                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      February 10, 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
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Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"AIDS Cases Rising Sharply Among Women"
"Teen Gets Life for Murders of 2 Gay Men"
"Pentagon May Hold Up AIDS Study Funds"
"Marijuana Defendant Can Tell Jury He Needs Drug to Fight AIDS"
"Va. Group to Give Latex on Day of Love"
"Killer Injects Himself with HIV-Tainted Blood"
"Liposome Company's Amphotericin B Lipid Complex Approved for 
Marketing in the United Kingdom Under Trade Name 'Abelcet'"
"ChemTrak Files for FDA Approval of Home Access HIV Test; 
Completes Acquisition of Coonan Clinical Laboratories"
"No Salk Phase III Trials Yet"
"Your Health: HIV Answers"
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"AIDS Cases Rising Sharply Among Women"
New York Times (02/10/95) P. A11
   The number of AIDS cases among women in the United States has 
increased sharply and shows no signs of slowing down, officials 
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 
Thursday.  Cases among women are increasing by about 17 percent a
year, they said, and growing numbers of women are contracting the
disease through heterosexual contact.  "Women need to 
consistently use condoms when they're having heterosexual sex," 
said Dr. Patricia Fleming of the center's Division of HIV and 
AIDS.  Women accounted for 18 percent of the new AIDS cases among
adults in 1994.  On Wednesday, the World Health Organization 
reported that globally, infection with HIV is growing faster 
among women than any other group.  Related Stories: Wall Street 
Journal (02/10) P. C7; Washington Times (02/10) P. A15
    
"Teen Gets Life for Murders of 2 Gay Men"
Washington Times (02/10/95) P. A13
   Despite claims that he was trying to avoid being raped and 
infected with HIV, Marvin McClendon--the teenager accused of 
murdering two homosexual men in a robbery--was sentenced to two 
consecutive life prison terms Thursday.  The prosecution said 
that the 16-year-old is a troubled youth who stole $100 from the 
men, and then killed them.  The defense said that McClendon shot 
Robert Walters and Joseph Shoemake while fighting off unwanted 
sexual advances and out of fear that he might be infected with 
HIV.  Related Stories: New York Times (02/10) P. A25; Washington 
Post (02/10) P. A2
    
"Pentagon May Hold Up AIDS Study Funds"
Washington Post (02/10/95) P. A8;  Brown, David
   The Defense Department may withhold about $30 million earmarked 
for AIDS research and about $150 million for breast cancer 
research because it does not consider these studies essential 
segments of the military's medical program.  This money funds 
three-quarters of the military's research on AIDS, including drug
trials, laboratory experiments, and a large study of HIV's 
"natural history."  In the past few years, Congress has placed 
large sums of money in the defense budget that the Pentagon has 
not requested, and in this year's budget, added $33 million to 
the Pentagon's requested $14 million for AIDS research, for a 
total of approximately $47 million.  Scientists directing some of
the studies stopped recruiting new patients this week and warned 
employees of possible layoffs.  The Army, Navy, and Air Force 
will continue research in areas seen as directly related to 
military preparedness such as AIDS prevention, epidemiology, and 
vaccine development, according to a source in the armed forces.
    
"Marijuana Defendant Can Tell Jury He Needs Drug to Fight AIDS"
Baltimore Sun (02/10/95) P. 14B;  O'Brien, Dennis
   A Charles County, Md., judge ruled Thursday that Jerome E. Mensch
may argue to a jury that he needs to smoke marijuana to combat 
the effects of AIDS--the first time the "medical necessity 
defense" has been allowed in Maryland.  The 43-year-old dairy 
farmer has been charged with the unlawful manufacture and 
possession of marijuana.  On Dec. 19, Mensch told Circuit Judge 
George W. Bowling that the marijuana he began smoking about a 
year prior to his arrest worked better than prescription drugs to
alleviate the weight loss and nausea he experienced from being 
infected with HIV.  He admitted growing the marijuana, saying he 
did it "because it was free, because it was at my home, and 
because I needed it."  Judge Bowling ruled that Mensch met the 
three requirements for using the medical necessity defense: it 
was done to avoid an evil, there was no other means of avoiding 
the evil, and that the remedy was not disproportionate to the 
evil to be avoided.  Both sides expect a trial to begin in April.
    
"Va. Group to Give Latex on Day of Love"
Washington Post (02/10/95) P. C4;  Bates, Steve
   On Feb. 14, as part of "Safer Sex Valentine's Night," volunteers 
from Hopkins House--a private social service agency based in 
Alexandria, Va.--will distribute candy and condoms at homeless 
shelters, jails, and places where drug dealers and prostitutes 
hang out in Northern Virginia.  "Condoms should be on par with 
candy" on the day set aside to emphasize sweetness and love, said
Glenn Hopkins, director of Hopkins House.  Health officials and 
community groups are increasingly concerned that many at-risk 
people do not take the initiative to pick up free condoms or buy 
them at drugstores.  The Whitman-Walker Clinic and several other 
Washington, D.C., area community groups have also developed 
outreach programs to combat AIDS.  "We have a little bit more 
freedom than a government health employee," said Sean Bugg of 
Whitman-Walker, who sends volunteers to distribute condoms and 
answer health-related questions at District bars and clubs 
frequented by gay men.  In the last four years, the number of 
Northern Virginians infected with HIV has increased more than 350
percent, according to Hopkins House figures.
    
"Killer Injects Himself with HIV-Tainted Blood"
Reuters (02/09/95)
   In a bizarre form of self-inflicted capital punishment, 
multiple-killer Terry Fitzsimmons deliberately injected 
HIV-tainted blood, the Canadian Press reported Thursday.  "I knew
society wouldn't be satisfied with this (prison) sentence, so I 
thought I'd give them the capital punishment they always wanted,"
said Fitzsimmons in a taped interview with his lawyers.  Last 
year, he plead guilty to the murders of three people.  He told 
his lawyer he intentionally injected blood in his own veins when 
taking cocaine with an HIV-positive gay man.  Fitzsimmons tested 
HIV-positive in Kingston Penitentiary last month and prison 
doctors told him he would develop full-blown AIDS in about five 
years.
    
"Liposome Company's Amphotericin B Lipid Complex Approved for 
Marketing in the United Kingdom Under Trade Name 'Abelcet'"
PR Newswire (02/09/95)
   Liposome Co. Inc. has received marketing approval from the 
Medicines Control Agency for Abelcet in the United Kingdom.  The 
drug is approved for first-line treatment of cryptococcal 
meningitis and systemic cryptococcosis in AIDS patients and as an
alternative to amphotericin B for severe systemic fungal 
infections.  Chairman and chief executive Charles A. Baker called
Abelcet "a significant advancement over conventional anti-fungal 
treatment."  Liposome Co. has filed additional marketing 
applications in seventeen countries and expects to receive more 
approvals beginning in 1995.
    
"ChemTrak Files for FDA Approval of Home Access HIV Test; 
Completes Acquisition of Coonan Clinical Laboratories"
Business Wire (02/08/95)
   ChemTrak Inc. announced on Wednesday that it has filed a 
premarket approval application with the Food and Drug 
Administration for the ChemTrak home access HIV test.  The test 
for detecting antibodies against HIV-1 will not require doctor 
participation or a prescription.  Unlike a conventional home 
test, the ChemTrak home access HIV test includes testing as well 
as counseling and referral to local care.  "An important weapon 
in the fight against HIV and AIDS is early, accurate disease 
detection.  Expanded access to HIV testing will be made possible 
by offering a home testing option to people unable or unwilling 
to use current test alternatives," said Stephen J. Coonan, 
founder of ChemTrak's home access HIV test business.  ChemTrak 
also announced that on Feb. 3, it completed the acquisition of 
Coonan Clinical Laboratories Inc., through which it acquired the 
home access HIV test.
    
"No Salk Phase III Trials Yet"
Lancet (02/04/95) Vol. 345, No. 8945, P. 313;  Rowe, Paul M.
   Jonas Salk and officials from the Immune Response Corporation 
recently appeared before a U.S. Food and Drug Administration 
(FDA) advisory committee, seeking approval of large-scale 
efficacy trials of their whole inactivated HIV as a therapeutic 
vaccine for HIV infection.  The panel, however, found the data 
for the effectiveness of the product to be extremely weak, 
although it appeared to be safe.  The panel said that the FDA 
should permit expanded trials, but that it was too early for 
phase III trials.  While the sponsors claimed that the treatment 
improved surrogate markers and reduced disease progression, FDA 
analysts argued that no pre-specified marker showed statistically
significant improvement.  Some other markers did--with marginal p
values, but they are not strictly significant because the finding
was post hoc.  Salk's main theory links the stimulation of 
cell-mediated immunity with a decrease in viral burden.
    
"Your Health: HIV Answers"
Advocate (02/07/95) No. 674, P. 43;  Cohan, Gary R.
   Seborrheic dermatitis--the most common HIV-related skin 
problem--usually appears as a red, scaly, greasy rash on the 
forehead, cheeks, nose creases, eyebrows, and ears.  Although the
rash is rarely itchy on the face, it can be if it affects the 
scalp or the trunk, which can happen in severe cases.  
Predisposing factors for seborrheic dermatitis include immune 
suppression, inherited genes, and increased sebum production.  
While it is common in the general population, it is even more so 
among HIV-infected persons, with over 80 percent of people 
diagnosed with AIDS exhibiting some form of this condition.  
Treatment involves a daily skin regimen that includes using the 
proper soap for moisturizing, shampooing with products that 
contain selenium sulfide or zinc pyrithione, and avoiding harsh 
scrubbing with washcloths or abrasive scrubs.
    
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