                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      December 14, 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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"Baboon Bone Marrow Transplant to AIDS Patient Planned"
"Advocates for Young Sue New York City"
"Md. Firm Shares in Drug Tests on Cancer"
"U.S. Soldier Charged with Assault for Unprotected Sex"
"Suspect Arrested in Killing of Lesbian Activists"
"AIDS Vaccine 'Needs Focused Effort' as Drug Firms Back off 
Research"
"Infectious Bite Treated as Bloodborne Transmission"
"Agenda: Respect Yourself"
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"Baboon Bone Marrow Transplant to AIDS Patient Planned"
Reuters (12/14/95)
     Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco 
(UCSF) and the University of Pittsburgh are scheduled to conduct 
an experimental and controversial transplant of baboon bone 
marrow into an AIDS patient today.  San Francisco General 
Hospital spokeswoman Alice Trinkl said the infusion of bone 
marrow cells will likely occur during the afternoon, as long as 
patient Jeff Getty's preparation for the process goes as planned.
The researchers noted that this will be the first time a 
xenotransplant has been attempted using the specific scientific 
approach that has been approved for this trial.  The procedure is
being undertaken because baboons have been identified as 
resistant to HIV-1, yet the transplant is also controversial 
because of the risk that such operations could transmit 
infections from animals to humans.  UCSF Assistant Professor 
Steven Deeks stressed that even if the procedure is successful, 
Getty will not be cured of HIV or AIDS.
      
"Advocates for Young Sue New York City"
New York Times (12/14/95) P. B1;  Bernstein, Nina
     Two advocacy groups for abused and neglected children--Children's
Rights Inc. and Lawyers for Children--filed a class action suit 
on Wednesday, seeking a takeover of New York City's child welfare
agency by a court-appointed receiver.  The advocates claimed that
the death of six-year-old Elisa Izquierdo--who was beaten to 
death in November despite reports to the child protection agency 
that she was at risk--marked only the most recent failure of a 
system filled with illegal practices, mismanagement, and 
indifference to children.  The groups are requesting, on behalf 
of more than 100,000 children, that a receiver be given complete 
authority to restructure the Child Welfare Administration.  The 
lawsuit's 11 representative plaintiffs include a five-year-old 
girl in a similar situation to Izquierdo's, though she survived; 
an orphaned 17-year-old boy dying of AIDS without adequate care; 
and a two-year-old girl who has been the subject of 
uninvestigated reports of neglect and abuse and who still lives 
with her drug-abusing mother.
      
"Md. Firm Shares in Drug Tests on Cancer"
Baltimore Sun (12/13/95) P. 1C;  Guidera, Mark
     Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. will finance biotechnology firm EntreMed
in a five-year joint research effort to study the use of 
thalidomide as a cancer therapy.  Since its banning in 1962, 
thalidomide has become popular again as a potential treatment for
several serious diseases, including AIDS, leprosy, and cancer.  
This most recent look at the compound and several related 
compounds will focus on developing drugs to treat breast, 
prostate, and colon tumors by preventing the abnormal formation 
of blood vessels that feed a tumor.  The collaboration faces 
competition because most major pharmaceutical companies are 
conducting similar research in angiogenesis, the role of blood 
and blood vessels in health and disease.
      
"U.S. Soldier Charged with Assault for Unprotected Sex"
Reuters (12/13/95)
     The U.S. Army has filed assault charges against Specialist Kevin 
Barrow of the 41st Engineer Battalion at Ft. Drum, N.Y. for 
having unprotected sexual intercourse with a female soldier and 
not disclosing his HIV-positive status to her.  According to army
spokesman Maj. Rudy Cohen, Barrows violated a Defense Department 
safe sex policy which requires all military personnel who know 
they are HIV-infected to abstain from sexual intercourse unless 
they use a condom and inform their partners of their condition.  
Cohen added that it was not clear whether Barrows' partner became
infected during the incident, and said that an investigation is 
being conducted to determine whether anyone else has been 
exposed.  There are currently some 434 HIV-positive soldiers in 
the U.S. Army.  Recruits must be screened for HIV, and if 
positive, cannot enlist.  Active duty soldiers are tested every 
six months.  Individuals who test positive may continue on active
duty as long as they are healthy, though they are not deployed 
for combat.
      
"Suspect Arrested in Killing of Lesbian Activists"
Reuters (12/13/95)
     Oregon police have arrested and charged a man with two counts of 
aggravated murder in last week's killing of two lesbian 
activists.  Robert James Acremant has been charged in the murders
of domestic partners Roxanna Ellis and Michelle Abdill, a 
Medford, Ore., police officer said.  Civil rights activists were 
outraged at the execution-style slaying of the women who 
volunteered to help AIDS patients and were outspoken opponents to
several anti-gay rights initiatives in the state.
           
"AIDS Vaccine 'Needs Focused Effort' as Drug Firms Back off 
Research"
Nature (11/23/95) Vol. 378, No. 6555, P. 323;  Butler, Declan
     There is a growing consensus that the scientific world 
desperately needs to increase its AIDS vaccine development 
efforts, a sentiment that is being propelled by the increasing 
recognition that only a vaccine can stem the epidemic in 
developing nations.  This need for a new vaccine strategy is 
anticipated to be the primary thrust of a report on AIDS vaccine 
research at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which will 
soon be released by its Office of AIDS Research (OAR).  Similar 
conclusions are expected from discussions of a 'task force' on 
vaccine research and development, which was established by the 
European commissioner for research, Edith Cresson.  Many believe 
that the OAR report will advise NIH to move beyond its role of 
funding basic research and become a "discovery engine for the 
concepts for the design of the vaccine," says the review's Dani 
Bolognesi of Duke University.  It is said that the OAR review 
panel has accepted criticisms of such projects as subunit 
vaccines as those based on gp120 and gp160 antigens, and may 
therefore recommend ending the method of "simply pushing ahead 
and testing as you go along," according to OAR director William 
Paul.  Paul asserts that a more coordinated approach to AIDS 
vaccines is needed, though he notes that basic AIDS research 
should not be forsaken for this.  Although some scientists do not
feel that developing an AIDS vaccine requires abandoning the 
traditional vaccine development methods, most appear to agree 
that it is now necessary to investigate a greater number of 
research options.
      
"Infectious Bite Treated as Bloodborne Transmission"
AIDS Alert (12/95) Vol. 10, No. 12, P. 155
     The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will 
not alter its guidelines for preventing transmission of the virus
that causes AIDS, despite having confirmed the first case of HIV 
transmission through biting.  CDC spokeswoman Michelle Bonds 
explains, "We are talking about blood-to-blood transmission.  If 
you fixate on the route of transmission rather than what actually
occurred, it is rather misleading."  The CDC and Florida health 
officials used DNA testing to confirm that an HIV-infected 
Florida prostitute with bleeding gums infected an elderly man 
after she bit him in three places.  Florida health authorities 
have cautioned day care and health care workers to be aware of 
the potential dangers of biting, but note that that route of 
transmission is extremely unusual.  Meanwhile, HIV is also 
present in very low levels in saliva, and the CDC notes that no 
instances of such transmission have yet been documented.
      
"Agenda: Respect Yourself"
Advocate (12/26/95) No. 697, P. 12
     The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has 
launched a new public-service-announcement campaign titled 
"Respect Yourself, Protect Yourself."  The effort includes 12 
television and seven radio commercials geared toward the 
18-25-age group.  One ad featuring gay men shows a young 
African-American man walking around New York City's West Village 
with a young white man from the Midwest who says he never thought
he would be infected with HIV.  The announcements are the product
of a partnership between the CDC and community-based AIDS groups.
ACT UP Golden Gate member Edward Zold, who participated in the 
collaboration, noted that the ads are very different from the 
last group of public-service announcements, which did not mention
homosexual men.
      
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