THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 11, 1996 TAG: 9606110307
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 51 lines
An announcement that Eastern Virginia Medical School will test an AIDS vaccine has triggered a flood of calls from people infected with HIV who want to participate in the trials.
The scheduling desk of the school's internal medicine department has taken roughly 100 calls since the trials were announced in the media Friday, said Katie Humphrey, a registered nurse and the department's office manager.
The volume of calls surprised the staff. They are asking people who are not regular patients there to postpone calling until the last week of June, when there will be a new nurse on staff assigned to work with the project.
The vaccine - if it works - would either delay or prevent people infected with human immunodeficiency virus from developing AIDS.
Called Remune, the medicine is a ``therapeutic vaccine,'' given as a treatment to people who have become infected with the virus that causes AIDS. It differs from commonly known vaccines, like that for polio, which are given to prevent infection.
EVMS' participation will make the cutting-edge treatment available to people in Hampton Roads. Virginia's Eastern Region, which includes Hampton Roads, has more people infected with HIV than any other part of the state - 3,208 as ofthe end of 1995.
There will be only 50 slots available. EVMS will be one of 50 sites nationwide to test the new vaccine, which was developed by a California company.
It is possible the company will open more spaces if there is a lot of interest, but ``they have not promised anything,'' said Dr. Edward C. Oldfield III, director of EVMS' infectious diseases division.
Half of the participants will receive the vaccine in an injection every three months. Their progress will be compared to the other participants, who will receive an injection that does not contain Remune. It will be a double-blind study, meaning that neither the patients nor their doctors will know who is getting the vaccine.
The study is open to people who have HIV but not AIDS. Participants must have a CD4 cell count - a measure of the strength of the immune system - between 300 and 549.
For information, telephone the scheduling desk of EVMS' internal medicine department at 446-8920. Organizers urge callers to wait until the last week of June, when they will have more information available. ILLUSTRATION: For information, telephone the scheduling desk of
EVMS' internal medicine department at 446-8920. Organizers urge
callers to wait until the last week of June, when they will have
more information available.
KEYWORDS: EVMS AIDS by CNB