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New drug reduces thrush from attaching to uninfected T-cells. In combination. AZT and rsCD4 work at lower doses which may also cause fewer side effects. Human testing has recently begun with rsCD4. Thrush (oral candidiasis — a yeast infection in the mouth) disappears in PWAs alter a single dose of a new drug called fluconazole, say Swiss doctors. The drug, taken orally, was effective tor four days before thrush returned in some PWAs. After 42 days, half of the PWAs again had thrush These doctors recommended repeating the treatment with fluconazole as often as thrush returns. In another study, doctors in Belgium found fluconazole more effective than other drugs for treating thrush in PWAs. Reference: V. Johnson and others. "Synergistic Inhibition o f HIV-1 Replication in Vitro by Recombinant Soluable CD4 and AZT." The Journal of Infectious Diseases. May 1989, pp: 837-43. Reference: J . Chave and others. " Single-dose Therapy for Oral Candidiasis with Fluconazole in HIV-infected Adults: A Pilot Study." Journal of Infectious Diseases. April. 1989, pp 806-7, and S. DeWit and others. "Comparison of Fluconazole and Kétoconazole fo r Oropharyngeal Candidiasis in AIDS." The Lancet. April 8. I9R9. pp: 746-47. AZT and 0 ) 4 work together Effects of AZT and ribavirin In laboratory experiments, a combination of the drugs AZT and rsCD4 more effectively stops HIV from multiplying than does either drug when used separately. Each drug acts on a different step in HIV’s life cycle. AZT prevents HIV from multiplying within infected T-cells. and rsCD4 prevents HIV Men with ARC and AIDS had lower levels of HIV after they took AZT, but not after they took the drug ribavirin, according to researchers at the University of California in San Diego. Within 8-12 weeks the men who took AZT had less than 10 percent of the original amount of HIV circulating in their blood, but the men who took ribavirin had no change in the amount o f HIV. Reference: S. Spec tor and others. * ‘The Antiviral Effect o f AZT and Ribavirin in Clinical Trials and the Use o f p24 Antigen Levels as a Virological Marker. '’ The Journal of Infectious Diseases, May 1989. pp: 822-27. Improved form of rsCD4 Swiss researchers have developed a new version of rsCD4. This molecule more effectively prevents HIV from infecting T-cells, and prevents HIV-infected T-cells from clumping with u* infected T-cells. As a class of therapeutic molecules, rsCD4 offers great hope for controlling HIV infection. Testing with another variation of rsCD4 recently began with humans. Reference: A. Traunecker and others. ' Highly Efficient Neutralization o f HIV with Recombinant CD4-immunoglobulin Molecules." Nature, May 4, 1989, pp: 68-69. Antibody test on saliva . '¿y ’ ' ( i « < r Jt * * . — — t". ^ tBMWg i*'1 î ¿ v S i '** m 1 „AVEN FOB «ELAKAT.ON a hot spring sp / v * EASEINTO A new HIV antibody test which uses saliva instead of blood was developed by researchers at the drug company Hoffman-LaRoche. Compared to blood, saliva is easier to obtain, and safer to test (because saliva inactivates HIV). This test is not currently available for commercial use. Reference: R. Shoeman and others. "Antibodies to HIV in Saliva." The New England Journal of Medicine, April 27, 1989, pp: 1145-46. People infected with HIV need TB tests Value • Safety • Comfort « Simplicity < Reliability Engineering People who are infected with HIV should receive skin-tests for TB, recommend the Centers for Disease Control. In addition, people with positive skin-tests for TB, or people with symptoms of TB — regardless of their skin-test results — should receive chest X-rays to diagnose TB. TB is more common among people infected with HIV than among the general population. Reference: "TB and HIV Infection: Recommendations o f the Advisory Committee fo r the Elimination o fT B ." MMWR, April 14, 1989, pp: 236-48. New drug may stop herpes in PWAs ‘After beatingourse)ees toJ soak With LAND It totally relaxes our bodes! Smokey & J A new drug, foscamet, shows promise for treating PWAs who have herpes simplex that is resistant to the usual drug, zovirax. Doctors at San Francisco General Hospital successfully treated four men who had resistant strains of herpes. The men received foscamet intravenously three times a day for two to three weeks. Reference: K. Erlich and others. "Eoscarnet Therapy fo r Severe Acyclovir-resistant Herpes Simplex Virus Type-2 Infections in Patients with AID S." Annals of Internal Medicine, May I, 1989, pp: 710-13. 2 5 3 -3 5 5 ' ,E 82nd Avenue H4 & 20b 6 4 3 -5 0 0 2 . What have you done lately to stop the spread of homophobia? t n a «>»//▼ 6 ^ Kmc