Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

Clumping down a hallway of the Santa Monica courthouse on one good leg, hunched slightly forward in a determined quest to get somewhere, Bill Bartman hardly seems like a man seeing his last summer. There's too much determination there, too much vigor to be owned by a guy dying of AIDS. Propelled by his own anger, he comes at you scowling with intensity, wanting you to hear, forcing you to listen, involving you with an energy difficult to avoid.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first urine test for the AIDS virus. Calypte Biomedical Corp. of Berkeley created the test, which detects antibodies to HIV present in urine. The test is safer, easier and more accessible than traditional blood HIV tests because it doesn't require needles or specially trained health care providers to administer it, and because urine, unlike blood, poses no risk of infection, said Calypte President Jack Davis.

Perhaps one in every 100 whites is genetically resistant to infection by the AIDS virus, two sets of researchers have found. The finding not only explains why some repeatedly exposed individuals do not develop the disease, researchers said, but also offers the possibility of developing an effective way to block the spread of the fearsome virus.

As Los Angeles County prepares to dole out its shrinking pot of funds for AIDS services, the Board of Supervisors faces increasingly vocal complaints that the San Fernando Valley is getting shortchanged. The county is facing a possible $4.9-million reduction in federal funding for HIV and AIDS programs this year. The result is that providers big and small are scrambling to get what they consider their fair share.

Monday, Day Two, 89.5 miles from Santa Cruz to Greenfield * Just after 5 a.m., the 2,275 cyclists of California AIDS Ride 3 rub sleep from their eyes, sniffling with hay fever in the high pollen count, and crawl from their tents. We stream toward the showers, the chemical toilets and then the food lines for a hot breakfast of eggs, hash browns, sausage, cereal, danish and more, served up by volunteers. Barbara Quattrocchi, 67, sips a cup of coffee.

People in advanced stages of AIDS who commonly suffer from cytomegalovirus, an infection that can lead to blindness and even death, can significantly reduce the risk with a new drug called Cytovene or ganciclovir. The virus infects about 50% of adults in the United States in their lifetimes, and 90% of those who have AIDS. Among those with compromised immune systems, the virus can seriously harm eyesight and even cause life-threatening illness. Researchers led by Dr.

Americans got two new tests for the AIDS virus: one to more easily detect infection and the other to predict how fast patients with the disease will sicken. The Food and Drug Administration called Epitope Inc.'s Orasure the first oral test that appears as reliable as the standard blood test to diagnose HIV, which causes AIDS. Patients who already know they're infected can find out just how much HIV is in their blood with Hoffman-La Roche's Amplicor test, also just approved.

In a surprising turnaround on an explosive issue, the American Medical Assn., meeting in Chicago, endorsed mandatory testing of all pregnant women and newborns for the AIDS virus. The AMA had long favored voluntary testing because there was little doctors could do to treat a pregnant woman infected with HIV. That changed with the realization that the drug AZT can dramatically reduce a woman's risk of passing the virus on to the fetus.

In the midst of another gloomy budget season, Los Angeles County's AIDS coordinator had some good news Tuesday: Despite a continuing financial crisis and $5 million in cutbacks in federal funding, services to those suffering from the HIV virus will not be decreased in the upcoming year. John Schunhoff and other Department of Health Services officials told the Board of Supervisors at their weekly meeting that they have found savings and additional revenue to offset a $4.