                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                        June 02, 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
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"Gay AIDS Data Give Mixed Picture In a New Report"
"Banned in U.S. for Causing Birth Defects, Thalidomide Returns as
an AIDS Drug"
"Glenn Burke, an Openly Gay Baseball Player, Dies"
"Home Access Enters Race to Market New HIV Testing Service"
"Aspirin Trial Stopped"
"New Trial Proposed for When Drugs Fail"
"Encouraging Signs"
"The Changing Epidemiology of Human Immunodeficiency Virus 
Infection in Older Persons"
"Everyday Heroes: 'She Makes Us Feel Wonderful'"
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"Gay AIDS Data Give Mixed Picture In a New Report"
Wall Street Journal (06/02/95) P. B4;  de Lisser, Eleena
     According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 
number of new AIDS cases among white homosexuals has dropped by 
between 3 percent and 20 percent in New York, Los Angeles, and 
San Francisco since 1989.  However, cases among black homosexuals
increased by 49 percent in New York, 48 percent in Los Angeles, 
and 53 percent in San Francisco.  The number of AIDS cases among 
gays throughout the country climbed 31 percent since 1989, with 
about 35,000 new cases reported last year.  The nationwide number
of cases among black and Hispanic gays jumped 79 percent and 61 
percent, respectively.  The CDC interpreted these findings as 
evidence that more culturally appropriate HIV prevention services
need to be established.
      
"Banned in U.S. for Causing Birth Defects, Thalidomide Returns as
an AIDS Drug"
Wall Street Journal (06/02/95) P. B1;  Welsh, Jonathan
     Thalidomide, which caused gross birth defects during its 
distribution in the 1950s and 1960s, has re-emerged as an 
experimental treatment for two late-stage symptoms of AIDS.  
Although the FDA has not officially approved this drug, several 
AIDS patients and doctors are purchasing thalidomide through an 
underground network of "buying clubs" for the treatment of 
aphthous ulcers, or canker sores, as well as for cachexia, or 
wasting disease.  The use of thalidomide as a treatment for these
AIDS symptoms resulted from research conducted by Gilla Kaplan, 
an associate professor of immunology at New York's Rockefeller 
University.  Recently, the FDA sanctioned the clinical trials of 
thalidomide as an AIDS treatment.  Celgene Corp., together with 
Andrulis Pharmaceuticals Corp., plan to market the drug as a 
commercial product.
      
"Glenn Burke, an Openly Gay Baseball Player, Dies"
Reuters (06/01/95)
     Glenn Burke, a former outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers and 
the Oakland Athletics during a four-year major league career, 
died from AIDS complications at the age of 42 at Fairmont 
Hospital in San Leandro, Calif.  Burke believed his baseball 
career suffered because of anti-gay bias.  Although it was well 
known during his playing days that he was homosexual, Burke made 
a public disclosure in a magazine article in 1982 after he 
leaving the sport in 1980.  Burke--who in later used drugs, was 
often homeless, and served prison time--was helped in his last 
years by the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco General 
Hospital.  Burke is survived by his mother, five sisters, and a 
brother.
      
"Home Access Enters Race to Market New HIV Testing Service"
Healthwire (06/01/95)
     Home Access Health Corporation, a Chicago-based company committed
to innovative home access telemedicine services, has filed with 
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of its HIV 
testing, counseling, and education service-- making it the third 
company to submit such an application.  "Our medical staff feels 
anyone wanting to get tested for HIV must feel comfortable with 
the quality and depth of both pre-and post-test counseling 
associated with our product," said Richard A. Quattrocchi, Home 
Access president.  Recently, top academics in HIV/AIDS and 
officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have 
supported the development of alternative methods for the increase
of HIV testing,  and the FDA has issued new guidelines for 
approving HIV home specimen collection testing, thus building 
momentum for the market.  Home Access believes that home testing 
and counseling is the next step in telemedicine, a communications
technology that links physicians and health professionals around 
the country to share medical expertise and resources and cut 
healthcare costs.
      
"Aspirin Trial Stopped"
POZ (04/95-05/95) No. 7, P. 22;  Eisenberg, Jana
     A continuing study of the anti-HIV effects of high-dose aspirin 
has been terminated after evidence of toxicity was found.  The 
Community Research Initiative on AIDS (CRIA) was the first 
research group to study the hypothesis that aspirin has anti-HIV 
effects.  CRIA recently stopped the study, however, on the advice
of its safety and monitoring board and the lead investigator, Dr.
Donald Kotler, after slight reductions in hematocrit and modest 
increases in liver enzymes were observed.  These are normal side 
effects of the regular use of high-dose aspirin.  Dr. Joseph 
Sonnabend, CRIA's medical director said that based on data from 
the aspirin study, less toxic salicylates may be investigated in 
the future.
      
"New Trial Proposed for When Drugs Fail"
AIDS Treatment News (05/19/95) No. 223, P. 1;  James, John S.
     At a recent meeting of the Clinical Trials subcommittee of the 
Inter-Company Collaboration for AIDS Drug Development (ICC), 
chairman David Barry said that the type of novel trial design 
which would receive the most support in the ICC would be studies 
of combinations of drugs in patients who already have resistant 
virus.  The ICC is composed of 17 pharmaceutical companies which 
have agreed to share information to facilitate more rapid 
development of AIDS treatments.  Barry's emphasis on 
"experienced" patients is important because until now many of the
trials have sought "naive" patients, which means that many who 
most need a new drug are disqualified and that there are large 
numbers of people for whom new treatments are not being 
developed.  Barry proposed a trial design in which a small number
of patients are given several different drug combinations.  While
on a new-drug regimen, the patient's CD4 count and viral load 
would be monitored so that if he or she stops doing well, he or 
she can be moved to another of the treatments.  Barry believes 
that if such data is carefully recorded, and if the original 
resistance is known, the trial could determine which resistance 
patterns respond to which drugs.
      
"Encouraging Signs"
Advocate (05/30/95) No. 682, P. 12
     In late April, new AIDS education poster campaigns were launched 
in the United States' two largest cities.  In New York City, the 
Gay Men's Health Crisis unveiled its first condom-use campaign to
target HIV-negative homosexual men with the message "Staying 
negative--it's not automatic."  The Adolescent HIV Consortium of 
Los Angeles announced "Get sex? Get drugs? Get tested," a 
campaign geared toward teenagers.
      
"The Changing Epidemiology of Human Immunodeficiency Virus 
Infection in Older Persons"
Journal of the American Medical Association (05/24/95-05/31/95) 
Vol. 273, No. 20, P. 1558h
     Using a retrospective chart review of HIV-infected patients aged 
60 years or older, Steven M. Gordon and Sumner Thompson of the 
Cleveland Clinic Foundation attempted to describe the 
epidemiology of HIV infection in older persons.  Thirty-two 
HIV-infected patients, who were an average age of 64.8 years, 
were identified.  Risk factors among the 27 men included 
homosexual/bisexual relations, injection drug use (IDU), 
transfusions, and heterosexual sex.  Only one of the five women 
had an identified risk factor--a blood transfusion.  More than 45
percent of these patients were tested for HIV after receiving a 
diagnosis of an AIDS-related opportunistic infection.  The 
researchers concluded that most of the HIV-infected elderly 
patients acquired HIV through sexual intercourse or IDU.  In 
general, the clinicians did not consider HIV for these patients 
until late in the course of infection, despite a high prevalence 
of sexually transmitted diseases.  Clinicians caring for elderly 
patients should do a complete sexual history and offer sex 
education, the researchers recommend.
      
"Everyday Heroes: 'She Makes Us Feel Wonderful'"
Newsweek (05/29/95) Vol. 125, No. 22, P. 28;  Chinni, Dante;  
Peyser, Marc;  Leland, John et al.
     Anita Septimus, head of the Family Comprehensive AIDS Center's 
social-work division, and her staff care for more than 300 
families of children with AIDS.  In addition to teaching 
infection prevention and helping parents plan for the future, the
workers also give the young people a semblance of childhood--with
trips to the zoo, the circus, and summer camps.  As Septimus 
says, "You don't choose the day you enter the world and you don't
choose the day you leave.  It's what you do in between that makes
all the difference."  She feels that it is her job to help 
families make the most of the lives they have.
      
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