AIDS Daily Summary August 28, 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 Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information. Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "A Monumental Man on Monument Avenue" "Across the USA: South Carolina" "AIDS Virus Spreading Fast in S.E. Asia--Paper" "Italy's 'AIDS Gang' Has Imitators" "333 Million New Cases of Sexual Diseases a Year" "RiboGene Awarded Phase II SBIR Grant to Develop Novel Drugs against HIV" "AIDS from Vaccine?" "New TB Respirators on the Way" "Human Retroviruses in the Second Decade" "Writing Wrongs" ************************************************************ "A Monumental Man on Monument Avenue" New York Times (08/28/95) P. C2; Berkow, Ira At the Fourth Annual Arthur Ashe AIDS Tennis Challenge on Sunday, athletes and celebrities joined together to raise funds to fight the disease. During a break in the tournament, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, the tennis great's widow, presented a $1 million check in the name of the Arthur Ashe Endowment for the Defeat of AIDS to New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. Comedian Bill Cosby, who participated in the event, said, "AIDS is in the same position as polio was, and tuberculosis, and cancer, when I was growing up in the 40's and 50's. People still want to keep it hush-hush." Ashe dedicated himself to the education and elimination of the disease, but he also took bold stands on such issues as apartheid in South Africa and racism in the United States. His views, however, caused controversy earlier this year when the Richmond Planning Committee proposed erecting a statue in his honor. Some critics claimed that the statue should not be built because he left the city when he was young--even though he left because he could not play on the segregated courts--while others argued he was too good for Monument Avenue where his statue would stand among those of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis. Despite the debate, ground was broken last month for the statue of the man who died from AIDS more than two years ago. "Across the USA: South Carolina" USA Today (08/28/95) P. 12A Sam Givens Jr.'s attorneys are considering appealing a judge's decision that people with AIDS or HIV can be denied coverage in South Carolina's high-risk insurance pool. "AIDS Virus Spreading Fast in S.E. Asia--Paper" Reuters (08/27/95) A paper released on Sunday estimated that by January 1995, 4.5 million people in southeast Asia had been infected with HIV. In that region, incidence of HIV "continues to soar and the first peak of the epidemic is not yet in sight," said the paper, which was presented at a recent Manila symposium by American AIDS expert Daniel Tarantola of the Harvard School of Public Health. According to the paper, the AIDS epidemic is spreading dramatically from urban to rural parts of the region, and is affecting people at younger ages, especially women. "Italy's 'AIDS Gang' Has Imitators" Reuters (08/26/95) Police announced on Saturday that a second group of men claiming to be in the final stages of AIDS had been arrested after a robbery in Turin. "The AIDS gang has been successfully cloned," noted the city's daily La Stampa. Antonio Lamarra, a member of the original gang, said that the imitators should stop because "ours was a provocative gesture...If everyone who is terminally ill starts committing robberies it will be mayhem." The so-called AIDS gang robbed banks without concern because of a 1993 Italian law which prevents people in the final stages of a terminal illness from being imprisoned. Unlike the original AIDS gang, which successfully made off with the money, the second group left empty-handed when a security device inside the bag of money went off, covering the bank notes in red dye. The three suspects were being held in prison over the weekend while inquiries were made to see if they actually have advanced AIDS. "333 Million New Cases of Sexual Diseases a Year" Reuters (08/25/95); Nebehay, Stephanie The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that many more people contract sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) than was previously believed. In addition, it seems that such infections "greatly increase the risk of contracting HIV," the organization said. A new study, "An overview of selected curable sexually transmitted diseases," was conducted by WHO's Global Program on AIDS and the Rockefeller Foundation. The results suggested that STDs are increasing in China and parts of the former Soviet Union, while decreasing in recent years in Norway, Sweden, Chile, Costa Rica, Thailand, and Zimbabwe because of safer sex. However, "there is strong evidence that these curable STDs, because they cause genital lesions or inflammation, greatly increase the risk of sexual transmission of HIV," the report said. Antonio Gerbase, the study's leading author at WHO, added that "The huge number of sexual infections sets the stage for the amplification of HIV." "RiboGene Awarded Phase II SBIR Grant to Develop Novel Drugs against HIV" Business Wire (08/25/95) A Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant has been awarded to RiboGene, Inc. to develop novel anti-HIV drugs. The grant, which is worth up to $750,000, will benefit the company's program to discover and design such drugs. The Small Business Association-funded grants are distributed by the National Institutes of Health to companies whose plans demonstrate strong scientific merit and commercial possibilities. "After receiving four SBIR Phase I grants last year, we are delighted with this further validation of our technology," said Chairman, President, and CEO Charles J. Casamento. "AIDS from Vaccine?" Science (08/04/95) Vol. 269, No. 5224, P. 639 A judge has instructed vaccine manufacturer American Cynamid to take part in studies to determine whether a contaminated oral polio vaccine (OPV) caused AIDS. The order stemmed from a lawsuit, which claims that American Cynamid's OPV infected an Illinois girl with HIV in 1982. The girl's parents filed suit in early 1994 after learning of a 1992 Lancet article in which an attorney suggested that HIV-1, HIV-2, or SIV might have infected monkey kidney cells that are used to produce OPV. Scientists have dismissed the theory and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration believes it has no merit, but the judge ruled that American Cynamid must allow the plaintiffs to test vaccine samples for HIV-1, although he did reject their bid to test the vaccines for SIV or HIV-2. "New TB Respirators on the Way" AIDS Alert (08/95) Vol. 10, No. 8, P. 107 Recently, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) began accepting tuberculosis (TB) respirators for a newly-approved testing and certification process. The certification process will enable less expensive, more comfortable respirators than those currently required. Soon after the NIOSH announcement, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced plans to integrate the NIOSH changes into a revised compliance document for health care settings. Due out no earlier than September, the "N95" series respirators are expected to meet standards of TB protection, and are close to the type C mask that is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the new respirators' price is not yet known, manufacturers expect them cost between $1 and $3. "Human Retroviruses in the Second Decade" Nature Medicine (08/95) Vol. 1, No. 8, P. 753; Gallo, Robert C. In order to multiply and survive, human retroviruses have developed new strategies, writes Robert C. Gallo in the journal Nature Medicine. Their success, however, has resulted in a particularly diverse group of human diseases, including AIDS and neurological disorders. HIV, for example, is an infectious human retrovirus whose survival relies on continuous high-level replication and the steady destruction of the immune system. Currently, there is no effective therapy for HIV-infected people, and no vaccine with a high-degree of success is guaranteed for the near future. Human retrovirus research first centered on their characterization, their connection to disease, and the mechanisms involved. Now, however, research should focus on the elimination of the retroviruses, as well as the treatment of infected individuals, Gallo concludes. "Writing Wrongs" POZ (08/95-09/95) No. 9, P. 38; Minkowitz, Donna Tory Dent, the instructor of a workshop called the "Poetry of Adversity" at New York University, claims there is a taboo in the United States about "speaking your pain." Dent, however, has been expressing all sorts of emotions in the seven years since she learned she was HIV-positive. "In 1988 if you tested positive, you were going to die," she says. The 37-year-old poet felt an enormous sense of isolation, particularly because she "didn't know any straight people who were positive who were living long enough to create a supportive community." Dent's poems reveal a female and feminist point of view that is also influenced by her HIV-positive status. Her first collection, "What Silence Equals," published by Persea Books in 1993, met with great success. Currently, Dent is working on an autobiography that covers the last seven years. .