                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      September 12, 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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"Magic Speaking Out"
"Whitman-Walker Finds Funds"
"White House AIDS Activist Falls into Political Exile"
"Top Ukraine Doctor Links Chernobyl to AIDS Increase"
"Leading Researcher on AIDS Quits Post"
"Ugandan Claims AIDS Cure with Prayer and Water"
"Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in AIDS"
"Long-Term Protection against SIV-Induced Disease in Macaques 
Vaccinated with a Live Attenuated HIV-2 Vaccine"
"Alternative/Complementary Therapies Used by Persons with HIV 
Disease"
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"Magic Speaking Out"
Washington Post (09/12/95) P. E2
     Basketball great Magic Johnson, who retired from the National 
Basketball Association after becoming infected with HIV, will 
help the Philippine government in its fight against AIDS.  A 
spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health said that Johnson 
will visit Manila and Cebu City during late October for a 
speaking tour featuring the message that "anybody could get HIV."
Related Story: New York Times (09/12) P. B14
      
"Whitman-Walker Finds Funds"
Washington Post (09/12/95) P. A18
     The financial arrangement between Washington, D.C.'s 
Whitman-Walker Clinic and Life Entitlements Corp., a New 
York-based viatical settlement firm, is a good deal, write the 
editors of the Washington Post, because the clinic is in dire 
need of resources to continue its work.  Although some questions 
have been raised about the ethics of this situation, it is 
important to note that Whitman-Walker has not endorsed a viatical
settlement company.  In addition, the clinic will continue to 
advise its patients about all monetary sources and their benefits
and drawbacks.  Furthermore, Life Entitlements has a New York 
license and is continually regulated by the state.  Therefore, 
the editors conclude, new sources of funding that do not harm and
likely benefit are particularly welcomed by the community served.
      
"White House AIDS Activist Falls into Political Exile"
Los Angeles Times (09/11/95) P. A1;  Fiore, Faye
     Robert Hattoy, who came to Washington with the Clinton 
administration in 1993 as an openly gay man with AIDS, is in 
political exile.  He has been displaced from the White House, 
where he believed he had been brought to help make AIDS a 
presidential priority.  Hattoy began as the associate director of
White House personnel, and as the administration struggled with 
the issue of gays in the military, he became a reluctant but 
vocal critic of the White House.  Some say he is representative 
of the administration's AIDS policy itself, while others argue 
that his own wit and sharp tongue caused his problems and 
eventual transfer to the Department of Interior, where he serves 
as White House liaison on environmental issues.  Still, despite 
President Clinton's "loud, clear, and consistent war on AIDS," 
Hattoy explains that "AIDS is a bottom-line life or death thing 
for me and hundreds of thousands of Americans.  And no else at 
the White House is speaking out on this."
      
"Top Ukraine Doctor Links Chernobyl to AIDS Increase"
Reuters (09/11/95)
     Increased radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster may be in 
part to blame for the significant increase in AIDS cases detected
in the Ukraine, said Valery Ivasyuk, head of the former Soviet 
Republic's anti-AIDS committee, on Monday.  According to Ivasyuk,
the number of cases of AIDS and HIV infection doubled in the past
year, bringing the total to about 7,000, or 10 times greater than
official figures.  There is a connection between Chernobyl's 
radiation and the spread of HIV, Ivasyuk said, because "increased
background radiation hinders the body's immune systems and the 
body becomes more susceptible to the HIV virus."  Ivasyuk quoted 
statistics which showed that Chernobyl had in some way or another
affected the immune systems of 60 percent of the population.  
There have been 20 AIDS deaths in the Ukraine since 1987, when 
the first case was detected.
      
"Leading Researcher on AIDS Quits Post"
New York Times (09/09/95) P. 46
     Dr. James Curran, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention's associate director for HIV-AIDS, announced on Friday
that he was leaving to become dean of Emory University's school 
of public health.  Curran, whose resignation is effective Nov. 1,
was part of the original team of federal researchers who 
investigated in 1981 what later was called AIDS.  A replacement 
is expected to be announced soon.
      
"Ugandan Claims AIDS Cure with Prayer and Water"
Reuters (09/11/95)
     Thousands of AIDS patients are traveling to eastern Uganda to 
find a woman who says she can cure AIDS by repeating Roman 
Catholic prayers and bathing patients with rainwater.  The 
state-owned New Vision newspaper reported on Monday that more 
than 200 people arrive each day at Katajula Village, which is 128
miles east of Kampala.  Scovia Adikin, 23, treats the patients 
with rainwater and prayers and then orders them to stay away from
unprotected sex and to have only one partner, the paper said.  
Although there is no proof that the treatment is effective, the 
government said it did not intend to stop Adikin.  "If people can
get psychological relief from such quacks, it is better you leave
them to do so," the district health officer was quoted as saying.
A total of 1.5 million, or 9 percent, of Uganda's population is 
known to be infected with HIV.
      
      
"Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in AIDS"
Lancet (09/02/95) Vol. 346, No. 8975, P. 588;  Sepkowitz, Kent A.
;  Armstrong, Donald
     In the 14 years since the AIDS epidemic was first identified, a 
number of treatments have been established for opportunistic 
infections, note Sepkowitz and Armstrong in the medical journal 
The Lancet.  For example, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) 
used to be the AIDS-defining infection for 60 percent of 
HIV-infected persons.  Aggressive prophylactic therapy, however, 
has reduced this rate to 42 percent.  During the 1980s, dapsone 
and aerosol pentamidine were added to the list of prophylactic 
treatments for PCP.  However, the best drugs to treat acute PCP 
are the same as in 1981--co-trimoxazole and intravenous 
pentamidine.  Meanwhile, there were no drugs to treat 
cytomegalovirus (CMV) end-organ infection at the beginning of the
epidemic.  Now, there are two approved agents--ganciclovir and 
foscarnet--which are effective in stabilizing affected patients. 
Overall, survival from opportunistic infections has increased.  
Still, after 14 years of effort there are relatively few real 
advances in the treatment of these infections--a circumstance 
which emphasizes the need for caution when new drugs are 
introduced, the authors conclude.
      
"Long-Term Protection against SIV-Induced Disease in Macaques 
Vaccinated with a Live Attenuated HIV-2 Vaccine"
Nature Medicine (09/95) Vol. 1, No. 9, P. 914;  Putkonen, Per;  
Walther, Lilian;  Zhang, Yi-Jun et al.
     As part of a continuing study, Putkonen et al. attempted to 
determine the ability of a live, attenuated HIV-2 vaccine to 
protect cynomolgus monkeys from superinfection with a pathogenic 
simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV.  New data indicate that 
three of the four monkeys injected with live HIV-2 were 
safeguarded against immunosuppression and SIV-induced illness 
during more than five years of follow up.  Although the quality 
of immunity allowed infection, the surviving monkeys demonstrated
limited viral replication in peripheral blood and lymph nodes.  
According to the researchers, the findings suggest that it is 
possible to induce protection against a pathogenic heterologous 
primate lentivirus and to prevent disease in vaccinated monkeys 
even though there was no protection against infection.  These 
results may have significant relevance for human immunization 
against HIV-1 and offer hope for the discovery of a useful AIDS 
vaccine, the authors conclude.
      
"Alternative/Complementary Therapies Used by Persons with HIV 
Disease"
Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (07/95-08/95) 
Vol. 6, No. 4, P. 19;  Nokes, Kathleen M.;  Kendrew, Joan;  
Longo, Marion
     Although alternative or complementary therapies are not generally
prescribed by a health provider, they are readily available in 
health food stores and mail order catalogs.  Nokes et al. 
assessed the kinds of alternative therapies used by HIV-infected 
persons.  A total of 145 HIV-positive individuals were asked to 
answer the Alternative Therapies Check List, which lists 55 
alternative or complementary therapies.  The respondents were 
asked if they knew of the treatment and how often they used it.  
Overall, the most popular alternative therapy was the use of 
vitamins, followed by relaxation, laughter and humor, prayer, and
meditation.  The least popular alternative treatments include 
uropathy and trigger.  According to the researchers, the results 
support the clinical belief that HIV-infected persons use 
alternative therapies.  Future healthcare plans, therefore, 
should recognize the many strategies being used by them.
      
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