From: Billi Goldberg <bigoldberg@igc.apc.org>
Subject: CDC Summary 8/18/92
Note: Copyright 1992, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed.
Archive-Number: 5933
Organization: unspecified
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 23:28:30 PDT

                         AIDS Daily Summary
                           August 18, 1992 
 The Centers for Disease Control (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 
Clearinghouse, or any other organization.  Reproduction of this text is 
encouraged; however, copies may not be sold.  Copyright 1992, 
Information, Inc., Washington, DC 
************************************************************************
 "Working in Public to Explain AIDS-Like Ills" New York Times 
(08/18/92), P. C3  (Altman, Lawrence K.)
     The fact that scientists' search for the mysterious AIDS-like  
condition will be witnessed by the public makes many researchers  
uneasy.  Many of the scientists and public health officials  involved in 
the investigation are uncomfortable about performing  their research for 
the nation to view, especially when only  the most preliminary and 
tentative findings are available for  public discussions.  The 
scientists argue that the public knows  very little about the scientific 
process.  They are concerned  that by conducting public discussions, 
similar to the ones held  at the Centers for Disease Control on Friday, 
they will risk  losing public confidence by releasing false leads and 
dead ends,  which are standard but rarely recognized as a part of 
research.   Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, head of the National Institute of 
Allergy  and Infectious Diseases and a leading AIDS researcher, realized  
that many felt the meeting was premature.  However, he said, "If  we 
didn't have the meeting, we would be accused of having a  cover-up."  
The objectives of the meeting were to elucidate where and how often the 
mysterious AIDS-like cases occur, whether some  might be caused by 
unknown viruses, how the condition might be  prevented, and whether the 
illness was new.   Related Story: USA Today (08/18) P. 4D 

"Survey Reveals Abuse of AIDS Patients" Washington Post (08/18/92), P. 
A22
     Approximately one-third of HIV-positive patients in the United  
States have been physically or verbally abused because of their  
disease, according to a national survey issued yesterday.  The  survey 
also found that escalating medical bills have left about  half of the 
patients unable to pay the rent or buy groceries.   The survey was 
conducted by the National Association of People  with AIDS, which 
distributed questionnaires at more than 1,200  locations and received 
more than 1,800 responses.  More than 12  percent of the 1,800 AIDS 
patients who participated in the survey said they had been abused in 
their homes, and 21.4 percent said  they had encountered violence 
elsewhere.  William Freeman,  executive director of the association, 
said the examples of abuse ranged from name-calling to beatings.  The 
survey also revealed  that women and minorities were more inclined than 
white males to  be victims of domestic violence.  The report found that 
one-third of all of the participants needed help getting health 
insurance  and medicine, and 25 percent had a difficult time obtaining  
health-care.  Those AIDS patients who reported acts of  discrimination 
when receiving health care accounted for more than 36 percent.  Freeman 
said the association expected to give copies of the report to 
legislators and would plan an agenda for action  on the epidemic.  
Related Story: New York Times (08/18) P. B4 

"Flynn Rapped on AIDS Prevention" Boston Globe (08/17/92), P. 15  
(Hanafin, Teresa M.)
     Boston's Mayor Raymond Flynn was chastised for failing to take an 
aggressive stance on AIDS prevention efforts by supporters of a  
proposed ordinance to require city restaurants and bars to  install 
condom machines in restrooms.  Councilor at Large John A. Nucci and 
Larry Kessler, executive director of the AIDS Action  Committee, agreed 
that although Flynn has shown significant  compassion in implementing 
programs for the treatment of AIDS, he is "way behind the curve" when it 
comes to education and  prevention.  The criticism resulted from the 
legal opinion by the city's corporation counsel, Albert W. Wallis, that 
the  council-approved measure to mandate condom machine installation  
was illegal.  Flynn's spokeswoman Cheryl Brolin said the opinion  
indicates that Flynn must veto the measure.  Brolin said, "If the City 
Council pursues other prevention proposals which are allowed under state 
law, we will consider them as offered."  Kessler  noted that attorneys 
who have volunteered to serve on his  committee were expected to examine 
the opinion to ensure that it  was based in law and not influenced by 
politics.  Nucci said some city councilors probably will try to override 
Flynn's veto, but  he was skeptical that they could obtain the nine 
necessary votes. 

"British Fashion Rebel Dies of AIDS" United Press International 
(08/18/92)
     London--Tommy Nutter, a world-renowned clothing designer, died of 
AIDS on Monday in a London hospital, according to The Guardian  
newspaper.  Nutter, who died at 49, became popular for dressing  
celebrities such as Mick Jagger, the Beatles, Twiggy, and Cilla  Black.  
Also, Nutter designed clothes in the 1980s and 1990s for  Elton John, 
Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and the Rolling 
Stones' Bill Wyman, and created the outfit Jack  Nicholson wore as the 
"Joker" in the film Batman.  Nutter revealed he had AIDS a month ago.  
At his death, Nutter's firm said in a  statement, "Over the past years 
that he knew of his illness, he  actively participated in supporting 
others living with AIDS and  HIV, as well as helping AIDS charities and 
research  organizations.  It was his hope that the fight against this  
disease can continue until a cure is eventually found." 

"Flynn Kills Condom Distribution Plan" United Press International 
(08/17/92)
     Boston--Mayor Raymond Flynn said Monday that he would veto a City 
Council-approved proposal to mandate condom machine installation  in 
bars and restaurants in an attempt to curb the spread of HIV.  Flynn 
said the ordinance is illegal.  Councilor David Scondras,  an AIDS 
activist, said the mayor's decision is "tragic" and  accused him of 
"hiding behind a smoke screen created by his  lawyers."  Scondras said 
he would propose a new version of the  plan that would coincide with the 
administration's concerns.   City Corporation Counsel Albert Wallis, the 
mayor's legal  adviser, said to Flynn in a letter dated Aug. 14 that the  
proposed legislation was illegal because it had not been shown  that 
there is an association between AIDS and activities at the  roughly 800 
establishments that would be involved.  The  ordinance, approved 8-4 by 
the council on Aug. 5, would have  required installation of the machines 
in businesses licensed  through the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs 
and Licensing.   The mayor indicated that he was not personally opposed 
to the  plan, but said he would follow the advice of city lawyers.  AIDS  
activists chastised the mayor's decision and encouraged him to  get 
around the legalities by issuing an executive order having  the same 
impact. 

"New HIV Test Now Available for Doctor's Offices" United Press 
International (08/17/92)
     Detroit--Michigan will be the first state to perform a new  10-
minute HIV-1 test on Tuesday, which will be used for the first time in 
private doctor's offices and other medical facilities.  The HIV test, 
approved by the Food and Drug Administration and used in  Europe and 
parts of Canada for more than one year, was developed  by Murex Corp.  
Murex gave exclusive Michigan distribution rights to the private 
physician market for the HIV-1 test to Safewaste,  Inc., which will 
distribute the test to medical facilities  statewide.  The test is 
inexpensive and elicits highly accurate  results in minutes.  
Conventional HIV test results may not be  provided for one to two weeks 
after the original visit.  Nearly  50 percent of the people tested by 
conventional methods never  return for the results.  Marlene T. Paille, 
director of  operations for Safewaste, said the firm would help doctors 
in  obtaining sufficient counseling training and support services as  
part of the marketing of the tests.  The test has a 99.9 percent  
sensitivity level, 99.6 percent specificity, and is believed to  be a 
"moderately complex" test that can be conducted in the  physician office 
setting. 

"Correspondence: AIDS Causation" Nature (08/06/92) No. 6386, P. 447  
(Hodgkinson, Neville)
     In a letter to the editors of Nature, Neville Hodgkinson, science 
correspondent with The Sunday Times, takes issue with John Maddox of 
Nature for admonishing The Sunday Times for purportedly  "putting 
consistency before correctness" when reporting the case  of a male 
hemophiliac who apparently infected four women with  HIV.  The Sunday 
Times listed anal intercourse as a risk factor  in the four infections, 
and Maddox disputed this finding,  apparently based on an assertion by 
the health authority in  Birmingham that the transmissions occurred 
during  "straightforward heterosexual intercourse."  Maddox furthermore  
accused The Sunday Times of conforming to the extrapolated  opinion of 
Peter Duesberg that "people have nothing to fear [in  terms of HIV 
infection] from heterosexual intercourse."   Hodgkinson states that The 
Sunday Times listed anal intercourse  as a risk factor in the cases 
because the investigations of the  health authority appeared incomplete, 
the doctors of one of the  infected women failed to ask her about her 
lifestyle before she  died, and a former girlfriend of the hemophiliac 
said he  preferred anal intercourse "more often than not."  Hodgkinson  
also says The Sunday Times does not accept the views of Duesberg  and 
merely reported that AIDS is rarely transmitted via  heterosexual 
intercourse. 

"Prevalence of HIV-1 and HIV-2 Mixed Infections in Cote d'Ivoire" Lancet 
(08/08/92) Vol. 340, No. 8815, P. 337  (George, J. Richard et al.)
     Infection with one type of HIV does not necessarily prevent  
infection with the other, according to J. Richard George et al.  of the 
Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga.  Dual  serological 
reactivity to HIV types 1 and 2 was studied by George and colleagues.  
Serum specimens from 111 people from Cote  d'Ivoire in West Africa 
classified by commercial western blot as  HIV-1, HIV-2, and dually 
reactive were further tested by more  specific serologic tests.  
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells  were tested for HIV-1 and HIV-2 with 
the polymerase chain  reaction (PCR) and virus culture.  Among 104 
samples that were  condordant by both WB-TCA and Pepti-LAV, 82 (79 
percent) were  confirmed by PCR results.  For specimens (35/38) in which 
any  virus was detected, virus culture was condordant with serology.   
The data suggests that mixed HIV-1/HIV-2 infections are common in Cote 
d'Ivoire.  These findings encompass significant implications for the 
development and use of vaccines for these infections in  West Africa, 
conclude the researchers.

"Virological and Polymerase Chain Reaction Studies of HIV-1/HIV-2 Dual 
Infection in Cote d'Ivoire" Lancet (08/08/92) Vol. 340, No. 8815, P. 339  
(Peeters, Martine et al.)
     Surveys based on serology may overestimate the prevalence of  mixed 
infections in areas where both HIV-1 and HIV-2 are evident, write 
Martine Peeters and colleagues of the World Health  Organization 
Collaborating Center on AIDS in Antwerp, Belgium.   Dual serological 
reactivity to HIV types 1 and 2 is common in  Cote d'Ivoire, which is 
located in West Africa.  In order to  determine whether dual infection 
is the reason for dual  seropositivity, the authors sought HIV-1 and 
HIV-2 proviral DNA  in primary uncultured peripheral blood mononuclear 
cells from  selected seropositive patients in Cote d'Ivoire with the  
polymerase chain reaction (PCR).  PCR on primary lymphocytes in  36 
dually infected samples revealed the presence of both HIV-1  and HIV-2 
proviral DNA in 12 cases and the presence of HIV-1 only in 24 cases.  In 
18 of these 36 samples a virus was isolated and  identified by PCR.  
HIV-1 was isolated from the 9 specimens with  only HIV-1 proviral DNA in 
the primary lymphocytes.  Two viral  isolates reacted with both HIV-1 
and HIV-2 primers among dually  PCR-positive samples, and only HIV-2 or 
HIV-1 strains were  isolated from the other samples.  More than half of 
the people  with antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2 are probably infected 
with  HIV-1 alone, the researchers conclude. 

"Coppola Looking for an AIDS 'Cure'" Science (08/07/92) Vol. 257, No. 
5071, P. 731  (Hamilton, David P.)
     Academy Award-winning filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola is currently 
working on a new movie about a cure for AIDS.  The film,  tentatively 
titled "Cure", will hopefully be released about the  same time as a 
vaccine--3 or 4 years, says Coppola.  He insists  that "Cure" will be 
fictional, rather than documentary.  Last  month, at the Eighth 
International Conference on AIDS in  Amsterdam, Coppola and screenwriter 
Diane Johnson attended  scientific sessions and press conferences, and 
had meals with top AIDS researchers and activists.  The cast for the 
movie is still  far from determined, though observers agreed that 
Elizabeth  Taylor should play herself--as AIDS philanthropist.

"Uganda to Host AIDS Vaccine Therapy Trials" Science (08/07/92) Vol. 
257, No. 5071, P. 742  (Stone, Richard)
     Uganda may be the first developing country to test AIDS vaccines  
in a population at high risk of HIV infection, according to  officials 
at the World Health Organization.  The initial vaccine  trial is 
expected to be therapeutic and may start in as little as eight months, 
said Jose Esparza, chief of AIDS vaccine  development at WHO.  Uganda 
will also be the first country to  house a trial of a vaccine designed 
to prevent HIV  infection--WHO's ultimate objective.  Four locations for  
efficacy trials of AIDS-prevention vaccines-- Uganda, Thailand,  Rwanda, 
and Brazil-- were identified last fall by WHO and many  other health 
groups.  These countries all have the high  prevalences of HIV that are 
necessary to determine a vaccines'  efficacy and have shown that they 
are eager to host trials.   Uganda presented its "national plan" for the 
trials last month to WHO officials and is the first country to do so.  
Thailand is  also scheduled to provide a plan in the next few weeks.   
However,Lars Kallings, an adviser to the director of WHO's Global 
Program on AIDS, said that there is "strong pressure from all  countries 
to start with therapeutic vaccines."  Researchers will  first test the 
vaccine in small groups of people to guarantee  that it is safe before 
testing on larger groups.