AIDS Daily Summary January 2, 1996 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 ************************************************************ "Kenya's Moi Bans Sex-Education Book" "Blood Banks Starting to Harvest Umbilical Cords" "Widow of Arthur Ashe Raises Objection to Site for Monument" "Touched by Royalty" "Beyond the Beltway 1995: What's My Line?" "Appointments: The National AIDS Fund of Washington" "Is Kaposi's-Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Detectable in Semen of HIV-Infected Homosexual Men?" "AIDS Tumor Bank" "Crystal Structure of SIV Matrix Antigen and Implications for Virus Assembly" "Clinton Holds First AIDS Summit" ************************************************************ "Kenya's Moi Bans Sex-Education Book" Washington Post (01/02/96) P. A18 A family planning book published by the Girl Guides Association of America has been banned by Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi, the Daily Nation reported. According to the newspaper, Moi said that "Family Life" is immoral and encourages promiscuity. "It talks about sex and I direct that the book be removed from the shelves by the [Kenyan] Girl Guides and the Boy Scouts," the president said on Sunday. "Blood Banks Starting to Harvest Umbilical Cords" New York Times (01/01/96) P. 12; Lewin, Tamar The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is deliberating how to regulate the use of umbilical cord blood to treat fatal diseases. Some private firms, however, are already seeking clients through mailings to pregnant women, telling them that a baby's umbilical cord blood could be a sort of insurance for the entire family. The technique is still experimental and it is not yet known exactly for whom this blood should be used, how well it works compared to other treatments, how long it remains useful, and what the role of public and private blood banks should be. Cynthia Fisher, president of Viacord in Boston, notes, "The majority [of our clients] view this as a choice for parents and doctors to make an investment in the future. It's not just for leukemia. It's potentially for breast cancer, or even AIDS." Some concerns related to the practice are that both the mother's and the baby's blood are not infected with such diseases as HIV or hepatitis, and whether parents and children should be informed of any genetic data learned from ensuing tests. "Widow of Arthur Ashe Raises Objection to Site for Monument" New York Times (01/02/96) P. C33 After months of silence, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, the widow of tennis great Arthur Ashe, says she disagrees with the City of Richmond's decision to put a statue of her husband on Monument Avenue, which currently honors only Confederate heroes. "I have always felt that in all this controversy, the spirit that Arthur gave to Richmond has been overlooked," Moutoussamy-Ashe said. "I am afraid that a statue of Arthur Ashe on Monument Avenue honors Richmond, Va., more than it does its son, his legacy, and his life's work." Arthur Ashe, who was once banned from the segregated tennis courts in his hometown Richmond, later became known worldwide as an advocate of human rights. He died of AIDS three years ago. "Touched by Royalty" Washington Post (01/01/96) P. C7 Queen Elizabeth II has placed singer Elton John, who has donated millions of dollars to AIDS research, on her New Year's Honors list. The list also recognizes hundreds of people unknown outside their local communities who are nominated by admirers for their work. John was recognized "for services to music and for charitable services," and received a CBE award, or Commander of the Order of British Empire. "Beyond the Beltway 1995: What's My Line?" Washington Post (01/01/96) P. C3 One of the strange stories of 1995 was that Brazil's health ministry changed the name of a "talking penis" used in an ad campaign about AIDS following complaints from people with that same name. "Appointments: The National AIDS Fund of Washington" Washington Post--Business (01/01/96) P. 8; Ginsberg, Steven The National AIDS Fund of Washington has appointed B.J. Stiles as its executive vice president, Jerry Atchison as director of communications, Dennis L. Stover as director of projects and programs, and Nila Vehar as director of community partners. "Is Kaposi's-Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Detectable in Semen of HIV-Infected Homosexual Men?" Lancet (12/16/95) Vol. 346, No. 8990, P. 1601; Lin, Jung-Chung; Lin, Seh-Ching; Mar, Eng-Chun; et al. Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated the possibility of transmission of Kaposi's-sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV) in the semen of HIV-infected homosexual men. Using unnested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques, Lin et al. found KSHV sequences in the semen of more than 60 percent of the HIV-infected gay men and in none of the healthy participants. The nested PCR test revealed detectable KSHV sequences in some 90 percent of the infected men and 23 percent of the healthy men. Furthermore, in the five years of follow-up, 13 of the 33 homosexual men who tested KSHV-positive developed KS, while none of the KSHV-negative men did. According to the researchers, the results indicate a possible sexual route of KSHV transmission, though further research is required. "AIDS Tumor Bank" Science (12/08/95) Vol. 270, No. 5242, P. 1571 The AIDS Malignancy Bank (AMB) contains AIDS-related tumors, including formerly hard-to-obtain tissue and fluid samples from AIDS patients, as well as detailed clinical information. The bank, which opened in October, is funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Cancer biologist Michael McGrath of the University of California at San Francisco notes that nearly 50 percent of all AIDS patients have some type of malignancy. Still, NCI's Ellen Feigal says that tumor samples from AIDS patients are frequently hard to obtain. The AMB will supply "all types of fluid, tissues, cells, and blood products" associated with AIDS tumors, McGrath said, adding that all products will be of "a high-quality clinical pedigree." McGrath, who heads one of the AMB's five regional repositories, notes that the tumor bank will add to the work of the new NCI-funded AIDS Malignancy Clinical Consortium, which involves 13 institutions doing "innovative" clinical studies. "Crystal Structure of SIV Matrix Antigen and Implications for Virus Assembly" Nature (12/14/95) Vol. 378, No. 6558, P. 743; Rao, Zihe; Belyaev, Alexander S.; Fry, Elizabeth; et al. Rao et al. determined the crystal structure of the matrix antigen (MA) for the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) using multiple isomorphous replacement and cross-averaging. The MAs of SIV and HIV share approximately 50 percent sequence identity. MA is a factor of Pr55Gag, the protein needed for assembly of the virion shell, and targets the protein to the plasma membrane, thus easing incorporation of the virus envelope protein. The researchers report that in SIV's MA, the molecule creates a trimer constant with oligomerization in vitro and several other characteristics of MA. "Clinton Holds First AIDS Summit" Science (12/15/95) Vol. 270, No. 5243, P. 1752; Cohen, Jon Many participants at the first White House Conference on HIV and AIDS praised President Clinton for addressing a disease that his predecessors hardly even mentioned. Clinton proposed two new strategies to accelerate the search for treatments. Under the first plan, Vice President Al Gore will meet with pharmaceutical industry representatives to find ways to speed development of drugs, vaccines, and vaginal microbicides. Under the second, White House AIDS policy leader Patsy Fleming will form a working group with governmental agencies conducting AIDS research and will develop a coordinated research program. "We can't afford any unnecessary delays or missed opportunities," Clinton said. In addition, Clinton appointed William Paul, head of the National Institutes of Health's Office of AIDS Research (OAR), to lead the intergovernmental review. Paul particularly wants to have the panel investigate the overlap between epidemiology research done independently by NIH and by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A preliminary draft report from the OAR review indicates that it would be more useful if these programs had "much clearer integration," Paul said.