Fluconazole approved
BY
JEFFREY
ZURLINDEN
rsCD4 still shows promise
An experimental drug called rsCD4 looks
more promising as testing continues. Given
as a shot, rsCD4 did not cause serious side
effects and lowered the amount of HIV in men
with ARC or AIDS. This drug works by
clogging the place on HIV that normally
attaches to T-cells, thereby preventing the
clogged virus from infecting new T-cells.
Researchers plan to continue experiments to
find the greatest amount of rsCD4 that can be
given without causing serious side effects.
Reference: R. Schooley and many others.
Recombinant soluble CD4 therapy in patients
with AIDS and ARC. Annals of Internal
Medicine. Feb. 15,1990, pp: 247-53.
The drug fluconazole was approved by the
Food and Drug Administration to treat two
AIDS-related fungal infections — thrush and
cryptococcal meningitis. Thrush infections in
the mouth and throat may cause pain and
difficulty swallowing. Thrush eventually
occurs in 80 to 90 percent of people with
ARC and AIDS. Fluconazole is also approv
ed to treat cryptococcal meningitis, a life-
threatening infection of the brain and the
spinal cord. Compared to earlier drugs used
to treat cryptococcal meningitis, fluconazole
is as effective but causes many fewer side
effects. Fluconazole is available as a tablet
and an intravenous fluid under the trade name
Diflucan.
New AZT dose
The Food and Drug Administration
recommends that HIV-infected people taking
AZT now take 600 milligrams daily — half
the previously recommended dose. The FDA
still recommends that people taking AZT start
with one month of 1200 mg daily. According
to studies at the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases, this new lower dose
of AZT was found to be as effective as the
higher dose, but it caused fewer side effects.
However, these researchers were uncertain if
the lower dose of ACT improved with
thinking and memory problems that
sometimes accompany infection with HTV.
SANDRA
K.
PINCHES,
Ph.D.
Counseling and Psychotherapy
1809 N.w. Johnson, Ste. 7
Specializing in issues of:
• Recovering Alcoholics
• Co-dependency
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(503) 227 7558
Cathy Siemens
Bridgetown Realty
(503) 287-9370
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The Centers for Disease Control now
estimates that 1 million Americans are
infected with HIV; and 52,000 to 57,000 of
them will be diagnosed with AIDS during
1990. The number of people with AIDS will
increase each year; and during 1993, between
61,000 and 98,000 will be diagnosed. By
comparison, last year approximately 35,000
were diagnosed with AIDS. The CDC also
estimates that 60 percent of the people
currently infected with HIV have fewer than
500 helper T-cells and would benefit from
taking ACT. Although the number of people
who are newly infected has dramatically
decreased since 1987, approximately 40,000
adults and 2,000 infants will become infected
with HIV this year. The largest number of
newly infected people are expected to be IV
drug users and the sexual partners of IV drug
users. However, over half of the people
diagnosed with AIDS last year were gay or
bisexual men.
Reference: CDC. Estimates of HIV
prevalence and projected AIDS cases.
MMWR. Feb. 23,1990, pp: 110-19.
CDC. Update: AIDS. MMWR. Feb. 9,
1990, pp: 81-86.
New drug stops HIV
In laboratory tests, a new group of
chemicals known as TIBO stop HIV from
reproducing. According to Belgian scientists.
the new chemicals work at very low
concentrations; and like ACT, they work by
inhibiting reverse transcriptase. They hope
that TIBO will be more powerful than ACT,
yet have fewer side effects. So far, only six
healthy volunteers have taken TIBO tablets
and none of these volunteers had serious side
effects.
Reference: R. Pauwels and others. Potent
and selective inhibition of HIV-1 replication
in vitro by a novel series of TIBO derivatives.
Nature. Feb. 1,1990, pp: 470-73.
Mice may be dangerous
Researchers should be wary of studying
AIDS using mice, says Robert Gallo the
grandfather of HIV research. HIV can
combine with viruses that commonly infect
mice; and at least in the test tube, produce
new strains of HIV that spread easier and
grow faster than the original HIV. This
makes Gallo question the safety, as well as the
results obtained from HIV-infected mice.
Although it is easy to imagine a science
fiction-like disaster caused by escaped mice,
scientists working with HIV-infected mice
already take severe precautions to guard
against possible release of new viruses.
Reference: P. Lusso and others. Expanded
HIV-1 cellular tropism by phenotypic mixing
with murine endogenous retroviruses.
Science. Feb. 16,1990, pp: 848-51.
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