From: Billi Goldberg <bigoldberg@igc.apc.org>
Subject: CDC Summary 7/22/92
Note: non-commercial reproduction.
Archive-Number: 5764
Organization: UCLA, Computer Science Department
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 92 22:12:40 PDT

                         AIDS Daily Summary
                           July 22, 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 
************************************************************************
 "'AIDS' Without Trace of H.I.V.: Talks in Amsterdam on 5 Cases" New 
York Times (07/22/92), P. A1  (Altman, Lawrence K.)
     Researchers at the Eighth International Conference on AIDS in  
Amsterdam yesterday revealed new reports of patients with  symptoms of 
AIDS, but no proof of infection with HIV.  In the  researchers' reports, 
30 patients were described with the  condition, which could be caused by 
a third variant of HIV or by  a deficiency of the immune system caused 
by some other condition  or agent.  The new agent could even take the 
form of a microbe or some environmental factor, but it is currently 
undetermined.   American health officials requested that any doctors who 
witness  these symptoms in patients report them to the Centers for 
Disease Control.  Several researchers have indicated they have seen  
patients with this condition, but have not reported it.  Health  
officials said if a new microbe is involved, a screening test to  
protect the blood supply can be designed after it is isolated.   Dr. 
Jeffrey Laurence of Cornell University Medical Center in New  York City 
described five such cases that are expected to be  published soon in the 
Lancet.  He said his team had detected a  potential culprit virus and 
had submitted a report about it to  another medical journal, but would 
not discuss it.  Related  Stories: Washington Post (07/22) P. A4; Los 
Angeles  Times--Washington Edition (07/22) P. A1; Financial Times 
(07/22) P. 4 

"Plans for AIDS Vaccine Trials Urged Although Drugs Remain Experimental" 
Wall Street Journal (07/22/92), P. B6  (Chase, Marilyn)
     The spread of HIV is so rampant that world AIDS experts must  begin 
planning how to implement large-scale vaccine trials now,  although 
vaccines are still experimental, said a leading American AIDS researcher 
at the international AIDS conference in Amsterdam yesterday.  Daniel 
Hoth, of the National Institutes of Health,  said it will take at least 
two years to schedule vaccine trials,  obtain the needed 2,000 to 5,000 
volunteers, and to deal with  consequential social and political 
problems.  Dr. Hoth said that  researchers must start planning 
immediately to avoid an influx of HIV infections while anticipating the 
perfect vaccine.  He  contended it would be better to start tests of a 
vaccine that is  60 percent effective, than to wait for one that is 90 
percent  effective.  Dr. Hoth estimated that with a population of one  
million, including 10 percent of the people with HIV infection, a early 
start could prevent 145,000 new infections.  However, he  said, a delay 
could mean 22,000 people would become infected.   Steven K. Lwanga, 
director-general of the Uganda AIDS commission, said that if a vaccine 
is ready for large-scale trials, poor  nations need guarantees from the 
West that they will be able to  afford the vaccine.  Related Story: USA 
Today (07/22) P. 4D 

"Inoculating the HIV-Positive" USA Today (07/22/92), P. 4D  (Painter, 
Kim)
     A promising vaccine to prevent further spread of infection in  HIV-
positive people has been developed by Dr. Robert Redfield of  the Walter 
Reed Army Institute of Research.  The vaccine has been created from the 
outer coat of HIV, and has been injected in 30  patients with early HIV 
infection.  The initial trial suggests it can incite immune responses 
that reduce the amount of virus in  the blood.  Redfield is also 
responsible for a new trial that  will include 600 patients, and another 
that will include 250  volunteers.  Early results demonstrate the 
compound is safe and  prompts the desired immune responses, but it is 
still unclear  whether it improves patients' health.  Redfield is 
looking  forward to "compelling evidence" in 12-24 months. 

"AIDS Vaccine Won't End Risk, Experts Say" Baltimore Sun (07/22/92), P. 
3A
     Although a vaccine might be helpful in preventing HIV infection  
among some people, it will not be enough to completely stop the  spread 
of the disease, said AIDS experts yesterday at the  international AIDS 
conference in Amsterdam.  Dr. June Osborn of  the National Commission on 
AIDS said to the conference, "A  vaccine can supplement, but cannot 
replace, what we already know  we must do in the context of behavioral 
change to decrease risk." She noted that a vaccine would always be 
threatened by mutant  versions of the disease and said it would be 
difficult to  administer the vaccine to everyone in need. 

"Firm Sued Over Firing HIV-Positive Woman" Los Angeles Times--Washington 
Edition (07/22/92), P.B4 (Mitchell, John L.)
     An HIV-positive woman from San Bernardino, Calif., filed a  $5-
million lawsuit against a medical laboratory Tuesday, alleging she was 
fired soon after her office learned she was infected.   Mary Jane 
Holcomb underwent an office-sponsored free blood test  in January at 
Watson Medical Laboratories, where she had been  working as a data 
processing clerk for less than a month.   Subsequently, company 
President Paul Watson notified her that she tested HIV-positive and told 
her she would have to be forced to  resign.  Attorneys for Holcomb filed 
a lawsuit in Superior Court  in San Bernardino, arguing that the 
laboratory, Watson, and  company executives discriminated against her 
because she was  infected with HIV.  Watson called the allegations 
"totally false" and refused to give additional comments.  Holcomb said 
Watson  told her she would have to be terminated because some co-workers  
that knew of her infection were uneasy about working with her.  A lawyer 
of Holcomb's, William Genego, said the free blood  screenings at the San 
Bernardino-based Watson laboratories were  provided as a benefit of 
employment.  He added that while similar tests are usually kept 
confidential, Holcomb's supervisors were  notified before she was.  The 
company, which specializes in  screening blood, had no formal policy on 
confidentiality, said  Genego. 

"Businessman's AIDS Efforts Are Target of Investigations" Philadelphia 
Inquirer (07/22/92), P. A1  (Copeland, Larry)
     Authorities in Pennsylvania and at least three other states are  
investigating Jerry Silverman, a Philadelphia businessman who  placed 
fund-raising canisters in thousands of stores to solicit  money for AIDS 
research.  The charity for which Silverman was  purported to be raising 
funds, the American Foundation for AIDS  Research (AmFAR), has denied 
any knowledge of the campaign, and  says it has received no proceeds 
from the canisters.  Silverman  said that he never passed his operation 
off as a not-for-profit  charity, indicating that he always intended to 
make money from  the canisters and then donate 10 percent of the cash 
for AIDS  research.  The Pennsylvania attorney general has ordered  
Silverman to stop his profitable venture, since he has not been  
authorized by AmFAR nor been licensed as a professional  solicitor.  In 
addition, Silverman could be in violation of the  state's Solicitation 
of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act, which  states that a contract 
between charities and fund-raisers has to  be submitted to the state.  
Silverman's fund-raising activities  in New York, Connecticut, and 
Massachusetts are also being investigated.

"Teen-agers' High-Risk Behavior Courts AIDS" USA Today (07/22/92), P. 9A  
(Novello, Antonia C.)
     Antonia C. Novello, surgeon general of the Public Health Service, 
thinks that the U.S. should work harder to curb the spread of  AIDS 
among adolescents.  Through June, 872 cases of adolescents  with AIDS 
had been reported in this country, a statistic that  obscures the fact 
that over 44,000 Americans between the ages of  20 and 29 have been 
reported with AIDS.  Many of those  individuals were infected during 
their teenage years.  AIDS cases among adolescent females have more than 
doubled, and more than 50 percent of those infections were acquired 
through unprotected  heterosexual contact.  Novello calls for increased 
awareness of  the causes of HIV and AIDS, along with better testing and  
counseling.  She stresses abstinence as the best means of  protection, 
and recommends more youth education.  The surgeon  general also supports 
a head-on approach that will protect young  people from the horrors of 
AIDS. 

"News in Brief: New York" Advocate (07/14/92) No. 607, P. 24
     The owners of eight sex clubs were told by New York City AIDS  
coordinator Ronald Johnson to eliminate high-risk sex at the  clubs or 
face the risk being shutdown by city health officials.   Some of the 
clubs are primarily comprised of homosexuals and  others serve 
heterosexuals.  According to Johnson, he told the  club owners on June 2 
that "the city had no choice but to enforce the law, but the 
administration would prefer that the community  make a good-faith 
effort" to halt risky sex.  Public oral and  anal sex was classified as 
a health nuisance by state health  policies put into effect in 1985, 
leading to the closure of many  gay sex clubs in New York City.  
However, Leon Ransom,  legislative aide to city council health committee 
chairman Enoch  Williams, criticized Johnson of pandering to gay voters 
because  he did not immediately close the clubs.  Johnson argued that  
closures would impede AIDS education campaigns by "driving sexual 
activities underground," said Johnson. 

"Ophthalmological Screening for CMV Retinitis in HIV Infection" Lancet 
(07/18/92) Vol. 340, No. 8812, P. 179  (Morlet, N. et al.)
     All AIDS patients at risk of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis with a 
CD4 cell count below 200/ul should be considered for regular  
fundoscopy, write N. Morlet et al. of the Prince of Wales  Hospital in 
Randwick, Australia.  A total of 118 symptom-free  patients were 
screened--almost half (42 percent) the targeted "at risk" patients.  
Further referrals of patients with visual  symptoms brought the total to 
130.  Four cases of CMV retinitis  were diagnosed and three had visual 
symptoms.  Of two patients  taking AZT, one had a CD4 count of 100/ul, 
and a second of 200/ul. The third patient, who was not taking AZT and 
was diagnosed with  Kaposi's sarcoma 2 years earlier, had no recent CD4 
counts.  The  fourth patient, from the group of 118 patients lacking 
visual  symptoms, was believed to have CMV retinitis in the left eye; 
six months before, the patient had been at the screening clinic and  
showed no retinal lesions.  The one case of CMV retinitis from 118 
visually symptom-free patients indicates a need for improvement  of 
screening programs.  Patients with visual symptoms have a  higher 
incidence of CMV retinitis and should have urgent  ophthalmological 
referral, the researchers conclude. 

"'Critical Moment' at Hand in HIV/AIDS Pandemic, New Global  Strategy to 
Arrest its Spread Proposed" Journal of the American Medical Association 
(07/29/92) Vol. 268,  No. 4, P. 445  (Goldsmith, Marsha F.)
     Approximately 10,000 delegates will be attending the Eighth  
International Conference on AIDS in Amsterdam this week, expected to 
emphasize a new worldwide strategy to thwart the spread of  HIV.  While 
physicians, laboratory and social scientists, and  significant numbers 
of dedicated individuals and groups fought  the disease for more than 10 
years, it still spread to every part of the world.  Conference chair Dr. 
Jonathan Mann, coordinator of the Global AIDS Policy Coalition said, "in 
Amsterdam, the open  dialogue must start on the new community, national, 
and global  agenda for the critical years to come."  Mann said that 
people  are starting to acknowledge a need for a shift in focus from  
condemning risky behavior to promoting responsible communal  behavior.  
"To deal effectively with AIDS we're going to have to  bring people 
working on this issue forcefully into alliance with  people working on 
such other social issues as women's status and  rights, population 
control, health care availability, and political freedom," Mann said.  
He maintains that the epidemic is not  hopeless, citing programs across 
the world that are  effective in decreasing the spread of HIV. 

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