Washington Blade - December 17, 2004

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - Researchers at Rutgers University have developed a trio of drugs they believe can destroy HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, according to a published report. The drugs, called DAPYs, mimic the virus by changing shape, which enables them to interfere with the way HIV attacks the immune system. Tests conducted in conjunction with Johnson & Johnson have shown the drug to be easily absorbed with minimal side effects. It also can be taken in one pill, in contrast to the drug cocktails currently taken by many AIDS patients. "This could be it," Stephen Smith, the head of the department of infectious diseases at Saint Michael's Medical Center in Newark, told the Sunday Star-Ledger of Newark. A research team led by Rutgers chemist Eddy Arnold pre-published details of the most promising of the three drugs, known as R278474, last month in the electronic edition of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Full details are scheduled to be published in the journal in early 2005. Arnold, 47, has worked at dismantling the AIDS virus over the past 20 years. "We're onto something very, very special," Arnold told the newspaper.

Researchers make genetic find that may help lead to AIDS vaccine

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Scientists involved in a landmark international study are hopeful that new research will help them develop the world's first successful AIDS vaccine, the Independent Online of South Africa reported. The study involved top South African scientists and appears in the latest issue of the scientific journal Nature. Researchers found the "genetic battleground" where HIV and the body's immune response face off, according to the IOL. For the first time, scientists know the category of immune cells that actually fight the virus and the type of cells that do not fight HIV, IOL reported. Dr. Bruce Walker, a co-author of the study and the director of the Partners AIDS Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, the institution that established the study, told IOL, "The results help to focus this effort by telling us what the most effective immune responses are."

Five leaders resign from Mo. AIDS group in protest

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Five leaders of a group that calls itself the "voice for AIDS awareness and advocacy" in St. Louis have resigned in protest over what they consider misplaced priorities. Laura Pickering, board president until October, joined by three other board members and the co-chair of the annual AIDS Walk, signed a letter of resignation and protest that was sent to the AIDS Foundation of St. Louis last week. They say the foundation, founded in 1987, doesn't give enough money to service agencies and spends too much on administration. "Donations should go to people affected by HIV," Pickering said. Lisa Bedian, the new board chair, said the foundation is changing its direction, in part because of the addition of new board members.

Gay men in British Columbia urged to guard against infection

VICTORIA, British Columbia - Health officials in British Columbia this week warned gay men of a deadly bacterial infection outbreak, CTV reported. "We think we're seeing the beginning of an outbreak in gay men in B.C. and if we nip it in the bud, we can save a lot of people some grief," Dr. David Patrick of the B.C. Center for Disease Control told CTV. Meningococcal C disease is blamed for the deaths of three men since October, according to CTV, while four others have fallen ill but recovered. Thus far in 2004, 19 cases have been detected, and 16 were in men, CTV reported. Caused by the meningococcus bacterium, the infection can strike suddenly and cause brain damage and death; its symptoms include high fever, headache and a stiff neck, according to CTV. No common link so far has been found between the victims, the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority told CTV. Health officials have implemented a vaccination campaign that targets gay men, including teenagers, the authority told CTV.

New Zealand surgeon found guilty of discriminating against HIV patient

AUCKLAND, New Zealand - A surgeon who did not want to examine an HIV-positive patient for bowel cancer this week was found guilty of discriminatory behavior, Television New Zealand reported. The patient was sent for a colonoscopy to the surgeon, whose name was not revealed, at a small provincial hospital. The surgeon raised concerns about the risk of infection and suggested other patients would have to wait longer while equipment was sterilized. Paterson said all patients are potentially infective and all equipment must be properly sterilized, TVNZ reported.

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