                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                     September 22, 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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"A Lonely Few Roam the Night to Save Lives"
"Rate of Births for Teen-Agers Drops Again"
"D.C. March to Benefit AIDS Research"
"Scientists Confirm Virus Causes Kaposi's Sarcoma"
"Gays in San Francisco See Beyond AIDS to Golden Years"
"Street-Wise Gay Teens Help Others Fight AIDS"
"Brazil Renames AIDS Campaign Talking Penis"
"Drugs Target RNA to Block HIV"
"Adverse Cutaneous Reactions to Thiacetazone for Tuberculosis 
Treatment in Tanzania"
"Patsy Fleming: AIDS Advocate"
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"A Lonely Few Roam the Night to Save Lives"
Philadelphia Inquirer (09/22/95) P. A1;  Sataline, Suzanne
   Several nights each week, members of the Midnight Cowboy Project 
walk the streets of Philadelphia distributing condoms in the 
city's sexual underground.  The group's goal is to provide the 
prophylactics when they are needed.  "AIDS doesn't stop because 
it's cold, because it snows, because it rains," notes member 
Hassan Gibbs.  The success of the group--which receives $90,000 
in state, local, and federal funds--has started to receive 
national attention.  David Acosta, the program's founder, has 
been invited to national AIDS conferences to discuss the Cowboys'
methods.  During the last fiscal year, the outreach workers 
handed out more than 61,000 condoms to some 14,000 people.
    
"Rate of Births for Teen-Agers Drops Again"
New York Times (09/22/95) P. A18
   The birth rate for American teenagers fell for the second 
consecutive year, the Government announced on Thursday.  
According to statistician Stephanie Ventura of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, the reasons for the decline are 
not clear, but more teens may be using condoms to prevent HIV 
infection.  Ventura said that abortion is not a factor because 
studies indicate that the number of teenage abortions is 
declining.  The birth rate among teenagers in the United States 
fell 2 percent in 1993, the most recent year studied, and 2 
percent in 1992.  Related Story: Washington Post (09/22) P. A1
    
"D.C. March to Benefit AIDS Research"
Washington Post (09/22/95) P. B2
   Thousands of people will march through the streets of Washington,
D.C., on Saturday to raise funds for AIDS research in the 
Whitman-Walker Clinic's ninth annual AIDSWALK.  A number of 
businesses have encouraged their workers to participate in the 
event, which will include concerts by singers Cyndi Lauper and 
Diane Reeves.  "AIDS hits close to home," explained Bob Davis, 
chairman of the community involvement council at AT&T, which will
have about 200 employees marching.  The day will also include a 
10-kilometer race and a health fair.
    
"Scientists Confirm Virus Causes Kaposi's Sarcoma"
Reuters (09/21/95)
   British researchers say they have almost definitely proved that a
kind of herpes virus causes Kaposi's Sarcoma (KS), a cancer 
frequently associated with AIDS.  Professor Thomas Schulz and his
colleagues at Britain's Institute of Cancer Research studied 189 
HIV-infected people and 134 controls.  They detected the 
implicated virus, known as Kaposi's Sarcoma Associated 
Herpesvirus (KSHV), in the blood of 52 percent of the 
HIV-infected patients who also had KS.  Of the 143 HIV-infected 
patients who did not have KS, KSHV was found in only 11 
patients--of whom six later developed the cancer.  "None of the 
blood samples from 134 healthy blood donors and 26 HIV-negative 
cancer patients contained detectable KSHV," the scientists report
in the British medical journal The Lancet.  The team, therefore, 
concluded that "the presence of KSHV in all forms of Kaposi's 
sarcoma supports a causitive role for this virus in the 
development of Kaposi's sarcoma."
    
"Gays in San Francisco See Beyond AIDS to Golden Years"
Boston Globe (09/21/95) P. 1;  Nolan, Martin F.
   The 30-year-old gay community in San Francisco is starting look 
past the AIDS epidemic, focusing on old age rather than near 
death.  The city is entering the new age with the help of "Good 
Dog," a campaign and a brochure for the uninfected gay community 
that accents living a long life.  The name is taken from the wish
list that is included--"a good dog...a nice apartment...a life 
that doesn't revolve around HIV."  The campaign--which is geared 
toward San Francisco's 58,000 gay and bisexual men, as well as 
the city's many visitors--attempts to address the "random denial 
in our community," said Derek Gordon of the San Francisco AIDS 
Foundation.  But some health professionals, including Thomas J. 
Coates, director of the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the
University of California, are concerned.  It is great that people
care about prevention, said Coates, but "while we worry about 
middle-class, middle-aged men, half of the new infections are 
among people under 25."  According to Dana Van Gorder, the city's
coordinator of lesbian and gay health services, the campaign's 
target audience is ages 22 to 35, though "older gay men are 
thrilled to be role models."
    
"Street-Wise Gay Teens Help Others Fight AIDS"
Chicago Tribune (09/21/95) P. 1-5;  Schodolski, Vincent J.
   Filipe Hernandez cruises through Hollywood many nights a week, 
armed with sandwiches, leaflets, and condoms.  Hernandez--a staff
member of the nation's first clinic dedicated especially to gay 
youths--tries to help teenagers, a group of Americans now 
contracting HIV faster than any other.  "The people I come in 
touch with are alienated," he says.  "At first we just try to get
them to know that there is somebody out there who cares."  
Directors of the Pedro Zamora HIV Clinic, which is housed at the 
Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center, use young 
people to spread medical help and advice because they feel there 
is a greater chance that these workers will get through to the 
teens.  "To reach these people you have to look like them, talk 
like them, dress like them, and understand where they are coming 
from," explains Lorri Jean, executive director of the center.  
The new clinic offers HIV testing and counseling, as well as 
compassion.
    
"Brazil Renames AIDS Campaign Talking Penis"
Reuters (09/21/95)
   Brazil's health ministry announced on Thursday that it had 
dropped the relatively popular name Braulio given to a "talking 
penis" used in an AIDS prevention campaign after many complaints 
from people with that name.  Instead, the organ will be addressed
by such neutral terms as "partner," "buddy," and "ditto," said 
Lair Guerra de Macedo Rodrigues, coordinator of the national AIDS
program.  "The object of this campaign is not to come up with a 
new name for the male genitalia, but to bring attention to the 
prevention and control of AIDS," she commented.
    
"Drugs Target RNA to Block HIV"
Science News (09/09/95) Vol. 148, No. 11, P. 171;  Lipkin, 
Richard
   Chemist Anthony W. Czarnick of Parke-Davis reports that he and a 
team of researchers isolated a class of 149 compounds that block 
RNA activity in HIV-1.  The researchers are attempting to disable
HIV with small, easily manufactured molecules that inhibit the 
reproductive ability of the virus' RNA--specifically, by using 
trans-activation response (TAR) RNA.  "We have evidence that 
preventing the protein TAT from binding to TAR RNA dramatically 
decreases the replication of cells infected with HIV-1," Czarnick
says.  The researchers are therefore focusing on the TAT-TAR 
binding site.  They predict that a drug that keeps the two parts 
from interacting will suppress HIV infection if the drug can 
reach its goal.
    
"Adverse Cutaneous Reactions to Thiacetazone for Tuberculosis 
Treatment in Tanzania"
Lancet (09/09/95) Vol. 346, No. 8976, P. 657;  Ipuge, Yahya A.I.;
Rieder, Hans L.;  Enarson, Donald A.
   Ipuge et al. conducted a year-long study of cutaneous 
thiacetazone-related adverse reactions within Tanzania's 
tuberculosis (TB) program.  Studies conducted by the British 
Medical Research Council and others suggested that thiacetazone 
was a useful and inexpensive companion drug for the treatment of 
TB, but recently the drug has been linked to severe toxic 
reactions.  In this study, more than 1,250 patients with adverse 
reactions were reported.  Among TB patients, there were 3.1 fatal
outcomes from any cutaneous reaction per 1,000, while nearly 20 
percent of patients with toxic epidermal necrolysis died.  
Approximately 60 percent of the total reactions and fatalities 
occurred within 20 days of beginning treatment.  Overall, case 
fatality from adverse cutaneous reactions to thiacetazone was 
significantly less frequent than previous studies have shown.  
According to the researchers, the findings indicate that 
increased management could make the continued use of the drug 
feasible.
    
"Patsy Fleming: AIDS Advocate"
Essence (09/95) Vol. 26, No. 5, P. 68;  Cimmons, Marlene
   Patricia "Patsy" Fleming, the White House director of AIDS 
policy, says she plans to keep the AIDS epidemic a focus of the 
national agenda.  One part of her campaign will be to direct a 
continuous flow of AIDS prevention messages at groups expected to
be the most at risk in the future, particularly black women.  
"The numbers for black women are going up, and this virus doesn't
discriminate among high-, middle-, or low-income sisters," notes 
Fleming.  Despite the fact that AIDS has permeated all walks of 
life, Fleming says lawmakers are trying to reduce expenses, and 
are less inclined to back AIDS prevention and education programs 
than in the past.  "I was raised to believe in fighting for the 
rights of the disenfranchised and against discrimination of any 
kind," she explains.  "The utter horror of the AIDS epidemic has 
reinforced my need to be an activist."
    
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