                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                        June 7, 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
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Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"A Dying Writer Finds Solace in the Heart of Africa"
"Plea by Judges Fails to Block Sentencing Bill"
"German Dating Agency for HIV-Positive People"
"Italian Police Seize Blood Plasma"
"Scandipharm Introduces New Enzyme Microsphere Product"
"United Way Funding Focuses on Issues, Impact"
"Peter Jennings Gets Angry"
"PCP Therapy: Aerosolized Pentamidine vs. TMP-SMX"
"Handicapped Rights"
"Antiviral Conference Reports"
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"A Dying Writer Finds Solace in the Heart of Africa"
New York Times (06/07/95) P. A4;  French, Howard W.
     The days of Sony Labou Tansi, whom many consider to be Central 
Africa's greatest writer, are filled with mystical ceremonies in 
a remote village in Congo.  Worshipers surround him for religious
songs and spells that combine African traditional healing and 
Christian evangelism.  According to his friends,  Tansi--who has 
AIDS--was close to death a few weeks ago.  Now, however, he is 
eager to prove that rumors of his death were premature.  "It 
wasn't until I came here, following the voice of a prophet, that 
my condition really began to change," he explains.  Tansi 
believes his recovery was a miracle of faith in African 
traditions and in the power of God.
      
"Plea by Judges Fails to Block Sentencing Bill"
New York Times (06/07/95) P. A1;  Dao, James
     Despite a last-minute appeal from a group representing the 
state's Supreme Court, the New York State Legislature on Tuesday 
approved a bill that significantly revises criminal sentencing 
laws.  The plan would increase minimum sentences for many violent
criminals, and would deny parole to repeat violent offenders.  
The Legislature also passed a measure that would require 
convicted rapists and other sexual offenders to be tested for HIV
if their victims so request.  Although some said the bill would 
provide critical information to people who have been raped, 
opponents claimed the test results would be useless to the 
victims because the tests might be done months or years after the
crime was committed.
      
"German Dating Agency for HIV-Positive People"
Reuters (06/06/95)
     On Tuesday, a German company announced that it has established 
Europe's first dating service for people infected with HIV.  
"Healthy people want nothing to do with HIV-positive people and 
that makes the search for a partner very difficult," explained 
Stefan Wehner, founder of the PV dating agency.  To become 
members, candidates must pay $1,695 plus a 15 percent value-added
tax to be listed for one year in the company's database.  Wehner 
said that to prevent abuse of the service, potential members must
contact PV through the mail and must supply a doctor's 
certificate verifying that they are HIV-positive.
      
"Italian Police Seize Blood Plasma"
Reuters (06/06/95)
     Italian police reported on Tuesday that they confiscated 32,000 
pints of surgical blood plasma--some of it smuggled from the 
United States--after import and storage violations were 
discovered.  An inspection of a medical company near the town of 
Siena revealed that some 7,000 pints of plasma had been illegally
brought from the United States, and that 5,700 other pints had 
passed their expiration dates.  The police also found several 
irregularities in the way that the remaining Italian plasma had 
been registered.  In May, investigators reported violations in 50
private clinics in Rome.  The infractions included failing to 
properly test blood destined for transfusions, and the sale of 
blood at inflated prices by public sector practitioners to 
private clinics.  More than 300 people have been ordered to take 
tests for HIV and hepatitis B and C after the investigators 
learned that many donors at a private clinic in Rome had not been
properly screened.
      
"Scandipharm Introduces New Enzyme Microsphere Product"
PR Newswire (06/06/95)
     Scandipharm's latest pharmaceutical product, ULTRASE 
(pancrelipase) Microspheres, is designed to provide enzymatic 
activity during nutrient transit in the intestinal tract.  
ULTRASE will be marketed as a branded alternative to the 
current leading product PANCREASE, and will cost 29 percent less 
than PANCREASE based on the Average Wholesale Price.  The new 
microsphere product can be used by patients with malabsorption of
nutrients due to pancreatic insufficiency caused by cystic 
fybrosis, chronic pancreatitis, alcohol-induced liver and 
pancreas disease, and HIV.
      
"United Way Funding Focuses on Issues, Impact"
PR Newswire (06/06/95)
     The United Way of Allegheny County, Pa., is continuing to focus 
contributors' funds on the health and human service programs that
are having the greatest impact on the community's most important 
issues, said volunteers on Tuesday.  "United Way is taking the 
initiative to tackle the issues our community is most concerned 
about," said William F. Roemer, chairman of the United Way of 
Allegheny County Board of Directors.  Among others, United Way 
gifts from the 1994 campaign will benefit programs that enhance 
health and support health education.  A total of $3.4 million, 
for example, will be distributed to 41 programs, including the 
Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force's project that helps educate the 
public about HIV and AIDS and the American Red Cross' health and 
safety services.
      
"Peter Jennings Gets Angry"
POZ (04/95-05/95) No. 7, P. 62;  Doppelt, Steve
     In an interview with POZ magazine's Steve Doppelt, ABC's Peter 
Jennings explains why, according to Daniel Wolf of the Gay Men's 
Health Crisis, he is the "most visible newscaster" on AIDS.  
Jennings says he has many friends with AIDS or HIV.  But when he 
was selected to host the "AIDS Quarterly," a series of AIDS 
specials on PBS, it was a fairly new subject to cover.  The 
people on the program "really exposed me to a failing in [the 
media's] coverage," Jennings explains.  He believes that the 
media has contributed to the some of the fear and resentment that
people in the AIDS community experience.  Still, he does not 
consider himself courageous for devoting so much time to AIDS 
because he learned early "that any disease in the country is a 
disease affecting all of us."
      
"PCP Therapy: Aerosolized Pentamidine vs. TMP-SMX"
AIDS Clinical Care (06/95) Vol. 7, No. 6, P. 51
     As part of a randomized study of treatments for Pneumocystis 
carinii pneumonia (PCP), researchers assigned 367 patients to 21 
days of treatment with either aerosolized pentamidine or 
trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX).  Each group also 
received placebos imitating the opposite treatment.  After 35 
days, mortality in the TMP-SMX group was higher, but not enough 
to be statistically significant.  However, significantly more 
TMP-SMX recipients changed therapy because of toxicity, while 
significantly fewer did so because of slow clinical response.  
The greatest difference in response was among patients with an 
initial alveolar-arterial oxygen gradient greater than 30 mm Hg. 
After six months, there were fewer PCP recurrences with TMP-SMX, 
but the survival rates for the two drugs were almost identical.  
The researchers concluded that TMP-SMX appears to lead to more 
rapid improvements in oxygenation, more treatment successes, and 
fewer relapses than aerosolized pentamidine, but they are not 
sure why it did not also reduce mortality.
      
"Handicapped Rights"
National Law Journal (05/29/95) Vol. 17, No. 39, P. B17
     In the case of Doe v. The University of Maryland Medical System 
Corp., a judge affirmed the award of a summary judgment to the 
defendant under Sec. 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II 
of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  The HIV-infected 
plaintiff, a  doctor, was not an otherwise "qualified individual"
with a disability.  He, instead, poses a significant risk to 
patients that cannot be removed by reasonable accommodation.
      
"Antiviral Conference Reports"
AIDS Treatment News (05/19/95) No. 223, P. 4;  James, John S.
     Following the Eighth International Conference on Antiviral 
Research, 256 abstracts of the drugs presented at this conference
were submitted to the March 1995 issue of Antiviral Research, 
some of which are mentioned below.  NIM 811, a derivative of 
cyclosporin, has no immune suppressive activity, but is still 
active against HIV, according to research conducted by Sandoz.  
Ingenol, a compound derived from the dried roots of Euphorbia 
Kansui Liou, inhibits HIV in extremely low concentrations of .1 
nanomolar, which is thousands of times less than the amount of 
AZT required.  Although chemically related to carbovir, 
Burroughs-Wellcome's 1592U89 is more active against HIV, more 
bioavailable, and can penetrate the brain more easily.  PMEA is 
chemically related to the anti-CMV drug cidofovir (HPMPC); 
however, PMEA is active against HIV as well as CMV and other 
herpes viruses.  In addition to treating alcoholism, Antabuse 
targets the "zinc fingers" in HIV proteins.  PETT compounds in 
the non-nucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRT) series cause HIV 
resistance to develop ten times faster than they do with other 
non-nucleoside compounds.  In addition, a new series of NNRTs was
found to cause different mutations than known NNRTs and delay the
development of resistant HIV in combination with other drugs.  As
an approved drug for treating CMV, foscarnet also has anti-HIV 
activity when combined with AZT and non-nucleoside RT inhibitors.
Furthermore, different ratios AZT and ddI were tested for the 
biochemical activation of these drugs in cells.
      
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