WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2001
NEWS
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
AIDS finding focuses on stability, future
Surges in virus levels may not indicate need to switch drugs
The Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) — Two new studies suggest that the slight blips in virus levels that many AIDS patients experience while taking drug cocktails do not necessarily mean the treatment is failing after all.
The findings could have significant implications for AIDS treatment. Doctors generally try to suppress the AIDS virus to levels undetectable by routine tests. Up to now, doctors believed that
The studies "question some of the basic principles upon which therapy is based," said Dr. Steven Deeks of University of California in San Francisco's AIDS Program, who wrote an accompanying editorial. The findings indicate that "complete viral suppression is rarely achieved with current therapies."
The new studies suggest that slight, intermittent surges in virus levels do not always mean the virus is becoming drug-resistant, and switching drugs may not be necessary.
when HIV rose back to detectable levels, it meant that the virus was becoming drug-resistant and that the patient had to switch medications.
Patients in both studies received standard cocktails of the older AIDS workhorse drugs AZT and 3TC, as well as protease inhibitors, which have transformed the disease into a manageable ailment for many
According to one of the studies led by Dr. Diane Havlir of the University of California in San Diego, "unnecessary regimen switching may result in disruption of a patient's medication routine, toxic effects from new drugs and premature discarding of useful drugs."
The studies were published in last Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
Havlir and colleagues analyzed data on 241 patients followed for about 16 months and a group of 13 followed for about 4 and-a-half years.
patients.
"Intermittent vitremia" — occasional, detectable AIDS virus levels — occurred in 40 percent of the 241 patients and 46 percent of the 13. Persistently high virus levels indicating the treatment failed occurred in 30 patients, but they were no more likely to occur in those with virus blips.
In the other JAMA report, Dr. Deborah Persaud and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University Children's Center studied blood
samples of 20 AIDS patients for at least two years. They found that standard treatment seemed to block virus mutations even in patients with intermittent blips of virus activity. The AIDS virus develops drug resistance by mutating.
Deeks noted that the studies are only preliminary, and their findings apply mainly to patients whose cocktails include a protease inhibitor.
Embassy bomber escapes death penalty, gets life
The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — For the second time in a month, a jury yesterday rejected the death penalty for one of the men convicted in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Several jurors thought that executing him would only make him a martyr.
Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, 27, will instead be automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In arguing for the death penalty, prosecutors had warned that Mohamed would be a danger even behind bars. They accused him of helping to ambush a jail guard who suffered brain damage when he was stabbed in the eye with a sharpened comb.
Mohamed was convicted last month of mass murder for the Aug. 7,1998, bombing of the U.S. embassy in his native Tanzania. The attack killed 11 people and set off the U.S. government's biggest terrorism investigation ever.
He told FBI agents that he had no regrets about the attack, allegedly orchestrated by fugitive Saudi financier Osama bin Laden.
Prosecutors portrayed Mohamed as a cold-blooded killer whose terrorist skills were honed in a bin Laden training camp.
According to the verdict form, seven of the 12 anonymous jurors decided that if Mohamed were executed, "he will be seen as martyr and his death may be exploited by others to justify future terrorist acts."
Last month, the same jury spared the life of Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-'Owhali, 24, of Saudi Arabia, who was convicted at the same trial of killing 215 people in a simultaneous bombing of a U.S. embassy in Kenya.
Twelve Americans died in the two bombings.
Mohamed's attorney, David Ruhnke, said yesterday's outcome should dispel any notion that an American jury could not be fair in a case involving terrorist attacks on U.S. targets.
Prosecutor Michael Garcia said, "A life sentence for Khalfan Mohamed is a death sentence for the next guard who makes a mistake."
Prosecutors tried to convince jurors that terrorists would find reasons to attack U.S. targets no matter what happened to Mohamed. They also accused Mohamed of helping his cell mate ambush guard Louis Pepe, who was stabbed during a botched escape attempt.
"If you're going to seek the death penalty, it can't be against the foot soldiers," Ruhnke said. "The death penalty should be
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said a death sentence would have been just but prosecutors respect both the process and the jury's decision.
buy that argument, with nine citing recent jail evaluations that rated Mohamed a low risk.
reserved for those who are higher up."
The majority of jurors did not
The defense contended that Mohamed was an unwitting bystander to his cell mate's breakout attempt.
Mohamed, Al-'Owhali and two other men were convicted on May 29. The other two — Wadih El-Hage, 40, a Lebanese-born U.S. citizen from Arlington, Texas, and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, 36, of Jordan — were found guilty of conspiracy and face automatic life sentences.
Six defendants are in custody awaiting trial, but no trial date has been set. Thirteen others are still at large, including bin Laden.
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