Subject: CDC Summary 3/3/93 Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1993 22:03:24 PST (170 lines) Archive-Number: 320 From: Billi Goldberg Note: Copyright 1992, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed. sold. Copyright 1992, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD AIDS Daily Summary March 3, 1993 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. Copyright 1992, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ====================================================================== "Johnson and Johnson Belgian Unit in HIV Drug Trials" Reuters (03/02/93) Brussels--American pharmaceutical firm Johnson and Johnson's Belgian subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutica, announced yesterday it had tested an AIDS drug that stopped the replication of one strain of HIV in the test tube. However, HIV developed resistance to the drug, alpha-APA, when used by itself. Janssen said it began tests on HIV- positive patients and had discovered that alpha-APA was well absorbed by the body and had few adverse side effects. Other tests are being conducted to determine whether the drug blocks the spread of HIV in the body. The alpha-APA compound inhibits the action of reverse transcriptase, which can lead to the development of full-blown AIDS. The drug company said that like similar agents, alpha-APA was effective against the strain of HIV called HIV-1, but not against HIV-2. Janssen is planning clinical trials to test the efficacy of combinations of alpha-APA and other drugs. "These studies will indicate whether such combinations of drugs will inhibit the multiplication of the virus for a longer period and prevent resistance," said the company. Other companies conducting similar studies have found that the virus developed resistance when used with reverse transcriptase inhibitors. They subsequently used combinations of inhibitor drugs and AZT to overcome the problem. ====================================================================== "Philippine Armed Forces to Undergo AIDS Tests" Reuters (03/02/93) Manila--The Philippines' military chief of staff yesterday ordered the country's 160,000 armed forces to be tested for HIV after a marine selected to serve with U.N. forces in Cambodia was found to be infected with the virus. Armed forces spokesman Colonel Benjamin Enrile said, "The chief of staff ordered everybody to be tested to be sure." The HIV testing are to begin immediately and will be performed by the main military hospital in Manila. Armed forces Chief of Staff General Lisandro Abadia said HIV tests would become part of the annual medical examination of all military officers and enlisted men. The HIV- infected marine was immediately withdrawn from a 68-man Philippine navy contingent to be sent to help control a U.N.-brokered ceasefire agreement in Cambodia. Approximately 30,000 Filipinos are believed to be infected with HIV, and about 300 have full-blown AIDS, according to Philippine health officials. ====================================================================== "Egypt Reports 356 AIDS Cases" Reuters (03/02/93) Cairo--A total of 356 people in Egypt have AIDS. Of those individuals, 188 are Egyptians and 168 are foreigners, a health official reported Tuesday. Since 1986, 48 people have died of AIDS in Egypt, the health official said. At a seminar in December, Health Minister Ragheb Dwidar disclosed the total number of reported AIDS cases in Egypt as 344, including 186 Egyptians and 158 foreigners. Ahmed Seif al-Nasr, a health ministry official, told the seminar that this was only "the tip of the iceberg," because not all of Egypt's 58 million people have undergone testing for HIV. ====================================================================== "Calif. Proposal Would Outlaw AIDS Discrimination in Health Insurance" United Press International (03/02/93) Sacramento, Calif.--Legislation introduced on Tuesday in California would make it illegal for health-insurance companies to discriminate against policyholders with AIDS and other maladies. The bills were proposed by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) and state Sen. Art Torres, (D-Los Angeles). At a news conference, proponents of the legislation said that insurers often discriminate against policyholders with HIV or AIDS by rescinding their coverage when they file a claim. The bills by Brown and Torres would prohibit the practice of "post claims underwriting," in which coverage is unilaterally canceled after a claim because of allegations that the policyholder misrepresented information on the enrollment form. The new measures would institute a single standardized medical history form to be used by all health insurance companies, which would protect consumers from ambiguous and misleading health questions that can produce answers that give insurers the pretext to cancel coverage after a claim is filed. The legislation would guarantee workers the right to supplemental Medicare coverage if they lose their jobs and their insurance coverage because of illness. In addition, the bills would prevent insurers from testing applicants for HIV without their consent. ====================================================================== "AIDS Top Killer of Forsyth Residents 20-39, Officials Say" Winston- Salem Journal (02/26/93), P. 13 (Stinneford, Karen) AIDS was the leading cause of death among Forsyth County, N.C., residents between the ages of 20 and 39 in 1991--outstripping car accidents, violence, or cancer, state officials recently announced. The disease was also the top killer in that age group in five other North Carolina counties. Theresa Klimko, an epidemiologist with the state Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, said AIDS was the third-leading cause of death statewide for the age group. This was particularly surprising to officials and AIDS activists because in 1990, AIDS was only the seventh-leading cause of death among 20- to 39-year-olds statewide. A total of 22 Forsyth County residents in this age group died of AIDS in 1991. The next leading cause of death was homicide. According to state statistics, black men were five times more likely to die from AIDS than white men, and black women were 15 times more inclined to die from the disease than white women. Klimko said the six urban counties may be feeling the impact of AIDS now, but the rest of the state isn't far behind. "In North Carolina, the AIDS epidemic started in the metropolitan counties. It is now spreading more in the rural counties, but those counties won't see AIDS deaths go up greatly (for) years," she said. This delay is due to the disease's latency period, which can last up to 10 years before a person develops full-blown AIDS. ====================================================================== "Red Faces in White Coats" Business Week (03/08/93) No. 3308, P. 37 (Smith, Geoffrey) Although the outcome of a recent study that used a three-drug approach to inhibit HIV-spread in vitro was promising, it may have raised false hopes. Yung-Kang Chow headed the study conducted by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) which claimed to have possibly found the "Achilles' heel" of HIV. After reports of the study circulated throughout the media, thousands of calls overwhelmed AIDS hotlines, drug companies, and doctors' offices nationwide. HIV- positive patients lined up to be enrolled in a national trial of the three-drug approach involving 200 patients that is expected to begin this summer. Dr. Martin S. Hirsch, a prominent MGH AIDS researcher who supervised Chow's research, said the reaction to the study has been "devastating." He says he wishes the study had not "been blown out of all proportion." But Chow and Hirsch intended to prevent the hype. When they announced the study's findings they emphasized that the results were only achieved in a test tube and could easily fail in humans. But some scientists say that Chow and Hirsch neglected to reveal an important detail: The three-drug approach worked with only certain strains of HIV--variations of HIV-1--but it didn't work against other strains. Dr. William S. Haseltine, a leading AIDS researcher at Harvard University, said, "I doubt they found the Achilles' heel--there are probably lots of Achilles' heels." While Chow says his three-drug technique "is the best approach we have yet," it should be understood that the most important trials, those of humans, have yet to begin. ====================================================================== "HIV Vaccine Enters Clinical Trial Stage" American Medical News (03/01/93) Vol. 36, No. 9, P. 25 The first large-scale clinical trial of an AIDS vaccine has been launched in Sweden and will last six years. The trial will be testing VaxSyn made by MicroGeneSys Inc. The therapeutic vaccine has exhibited its ability to stabilize or reduce the amount of virus in an HIV- positive person, incite an immune response, and stop the loss of CD4 cells. The trial in Sweden is the last test MicroGeneSys must undergo before it can begin commercial production of the vaccine. ====================================================================== "Cheaper Way to Make AZT" American Medical News (03/01/93) Vol. 36, No. 9, P. 25 A less expensive process for making AZT has been developed by a Japanese company. The pharmaceutical company Kobayashi Koryo makes thymidine, a key ingredient of AZT, using heat evaporation, a process that is up to 50 percent cheaper than the current fermentation method, said company officials. The trading concern Kanematsu Corp. expects to start selling thymidine to drug companies in India and Brazil by the end of the year. ====================================================================== "HIV Clue Announced" American Medical News (03/01/93) Vol. 36, No. 9, P. 25 A chemical transformation in cells that helps explain how HIV spreads has been discovered by researchers at the Webb-Warring Institute in Denver, Colo. According to the scientists, HIV quells production of a vital enzyme called superoxide dismutase. The researchers are testing human cell cultures to elucidate if a drug can inhibit HIV's ability to suppress the enzyme. If they are able to safeguard the enzyme's levels in cells, the time HIV stays inactive could be prolonged.