                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       July 24, 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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"AIDS Patients Can Get Discount Drugs by Mail"
"Advertising: Tanqueray Pulls Out the Stops for Bike Events to 
Benefit AIDS Patients, and Mr. Jenkins Rides Along"
"Inside the Beltway: Beyond Ron"
"One Woman's Campaign to Stop AIDS"
"Safe Sex Ads Stir Up Edmontonians"
"Massive NIH AIDS Priority Review Panel Begins Work Against a 
Daunting Schedule"
"Intracellular Expression of Antibody Fragments Directed Against 
HIV Reverse Transcriptase Prevents HIV Infection In Vitro"
"Combining L-697,661 with AZT May Delay Resistance"
"The Hospital Rankings"
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"AIDS Patients Can Get Discount Drugs by Mail"
Washington Times (07/24/95) P. A6
     A new mail-order prescription service offers discount medicine 
for people with HIV and AIDS with the added benefit of complete 
confidentiality.  MedExpress will provide drugs, vitamins, and 
nutrients at 25 to 30 percent lower prices than those charged by 
commercial mail-order pharmacies, says William J. Freeman, 
executive director of the National Association of People with 
AIDS.  In addition, the service will automatically enroll 
customers in the advocacy group and provide information on living
with HIV.  Orders can be placed using a toll-free number, 
1-800-808-8060, and the medicine will be delivered within one to 
two days in packaging that gives no indication that it contains 
drugs for people with HIV or AIDS, a MedExpress brochure says.  
At least three commercial companies also gear their mail-order 
sales to HIV-infected people.  Related Story: Baltimore Sun 
(07/24) P. 7A
      
"Advertising: Tanqueray Pulls Out the Stops for Bike Events to 
Benefit AIDS Patients, and Mr. Jenkins Rides Along"
New York Times (07/24/95) P. D9;  Elliott, Stuart
     Tanqueray gin has launched an extensive advertising campaign that
focuses on the company's sponsorship of a series of bicycle rides
that benefit AIDS organizations.  The brand liquor's advertising 
icon, Mr. Jenkins, is a key figure in the campaign who in many 
ads directs computer users to the World Wide Web site for the 
AIDS rides.  The Schieffelin & Somerset Company, the division of 
Guinness P.L.C. that imports the gin, is allotting 15 to 20 
percent of Tanqueray's total $27 million U.S. marketing 
communications budget to the AIDS rides program.  The rides, 
which began last year in California, will be extended to the East
Coast in September and are supposed to reach the South and 
Midwest in 1996.  A growing number of advertisers are trying to 
enhance their appeal by linking themselves with social and 
political issues.  Very few, however, participate in AIDS-related
causes due to the stigma that continues to surround the disease. 
Schieffelin & Somerset's Deborah Callahan acknowledged that the 
sponsorship "makes a statement that some people are uncomfortable
about.  But that's just fine."
      
"Inside the Beltway: Beyond Ron"
Washington Times (07/24/95) P. A6;  McCaslin, John
     Rep. Ron Packard (R-Calif.) has had a difficult time dealing with
the Clinton administration mandate that require AIDS training for
all federal employees, which includes such subjects as anal sex 
as birth control, how-to lessons on the use of condoms, and how 
to clean needles before shooting up injection drugs.  "Why the 
government is involved in teaching people how to use illicit 
drugs and how to be involved in aberrant sex techniques is beyond
me," Packard says.
      
"One Woman's Campaign to Stop AIDS"
Washington Post (07/22/95) P. C1;  Wilgoren, Debbi
     Rae Lewis-Thornton, the daughter of heroin-addicted parents who 
was raised by an alcoholic grandmother in a poor neighborhood of 
Chicago, overcame her childhood difficulties to become one of 
Washington's young African American elite with a bright political
future.  On Friday, however, she told teenagers from Mayor Marion
Barry's Youth Leadership Institute that her accomplishments have 
become irrelevant because she has AIDS--the result of having had 
unprotected sex more than 10 years ago.  Lewis-Thornton frankly 
answered any questions asked, including describing the chronic 
fatigue and painful infections that are part of the disease.  
"She changed my whole view," said one student, who has had sex 
but now plans to abstain until she has "figured everything out." 
This type of result is the reason Lewis-Thornton has spent the 
past year speaking at churches, schools, and other organizations 
across the country.  She considers her campaign her ministry, one
that has replaced her dreams of running political campaigns and 
teaching at a respected university.
      
"Safe Sex Ads Stir Up Edmontonians"
Toronto Globe and Mail (07/21/95) P. A2;  Feschuk, Scott
     When the Edmonton AIDS Network began to design its latest AIDS 
prevention campaign, it decided that a new, candid approach was 
necessary.  It felt that some people ignore the condom ads and 
safe-sex campaigns, which no longer tend to shock and, thus, do 
not attract as much attention.  Therefore, if judged by 
controversy, the network's new campaign is already a success.  
The initiative, called Safe Sex, is geared to young people aged 
16 to 24, an age category in which an increasing number of people
are testing HIV-positive.  Its posters feature a picture of a 
heterosexual couple having sex and the sentence, "Don't Be a 
----ing Idiot."  So-called  Life Paks--which contain condoms, 
lubricant, and HIV risk-reduction methods and will be distributed
throughout the city--also include pictures of couples in erotic 
poses.  Although the expletive in the poster is attracting a lot 
of attention, organizers feel the real value of the campaign is 
how it uses street language to describe avoiding AIDS while still
having a good time.  It may seem a minor point, they say, but 
youths have a way of ignoring warnings that appear to come from 
authority figures.
      
"Massive NIH AIDS Priority Review Panel Begins Work Against a 
Daunting Schedule"
Scientist (07/10/95) Vol. 9, No. 14, P. 1;  Goodman, Billy
     A new task force for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has 
begun the awesome task of completing a comprehensive reevaluation
of NIH's entire $1.4 billion AIDS portfolio.  The scientists and 
AIDS activists who make up the task force must work quickly to 
produce a report by January 1996 to aid in the planning of the 
1998 budget for the Office of AIDS Research.  Each of the six 
panels that constitute the task force must produce a report on 
research priorities in its field by late summer or early fall.  
Understandably, some members have concerns about the study, 
including whether they can get the data from the 24 NIH 
institutes in time and whether their recommendations will make a 
difference.  Interviews with several panel members, however, 
suggest widespread confidence that their efforts will mean 
something and "not just sit on a shelf," as one said.  The AIDS 
Research Evaluation Working Group, which was mandated by the NIH 
Revitalization Act of 1993, is led by Princeton University 
virologist Arnold Levine.  Although he is known for his work on 
the p53 tumor suppressor oncogene, Levine does not conduct AIDS 
research--which other members of the task force see as 
beneficial.  "We're bringing a new, bright guy into the field," 
said one.
      
"Intracellular Expression of Antibody Fragments Directed Against 
HIV Reverse Transcriptase Prevents HIV Infection In Vitro"
Nature Medicine (07/95) Vol. 1, No. 7, P. 667;  Maciejewski, 
Jaroslaw P.;  Weichold, Frank F.;  Young, Neal S. et al.
     Maciejewski et al. tested a new method of intracellular 
immunization to determine whether intracellular antibody 
fragments recognizing HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) could 
protect cells from becoming infected with HIV-1.  To express a 
particular antibody within a cell, the researchers used a 
transduction of genes that encode for immunoglobulin chains with 
specificity to viral RT.  They found that inhibition of this 
enzyme makes cells HIV-resistant by blocking an early stage of 
viral replication.  The researchers conclude that the study 
illustrated that an anti-RT monoclonal antibody fragment ,if 
high-efficiency transduction can be achieved, could be an 
effective therapy against HIV.
      
"Combining L-697,661 with AZT May Delay Resistance"
AIDS Clinical Care (07/95) Vol. 7, No. 7, P. 61
     A double-blind study conducted by Staszewski et al. indicates 
that combining L-697,661 with AZT could prolong susceptibility to
this non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitor.  A 
total of 119 subjects with CD4 counts between 200 and 500 
received either L-697,661; AZT; or a combination of the two 
drugs.  The groups that received AZT had increases in average CD4
count for up to 24 weeks.  The group that received only 
L-697,661, however, had consistent declines in CD4 levels, and 
after seven weeks, all members showed evidence of drug 
resistance.  Those who received combination therapy did not 
develop substantial L-697,661 resistance until after at least 16 
weeks.  Molecular analyses showed that AZT exposure suppressed 
the major RT mutation conferring L-697,661 resistance.  The 
combination therapy was well tolerated for as long as 48 weeks.  
Although this study indicates that L-697,661 is not useful alone 
because of the rapid onset of resistance, it does indicate that 
the drug could be useful when combined with AZT.
      
"The Hospital Rankings"
U.S. News & World Report (07/24/95) Vol. 119, No. 4, P. 61
     U.S. News & World Report's sixth annual report provides rankings 
of America's major medical centers in 16 specialties.  The 
leading hospital that specializes in AIDS patients is San 
Francisco General Hospital Medical Center.  It has a 1.19 ratio 
of interns and residents to beds, a 1.52 ratio of nurses to beds,
and a 0.011 ratio of board-certified internists to beds.  The top
five is completed by Johns Hopkins Hospital, Massachusetts 
General Hospital, University of California (UC) at San Francisco 
Medical Center, and UC at Los Angeles Medical Center, 
respectively.  The four leading hospitals in this year's top 
forty have maintained their positions for three straight years.
      
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