
whether HIV that is localized to HPV-associated lesions and 
whether detection of HIV, HPV, and CIN are influenced by 
immunocompetence.  They found that HIV-1 and HPV co-localized in 
CIN lesions frequently and that co-localization was independent 
of both clinical status and CD4 cell count--which supports 
previous theories that the two viruses interact to influence 
pathogenesis.  Co-localization of HIV to an HPV-associated lesion
concentrates HIV in the lesion area.  This raises questions as to
the potential effects of surgical treatment of CIN on HIV 
transmission and enhanced sexual transmission of HIV after 
removal of the lesion.  Vernon et al recommend that these issues 
be considered when guidelines for the care of HIV-infected women,
their education, and their counseling are developed.
      
"Letters: The Efficacy of Zidovudine is Time Limited"
Journal of the American Medical Association (10/05/94) Vol. 272, 
No. 13, P. 1001;  Lundgren, Jens D.;  Pedersen, Court;  Nielsen, 
Jens Ole et al
     In a letter to the editor published in the Journal of the 
American Medical Association, Lundgren et al respond to letters 
from Drs. Bergman and Wenglin and from Moore et al about their 
study concluding that the effect of zidovudine is time limited.  
Berman and Wenglin suggested that "aggressive prophylactic 
antibiotic therapy" would "enhance the beneficial effects of 
zidovudine," but Lundgren et al found no rationale for to support
that theory, noting that it failed to change the relationship 
between time since starting zidovudine and death.  Moore et al 
discovered increased mortality rates during the second year after
starting zidovudine compared to untreated patients and decreased 
rates of mortality for patients that had been taking zidovudine 
for more than two years.  Lundgren et al detected a statistically
significant increased risk of dying only for patients taking 
zidovudine more than two years.  They note that the lack of 
confirmation of an increased mortality rate after two years of 
taking the drug should not be interpreted as a contradiction of 
their own findings.
      
"Around the Nation"
Advocate (10/18/94) No. 666, P. 20
     An 21-year-old HIV-infected woman from West Palm Beach, Fla. has 
been charged with attempted murder for allegedly biting a 90-year
old man while panhandling.  In other news from around the 
country, a Cincinnati, Ohio, task force determined that 
intravenous drug use is not enough of a problem in the city to 
warrant a needle-exchange program to slow the spread of HIV.
      
"Grantwatch: AIDS"
Health Affairs (Fall 1994) Vol. 13, No. 4, P. 178
     Iris House in New York City was granted $50,000 over two years by
the Ittleson Foundation.  Iris House is the country's first 
community-based organization specifically designed to address the
problems that low-income and minority women with HIV/AIDS and 
their families face in obtaining services.  Funds from the grant 
will go toward an analysis of the program's planning process, an 
evaluation of its first year, and the development of a resource 
guide of how the model project can be duplicated by others.
      
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