STUDY WILL TRY TO HELP HIV AND TB PATIENTS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 6, 1993                   TAG: 9304060140
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium
STUDY WILL TRY TO HELP HIV AND TB PATIENTS
The federal government announced plans Monday for the first major U.S. study of drug treatment strategies for persons infected with both tuberculosis and the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
"This study will provide state-of-the art treatment . . . and answer important questions about the management of these patients," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Up to 650 HIV-infected persons with active tuberculosis will be enrolled in the clinical trials. Fauci said a significant proportion of the patients will likely be in New York City, where TB, especially drug-resistant tuberculosis, is a persistent and growing problem.
The Department of Health and Human Services also announced a $2.1 million, five-year grant to Johns Hopkins University to evaluate the effectiveness and appropriate use of AZT, ddI and other drugs used in treating HIV-related illnesses.
Preliminary results of a major European drug trial suggest that people in the early stages of HIV infection get little benefit from the use of AZT. A group of European scientists reported their findings last week in The Lancet, a medical journal.
"While drugs have been reviewed for basic safety and effectiveness before they go on the market, these further studies should help physicians make the best treatment choices," said HHS Secretary Donna Shalala.
In the clinical drug trials involving HIV-infected persons with TB, the government will evaluate the benefit of adding a new drug for TB treatment, levofloxacin, to the usual four-drug therapy used in geographic areas were TB organisms are commonly resistant to one or more anti-TB drugs.
People who live where drug-resistant TB is not common also can enroll in the trial and will receive the four-drug regimen without levofloxacin.
TB is an airborne disease, primarily of the lungs. Because of their weakened immune systems, persons with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are particularly vulnerable to reactivation of latent TB infections as well as new TB infections.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB