                     AIDS Daily Summary
                      November 21, 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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"Glaxo to Pursue Development of 3TC, Drug to Treat AIDS and 
Hepatitis B"
"AIDS Bill Hurts Russian Tourism"
"Niger Muslims Protest Anti-AIDS Campaign"
"Needle Sticks Drop at VA"
"AIDS Toll on Elderly: Dying Grandchildren"
"Zamora Memorial"
"U.S. AIDS Doctor Dismisses New Treatment"
"Ex Vivo Therapies Acquires Caremark Interest In..."
"College HIV Rate Holds Steady, but Risk of Exposure Remains 
High"
"Around the World: Australia/Colombia/Switzerland"
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"Glaxo to Pursue Development of 3TC, Drug to Treat AIDS and 
Hepatitis B"
Wall Street Journal (11/21/94) P. B5;  Moore, Stephen D.
     Glaxo Holding PLC plans to continue development of its AIDS and 
hepatitis B drug, 3TC.  Citing promising results, Glaxo will 
apply for regulatory approval of 3TC as an AIDS treatment in 
combination with AZT or Retrovir early next year.  Recent trials 
show that the combination of 3TC and AZT/Retrovir reduced by as 
much as 99 percent the amount of HIV in blood cells.  Wellcome, 
the maker of AZT, called the combination treatment "the most 
effective drug regimen studied to date in suppressing the 
replication of [HIV] and boosting the body's own 
infection-fighting capabilities."  The combination drug data was 
announced Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, at the Second 
International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection.  Related
Stories: Financial Times (11/21) P. 16; Washington Times (11/21) 
P. A12; Baltimore Sun (11/21) P. 4A
      
"AIDS Bill Hurts Russian Tourism"
Wall Street Journal (11/21/94) P. A12
     Tourism in Russia has already been affected by the Russian 
legislative bill to require AIDS tests of all foreigners entering
the country.  The tourism agency said, "We faced a flood of 
cancellations of trips" after lawmakers began debating the bill. 
If the bill becomes law, said AO Intourist--a large Russian tour 
operator--the number of foreign business and tourist visits could
decrease by at least 40 percent next year.  Supporters of the 
measure want to avoid the costs of treating people with AIDS.
      
"Niger Muslims Protest Anti-AIDS Campaign"
Washington Times (11/21/94) P. A16
     Thousands of Muslims protested the Nigerian government's AIDS 
education and prevention campaign.  The year-old media and poster
campaign was denounced as promoting adultery.  "The radio and the
television belong to the people of Niger, and we will not 
tolerate the Western destruction of the moral and religious codes
of our society," said representatives of Islamic groups.  The 
groups are especially upset by the campaign's promotion of the 
use of condoms to prevent AIDS.
      
"Needle Sticks Drop at VA"
Washington Times (11/21/94) P. A5
     Amid increased fear of contracting AIDS or hepatitis from 
patients' blood, a study has found that needle injuries to staff 
at Veterans Affairs hospitals have decreased 19 percent.  The 
report, prepared by the General Accounting Office (GAO) for Rep. 
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), said that VA officials do not know if the 
decrease is due to universal precautions, safer devices, 
underreporting of injuries, or a combination of the three.  
Congressional investigators, however, said that not all VA 
medical centers have the safer needles that can greatly reduce 
the risk of accidents.  Ninety of the 158 VA medical centers 
spent more than $1 million last year to buy safer needles and 
other blood-gathering devices.  The GAO estimates that out of the
16,749 patient with HIV or AIDS that were treated in VA medical 
centers in fiscal 1993, there were at least 71 needle injuries to
VA staff involving HIV-infected blood.  No VA worker has reported
getting HIV or AIDS from a needle injury.  The risk of infection 
from an accidental needle stick containing HIV-infected blood is 
only three-tenths of 1 percent, but the GAO estimates that one VA
worker every five years is likely to become infected due to a 
needle injury.
      
"AIDS Toll on Elderly: Dying Grandchildren"
New York Times (11/21/94) P. A1;  Lee, Felicia R.
     Grandmothers across the United States are increasingly being 
presented with a new role--they are caring for adult children 
dying of AIDS and for the grandchildren--who might also be 
infected--who are left behind.  Experts estimate that 125,000 
children could lose their mothers to AIDS by the year 2000.  The 
children are frequently left in the care of relatives, family 
friends, and social agencies.  Up from 865,000 in 1992, more than
1 million children were being raised by their grandparents last 
year.  Rene Woodworth, coordinator of the Grandparent Information
Center of the A.A.R.P., said that while she didn't have any 
statistics on the impact of AIDS on grandparents forced to raise 
orphaned children, "you're dealing with the issue of loss, maybe 
some guilt, maybe some shame.  Their biggest concern is taking 
care of their grandchildren."  Support groups, such as Project 
DEAR, in which older women who take care of their children and 
grandchildren with AIDS, are being developed through hospitals, 
foster care groups, and organizations for AIDS and for children.
      
"Zamora Memorial"
USA Today (11/21/94) P. 1D;  Thomas, Karen
     On Sunday, more than 1,000 people attended a memorial service for
AIDS activist Pedro Zamora,  who died from AIDS-related 
complications on Nov. 11.  Zamora co-starred in MTV's "Real 
World," which followed the lives of a group of young people 
sharing a house.  Gay rights activists and Christian-right 
protesters clashed at the service held in Miami Beach.
      
"U.S. AIDS Doctor Dismisses New Treatment"
Reuters (11/17/94)
     Passive Immune Therapy (PIT) has been dismissed as having 
"minimal benefit" by Dr. Michael Gottleib, the American doctor 
who discovered AIDS.  "I think it's very likely that people with 
HIV will have their hopes dashed; people are going to flounder 
(and) not know what to believe," he said.  PIT involves monthly 
transfusions of plasma taken from healthy HIV-infected 
individuals.  Dr. Abraham Karpas, the man who discovered PIT, 
defended his research saying, "It is not a cure.  But [AIDS 
patients] could have...a far longer life and a far better quality
of life."  The Medical Research Council (MRC) in Britain also 
doubts PIT and has refused to fund a full clinical trial of the 
treatment.
      
"Ex Vivo Therapies Acquires Caremark Interest In..."
Business Wire (11/17/94)
     Applied Immune Sciences Inc. (AIS) announced on Thursday that Ex 
vivo Therapies (ExVT) has purchased Caremark International's 
50-percent interest in a joint venture with AIS for the 
commercialization of AIDS therapies in North America.  Ex vivo is
a joint venture between AIS and Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Inc.  AIS 
also reported the completed facility validation of ExVT's first 
commercial cell processing center in California, the site of an 
upcoming AIS Phase III trial in metastatic kidney cancer.  ExVt 
will also develop cell processing centers for AIS and RPR 
Gencell, a division of Rhone-Poulenc devoted to the development 
of therapies for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and nervous 
system disorders.
      
"College HIV Rate Holds Steady, but Risk of Exposure Remains 
High"
AIDS Alert (11/94) Vol. 9, No. 11, P. 153
     Recent results of the largest study of HIV seroprevalence at U.S.
colleges show that transmission among students is rare.  Health 
officials, however, say that more counseling and testing is 
needed at some colleges.  "There is a lot of sex, a lot of sexual
experimentation, and there is the potential [for HIV 
transmission].  So just because the news is reassuring, we don't 
need to be complacent," said Dr. Scott Holmberg, section chief in
the division of HIV/AIDS at the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC).  Citing the results as evidence, the CDC 
estimates that between 10,000 and 35,000 of the 13 million 
college students in the United States are HIV-infected.  The 
seroprevalence rates were not dependent on reasons why students 
went to the campus health centers.  This suggests that many 
students do not know that they are infected and thus, health care
providers cannot accurately determine which students are at risk 
of infection.  The two-phase study, which began in 1988, was 
discontinued because the trend showed that transmission on 
campuses was not increasing.
      
"Around the World: Australia/Colombia/Switzerland"
Advocate (11/01/94) No. 667, P. 20
     Health officials in Melbourne, Australia, ordered an HIV-positive
man to be detained in a hospital Sept. 17.  The man violated two 
restraining orders by engaging in behavior that placed the public
at risk for HIV, officials said.  In other international 
AIDS-related news, an HIV-infected Colombian man--convicted of 
selling his blood to a hospital--was sentenced on Sept. 21 to 11 
years in prison.  In one other AIDS-related story, the supreme 
court of Switzerland rejected an 18-month prison term given to 
man who knowingly exposed his girlfriend to HIV.  The Swiss court
called for a longer prison term for the man.
      
