From: Billi Goldberg <bigoldberg@igc.apc.org>
Subject: CDC Summary 8/19/92
Note: Copyright 1992, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed.
Archive-Number: 5941
Organization: unspecified
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 92 23:21:10 PDT

                         AIDS Daily Summary
                           August 19, 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 
************************************************************************
 "Health Experts Call Blood Supply Safe" Washington Post (08/19/92), P. 
A5
     The supply of blood in the United States is not at risk for the  
mysterious new AIDS virus and is as safe as it has ever been,  announced 
health officials yesterday.  Red Cross authorities and  executives from 
other blood banking organizations met with  experts from the Centers for 
Disease Control in Bethesda, Md.,  yesterday, and discussed recent 
research that has revealed  patients who have low counts of T-cells but 
who are not infected  with HIV.  CDC officials said the AIDS-like 
symptoms are based on a measure of T-cells.  They defined the condition, 
ideopathic  CD-4 T-lymphocytopenia (ICL), as occurring in individuals 
who  have cell counts below 300, are HIV-negative, and have received  no 
treatments that are usually linked with T-cell depletion.  The 30 ICL 
patients' contacts, which include sexual partners,  parents, or 
household members, were found to be HIV-negative.   The CDC said there 
has been no proof of any virus linked with any of the ICL patients, but 
additional research is being conducted.  Blood bank officials agreed to 
cooperate with CDC studies by  taking blood samples from patients 
identified as having ICL.  In  addition, the blood bank officials also 
said they would check  patients' medical histories to determine if they 
have donated  blood or received transfusions. Related Story: Baltimore 
Sun (08/19) P.17A 

"Wording of AIDS Education Pledge Ignites Battle" New York Times 
(08/19/92), P. B3  (Berger, Joseph)
     Controversy emerged again yesterday between New York City Schools 
Chancellor Joseph A. Fernandez and a majority of the Board of  Education 
over the wording of a pledge that outside AIDS  lecturers will have to 
sign.  The board approved a resolution in  May which requires all 
lessons about preventing HIV infection to  emphasize sexual abstinence 
more than other means of prevention.  Any community or health group 
seeking to offer classroom AIDS  education was required to sign a form 
vowing to follow the  resolution.  Fernandez called the pledge a 
"loyalty oath," and  opposed the resolution.  However, Fernandez was 
required by  orders from the board to draft the wording of the pledge.  
At  least four board members yesterday criticized his wording and  
claimed he was attempting to distort their intentions to make  them look 
foolish.  A meeting planned for today will allow the  members to draft 
their own wording for the pledge.  Fernandez,  however, has been on 
vacation and will not attend the meeting.   Michael J. Petrides, the 
Staten Island representative on the  board, said Fernandez' wording for 
the pledge gave the impression that the board required that all AIDS 
lessons stress abstinence  more than other means of prevention.  He said 
that the board only required lessons on prevention to contain such a 
focus. 

"Woman With HIV Will Attempt to Stir Nation's Compassion" Philadelphia 
Inquirer (08/19/92), P. A12  (Ojito, Mirta)
     An HIV-positive woman who is the daughter of a renowned  Republican 
will be speaking about AIDS tonight at the Republican  National 
Convention.  Mary Fisher, daughter of financier,  philanthropist, 
presidential confidant, and political power  broker Max Fisher, said she 
believes the president has "done what he can" but must make a more 
aggressive effort in the future to  fight HIV.  She said that her speech 
will try to persuade people  to take action by reminding them that the 
disease is not  discriminatory.  She will ask the nation to be 
compassionate to  those with AIDS.  Fisher recently founded the Family 
AIDS Network to provide support to those with the disease.  Fisher 
discovered  she was HIV-positive in July 1991.  Her husband, an IV-drug 
user, had transmitted the virus to her.  She said that how she got the  
virus is irrelevant, and that what is significant is that she will be 
able to speak to the nation tonight.  "It's evidence that the  country 
believes it's an important issue to address.  I give Bush credit for 
doing that."  Although Fisher said the issue should  not be politicized, 
she understands some of the criticism  directed at the president.  In 
addition, she said she had talked  with Bush about AIDS and had made 
suggestions, although she would not reveal them.  Related Story: 
Washington Post (08/19) P. B3 

"Securities Regulators Target AIDS Life-Insurance Schemes" Washington 
Post (08/19/92), P. F4
     The North American Securities Administrators Association, a group 
of state securities regulators, has issued a warning concerning  
fraudulent brokers who coax investors into purchasing the life  
insurance policies of AIDS patients with less than a year to  live.  The 
group claims the scam artists often sell policies at  grossly inflated 
prices and sometimes sell policies that do not  actually exist.  The 
perpetrators of the fraud are capitalizing  on publicity concerning 
legitimate "living benefit" plans, under  which insurers pay on the 
polices of terminally ill patients  before the patients actually die. 

"Marketers Losing Reluctance to Join Fight Against AIDS" New York Times 
(08/19/92), P. D19  (Elliot, Stuart)
     Mainstream marketers are showing their increased sensitivity to  
AIDS by joining Arthur Ashe's fight against the disease.  Ashe,  the 
former tennis champion with AIDS, will host an all-star  tournament on 
Aug. 30 at the National Tennis Center in Flushing  Meadows, Queens.  
Those expected to participate include Andre  Agassi, Steffi Graff, John 
McEnroe and Pete Sempras.   Corporations expected to sponsor the event 
include the Aetna Life and Casualty Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and 
Visa U.S.A.  The  stigma linked with AIDS seems to be disappearing as 
demonstrated  by marketers sponsoring the tournament.  "All of a sudden, 
AIDS  is not something other people get.  It's something that happens  
to corporate friends like Arthur and Magic," said Steve Horowitz  of 
Proserv Inc. in New York, the sports management company that  represents 
Ashe.  Yesterday, the Miller Brewing Company said it  signed Magic 
Johnson to serve as a spokesman for promotional  programs.  The 
agreement entails a contribution of $500,000 to  AIDS awareness and 
education programs by the brewer and personal  appearances regarding 
AIDS issues by Johnson.  "We are both  enthusiastic and proud to be 
associated with a person with the  courage, character, and tremendous 
popular appeal of Magic  Johnson," said Warren H. Dunn, Miller's 
president and CEO. 

"Obituaries: AIDS Researcher Dr. Linda Laubenstein" Chicago Tribune 
(08/19/92), P. 10-1
     A renowned AIDS researcher who discovered some of the first AIDS  
cases died Saturday.  Dr. Linda Laubenstein, who died at age 45,  
suffered from severe asthma and weakness from childhood polio  that left 
her paraplegic since age 5.  Dr. Jeffrey Greene, a  colleague, said that 
Dr. Laubenstein was "the ultimate AIDS  physician."  Although she was 
handicapped, she met patients in  the emergency room in the middle of 
the night and made house  calls, using her motorized wheelchair and 
public buses.  Dr.  Greene added, "She was sicker than most of her 
patients but  didn't let it stop her."  Dr. Laubenstein and Dr. Alvin  
Friedman-Kien wrote the first published report in a medical  journal 
regarding the alarming appearance of Kaposi's sarcoma.   She had seen 62 
AIDS patients by May 1982--a fourth of the  national total recorded at 
the time.  She said then that "this  problem certainly is not going 
away," and warned her father that  it would be a terrible epidemic.  
Laubenstein's private practice  increased to be predominantly AIDS 
cases.  With Dr.  Freidman-Kien, Laubenstein organized the first full-
scale medical conference on AIDS, at New York University in 1983. 

"Rockville Biotech Firm Plans Human Test of AIDS Vaccine" Washington 
Business Journal (08/10/92) Vol.11, No.11, P.5 (Abrahams, Doug)
     Univax Biologies Inc. has successfully tested an AIDS vaccine on  
monkeys to prevent them from contracting a simian version of HIV. The 
research has been conducted under a cooperative research and  
development agreement with Walter Reed Army Institute of  Research.  
Univax holds the development rights to the vaccine.   Dr. Avigdor 
Shafferman presented the findings of the study at the international AIDS 
conference last month.  Shafferman said the  results suggested that 
antibodies from vaccinated monkeys  prevented infection in animals that 
came in contact with SIV.   Unlike other SIV studies, Univax's data 
indicates that immunized  animals are able to combat early infection 
after only a few  sequences of viral replication, added Shafferman.  The 
vaccine  contains several peptides which allow it to immunize against 
more than one viral strain of HIV, according to Dr. David Schwartz of  
the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Johns  Hopkins 
University.  The vaccine is also capable of fighting the  disease after 
it enters the body.  Additional testing since has  suggested that the 
results in monkeys could be duplicated in  humans and that a vaccine to 
prevent AIDS could be in the  immediate future, said Univax Chief 
Executive Thomas Stagnaro. 

"A Message for Elizabeth Taylor" Maclean's (08/10/92) Vol. 105, No. 32, 
P. 48  (Fotheringham, Allan)
     The press has grossly exaggerated the threat of AIDS to  Canadians, 
writes columnist Allan Fotheringham.  Newspapers,  magazines, and 
television newscasts have jumped on the AIDS  propaganda bandwagon 
because it is the "trendiest of all  diseases."  However, the Bureau of 
Chronic Disease Epidemiology,  Health, and Welfare Canada has reported 
that AIDS is the 11th  leading cause of death in Canada, trailing behind 
the No. 1 and  No. 2 caused, cancer and heart disease.  Meanwhile, two 
reporters from The Hamilton Spectator investigated the actual affect of  
AIDS on the Canadian population.  They found that the government  had 
consistently misinformed citizens of the risks of getting  AIDS and that 
no evidence exists to suggest AIDS has spread  beyond high-risk groups.  
According to Toronto epidemiologist  Eric Mintz, not all Canadians are 
at risk of getting AIDS as the  government has led them to believe.  He 
added that diseases do  discriminate against different populations.  
Still, Ottawa's  Federal Centre for AIDS has stressed that Canadians 
should take  note of the spread of heterosexual AIDS in the United 
States,  Africa, and Thailand.  Yet, the Spectator reporters reported 
that Canada's social, economic, and health conditions do not parallel  
those of countries where AIDS has thrived.

"HIV Vaccines Promising, But Not Problem Free" American Medical News 
(08/10/92) Vol. 35, No. 30, P. 3  (Staver, Sari)
     While results on HIV vaccines appear promising, many scientific  
and regulatory issues must first be addressed before the vaccines  can 
be made available to the public, said experts.  At the  International 
AIDS conference last month, researchers reported  that clinical trial 
data on preventive and therapeutic HIV  vaccines suggest they are safe 
and that they produce significant  antibody response.  Preventive trial 
vaccines were based on the  HIV envelope protein GP 120 and tested on 
seronegative subjects.  For the first time, the GP120 vaccines sparked 
neutralizing  antibodies against HIV in subjects receiving a series of  
injections.  The functional antibodies are key because they kill  HIV 
directly.  Evidence that either a GP120 or GP160 vaccine can  generate 
an antibody response in HIV-positive subjects was  presented on the 
therapeutic front.  Many researchers have  speculated that an HIV 
therapeutic vaccine would be most  effective if administered in 
conjunction with another drug like  AZT.  However, the effectiveness of 
the vaccines when used  outside of controlled conditions must first be 
studied.   Researchers must also discover whether vaccines trigger 
immune  cells in the mucous membranes where HIV is likely to be  
introduced and whether the vaccine is long-lasting and effective  
against various strains of HIV.

"My Turn: 'Dad, I'm HIV Positive'" Newsweek (08/17/92) Vol. 120, No. 7, 
P. 9  (Schoch, Russell)
     When Russell Schoch learned that his son had hemophilia, he  
writes, he believed that his son's life was doomed.  But in the  15 
years since, Schoch and his son have "learned...to challenge  the 
dogma."  Schoch learned during those years that HIV had  corrupted the 
blood supply.  Now, his son is HIV positive, but  Schoch continues to 
question medical assumptions.   Retrovirologist Peter Dusenberg of the 
University of California  at Berkeley says HIV is not capable of killing 
its infected host. Researchers, Schoch writes, have not been able to 
find a  satisfactory explanation of how HIV kills.  Schoch also 
questions treatment with AZT.  He writes that three recent books have  
described AZT marketing arrangements between government,  business, and 
science, evidence of corrupted AZT trials, and gay  activist Michael 
Callen's observation that the only long-term  survivors of AIDS are 
those not using AZT.  Meanwhile, Schoch  continues, "dozens of patients" 
are now reported to have symptoms of AIDS but no HIV infection.  Schoch 
calls for a reevaluation of AIDS, and praises 40 doctors and researchers 
for signing a  statement calling for "a thorough reappraisal of the 
existing  evidence for and against [the current] hypothesis [of how HIV  
causes AIDS]."  "Both my son and I strongly support the effort to re-
examine the hypothesis that HIV causes AIDS, a hypothesis that has yet 
to save a single human life." 

"'Magic' AIDS Video to Debut" Supermarket News (08/17/92) Vol. 42, No. 
33, P. 32
     A new AIDS video featuring Magic Johnson and Arsenio Hall will be 
released Sept. 10 by Paramount Home Video.  "Time Out: The Truth  About 
HIV, AIDS, and You" was designed to educate young people  about AIDS and 
HIV.  Paramount chose not to suggest a retail  price, hoping to 
encourage retailers to make it widely accessible and at a inexpensive as 
possible. 

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