                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      November 29, 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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"Bill on HIV Counseling Draws Divided Reaction"
"Cambodia HIV Cases Said to Number Up to 90,000"
"Treatment's High Cost"
"A Vaccine Is the Only Way to Stem the AIDS Epidemic"
"Early Expression of SIV Replication by CD8-positive Nef-Specific
Cytotoxic T Cells in Vaccinated Macaques"
"Update on HIV Transmission and Pathogenesis"
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"Bill on HIV Counseling Draws Divided Reaction"
Philadelphia Inquirer (11/29/95) P. B1;  Collins, Huntly
     At a two-hour hearing before the Philadelphia City Council on 
Tuesday, citizens debated a controversial measure that would 
force health-care professionals in the city to provide HIV 
counseling and testing to all pregnant women.  Champions of the 
bill claimed it could help prevent maternal-infant HIV 
transmissions.  However critics argued that the measure would 
encourage discrimination against women, keep women from getting 
prenatal health care, and alienate the medical community.  
Councilwoman Joan Specter, who introduced the legislation, 
described the hearing as "the beginning of a dialogue."  Specter 
said she was pushing the measure because of new findings which 
show that women who take AZT during pregnancy and delivery 
significantly reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to their 
infants.  The Councilwoman noted that it was therefore critical 
that pregnant women be offered HIV screening and information 
about current and future drug treatments.
      
"Cambodia HIV Cases Said to Number Up to 90,000"
Reuters (11/29/95)
     According to a report from the Cambodian Health Ministry and the 
World Health Organization, as many as 90,000 Cambodians may be 
HIV-infected.  This estimate is significantly higher than one in 
August which said there were about 30,000 carriers of the virus 
that causes AIDS in the country.  Health officials noted that 
only 3,000 people have been confirmed as HIV-positive, but that 
they "estimated that 50,000 to 90,000 people in Cambodia may have
antibodies to HIV."  The study also listed a gender ratio for HIV
infection of three males to one female, with about 90 percent of 
those infected between the ages of 15 and 35.
      
"Treatment's High Cost"
New York Times (11/28/95) P. A22;  Barnes, Mark
     In a letter to the editor of the New York Times, Mark 
Barnes--Executive Director of the AIDS Action Council--voices his
support of a recent column which concluded that some members of 
the AIDS community have maintained an atmosphere that seems to 
limit hopefulness.  Although they are not cures, new scientific 
discoveries should alleviate some of the despair surrounding 
existing ineffective anti-HIV drugs.  Yet Barnes points out that 
author Andrew Sullivan failed to mention that these promising 
therapies do little to help the growing number of infected 
persons who cannot obtain basic health care and medications.  
There was also no reference to the federal government's efforts 
against some of the public health programs on which AIDS patients
rely, such as Medicaid, Barnes concludes.
      
"A Vaccine Is the Only Way to Stem the AIDS Epidemic"
Boston Globe (11/28/95) P. 25;  Essex, Max
     Political leaders must realize that everyone is vulnerable to 
HIV, which is why a vaccine is so desperately needed, writes Max 
Essex, chairman of the Harvard AIDS Institute, in the Boston 
Globe.  Essex points out that the heterosexual aspect of the 
epidemic has been ignored, despite the fact that heterosexual HIV
transmission represents 10 percent of U.S. infections and 90 
percent of worldwide infections.  Political leaders need to 
better understand the meaning of the rapid evolution and global 
spread of HIV, Essex claims, so as not to endanger future 
generations by permitting the virus to continue unchecked.  In 
conclusion, Essex notes that although it is still not certain 
whether an effective vaccine against AIDS is possible, the work 
has only just begun and success appears likely if adequate 
resources are devoted to the effort.
      
"Early Expression of SIV Replication by CD8-positive Nef-Specific
Cytotoxic T Cells in Vaccinated Macaques"
Nature Medicine (11/95) Vol. 1, No. 11, P. 1167;  Gallimore, 
Awen;  Cranage, Martin;  Cook, Nicola; et al.
     Gallimore et al. assessed the protective potential of 
nef-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in macaques 
vaccinated with a high intravenous dose of the pathogenic simian 
immunodeficiency virus, SIVmac251(32H)(pJ5).  The researchers 
observed an inverse correlation between the vaccine-induced 
nef-specific CTL precursor frequency and viral load measured 
after the vaccination.  Additionally, the early reduction in 
viremia that was seen in both the vaccinated and the control 
groups was associated with the development of virus-specific CTL 
activity, not the presence of virus-specific neutralizing 
antibodies.  These findings suggest that vaccines developed to 
produce high levels of virus-specific CTLs could help fight off 
HIV infection, the authors conclude.
      
"Update on HIV Transmission and Pathogenesis"
Lancet (11/11/95) Vol. 346, No. 8985, P. 1290;  Gozlan, Marc
     A number of studies put forth at the 10th Cent-Gardes Symposium 
dealt with the dynamics of HIV multiplication, new animal models,
and multiply exposed seronegative individuals.  Researcher David 
Ho, for example, said that a study of five HIV-infected patients 
treated with the protease inhibitor ABT-538 indicated that 50 
percent of the cell-free virus turns over every 5.7 hours and 
that the HIV life-cycle spans 1.2 days.  Meanwhile, George Shaw 
reported the results of a quantitative analysis of three 
HIV-positive individuals treated with nevirapine.  He found that 
the largest population of virally infected peripheral blood 
mononuclear cells (between 310 to 800 cells per million) contains
defective virus and has an 80-day half-life.  A second group (17 
to 29 cells per million) has actively replicating virus and a 
half-life of two to five days, while a third one was made up of 
latently infected cells and had a 10-day to 21-day half-life.  
Additionally, two teams separately reported the development of 
AIDS in monkeys following the injection of chimeric simian/human 
immunodeficiency virus, or an SIV (mac) expressing the HIV-1 env 
gene.
      
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