                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      August 25, 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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"Treating STDs and Reducing AIDS Risk"
"Ex-Convict Fights Time to Clear Name"
"Procept Begins Phase I/II Clinical Trial for PRO 2000 in 
HIV-Positive Patients; Company-Sponsored Trial Will Evaluate 
Activity of Lead HIV Therapeutic"
"French Holidaymakers Take to Carrying Condoms"
"Interferon Sciences Completes Public Offering"
"Should the FDA Approve the Home HIV Test?"
"Guidelines for Management of HIV Infection with Computer-Based 
Patient's Record"
"Depression in Low HIV Prevalence Areas"
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"Treating STDs and Reducing AIDS Risk"
Washington Post (08/25/95) P. A8
     Researchers working in Tanzania report that treating individuals 
for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as gonorrhea 
significantly reduces their risk of becoming infected with HIV.  
Villagers who were treated for STDs were approximately 40 percent
less likely to contract HIV than villagers whose STDs were not 
treated, the physicians report in the current issue of The 
Lancet.  Professor David Mabey of the London School of Hygiene 
and Tropical Medicine noted that because they were not using the 
most effective drugs, "there might have been an even bigger 
effect if we had."  Mabey warned, however, that the $7.50 to $15 
cost per treatment could exclude many countries if aid agencies 
did not help out.
      
"Ex-Convict Fights Time to Clear Name"
Miami Herald (08/24/95) P. 2B;  Greene, Ronnie
     Twelve years ago, after three trials, a jury found Christopher 
Clugston guilty of murder, and he was sentenced to life in 
prison.  Last year, however, Fla. Gov. Lawton Chiles commuted 
Clugston's sentence, noting the inconsistent statements of an 
eyewitness, the recantations by Clugston's co-defendant and that 
person's wife, and no physical evidence linking him to the 
murder, among other factors.  However, Clugston remains a 
convicted felon, unable to enter the state of Florida without the
express permission of the clemency board.  Clugston, who is 
HIV-positive, is now trying to clear his name.  Coughing 
frequently, he recently told reporters that he contracted the 
virus when other inmates gang-raped him at the Union Correctional
Institution in Raiford.  Clugston explained that he just wants to
have his good name back, to own a cabin in the woods, and to take
walks with his dog.
      
"Procept Begins Phase I/II Clinical Trial for PRO 2000 in 
HIV-Positive Patients; Company-Sponsored Trial Will Evaluate 
Activity of Lead HIV Therapeutic"
Business Wire (08/24/95)
     Procept, Inc. has launched a Phase I/II clinical trial for its 
drug PRO 2000, a potential treatment for HIV-1 infection which 
specifically targets the CD4 protein on the surface of the human 
cell.  The dose-escalating trial will assess the safety, 
tolerability, and antiviral activity of PRO 2000.  In vitro 
preclinical studies indicate that the drug blocked the binding of
the glycoprotein gp120, which is found of HIV-1's surface, to the
CD4 protein.  Procept theorizes that PRO 2000 may act as a 
molecular barrier to keep HIV from infecting vital immune system 
cells, such as T cells and macrophages.
      
"French Holidaymakers Take to Carrying Condoms"
Reuters (08/24/95)
     A new survey reveals that one in four French holidaymakers always
carries a condom for fear of contracting HIV from casual sex.  
"Fear has not killed off love on holidays," the weekly Paris 
Match said regarding the poll that it published.  This year's 
total is more than two times the number found in a similar poll 
four years ago.  The most likely vacationers to have condoms were
between the ages of 18 and 24, with more than 40 percent always 
having one, compared to 23 percent in 1991.  A total of 83 
percent of the women polled said they required one-time sexual 
partners to use a condom, up from 62 percent four years ago.  
Despite an aggressive information campaign about the risks of 
AIDS and HIV, France has the greatest number of AIDS cases in 
Europe.  Paris authorities have hung posters across the city 
telling tourists in a number of languages how to ask for a box of
condoms in French.
      
"Interferon Sciences Completes Public Offering"
Business Wire (08/24/95)
     Interferon Sciences Inc. has sold 10,706,480 shares of common 
stock for more than $12.8 million, excluding expenses and fees.  
The sales were made pursuant to a best efforts public offering of
between 6,500,000 and 12,000,000 shares of common stock at $1.20 
per share.  The remaining shares may be purchased until the 
offering ends on Sept. 13.  The biopharmaceutical company is 
involved in the manufacture and sale of ALFERON N Injection, 
which is approved for the treatment of certain kinds of genital 
warts and is being developed for the possible treatment of HIV 
and hepatitis C.
      
"Should the FDA Approve the Home HIV Test?"
Health (09/95) Vol. 9, No. 5, P. 20;  Bayer, Ronald;  Portelli, 
Christopher
     The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is deliberating 
approval of a home HIV test, in which people would draw a sample 
of blood from a finger, send it to a laboratory for analysis, and
then call in about a week later for the results.  Columbia 
University professor Ronald Bayer feels that the FDA should 
approve the test.  He argues that because nearly "60 percent of 
those at high risk for HIV have not been tested,...the home kit 
is our best alternative."  Bayer acknowledges that the 
opportunity for in-person counseling is lost with the home test, 
but he reasons that not everyone receives extensive counseling 
anyway.  Christopher Portelli of the National Lesbian and Gay 
Health Association counters that home HIV test kits should not 
receive FDA approval because it is not a good idea for anyone to 
receive their HIV status over the phone.  Even if the person 
tests negative, he "could hang up before hearing how to avoid 
HIV."  Although Bayer claims that low-income, high-risk 
individuals would use the test, Portelli says the $30-$40 price 
tag is geared toward middle- and upper-class, low-risk persons.  
He concludes that selling the test to persons of all ages, such 
as teenagers, is "irresponsible," although Bayer contends that 
"if you're old enough to have sex, you're old enough to know your
HIV status."
      
"Guidelines for Management of HIV Infection with Computer-Based 
Patient's Record"
Lancet (08/05/95) Vol. 346, No. 8971, P. 341;  Safran, Charles;  
Rind, David M.;  Davis, Roger B. et al.
     Safran et al. studied more than 100 physicians and nurse 
practitioners to determine the efficacy of electronic medical 
records when used for HIV patients.  The scientists examined the 
clinicians' response times to the situations that caused alerts 
and reminders, the number of ambulatory visits, and 
hospitalization.  They found that the average response time to 
the 388 alerts in the control group was 52 days, while the 
intervention group's median response time to 303 alerts was 11 
days.  The average response times to 432 reminders in the 
intervention group and 360 reminders in the control group were 
114 days and more than 500 days, respectively.  Although the 
system had no effect or difference on visits to the primary care 
practice; admission rates; admissions for pneumocystosis; visits 
to the emergency room; or survival, there was a dramatic increase
in the number of visits outside of the primary care 
practice--which is due to an increased rate of opthalmology 
visits.  Overall, the researchers concluded that computer medical
records helped clinicians treating HIV patients adopt new 
practice guidelines more rapidly and more thoroughly.
      
"Depression in Low HIV Prevalence Areas"
Focus (08/95) Vol. 10, No. 9, P. 8
     A new study by Perkins et al. reveals that serious depression is 
common among both seronegative and asymptomatic homosexual men in
a region of low HIV prevalence.  The researchers in the Coping in
Health and Illness Project in North Carolina found that 8 percent
of the HIV-infected subjects experienced major depression at the 
time of the study, while 3 percent of the uninfected subjects 
were depressed.  The overall lifetime prevalence of such 
depression was 29 percent for the infected group and 45 percent 
for the uninfected group.  In addition, there was a 2 percent 
prevalence of major depression in the general population, with a 
lifetime total of 3 percent.
      
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