>From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" >Date: Thu, 25 Aug 1994 09:09:44 -0400 (EDT) AIDS Daily Summary August 25, 1994 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement by the CDC, the CDC Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information. Copyright 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "Indonesia May Have 2.5 Million People With HIV by 2000" "Mom Dying of AIDS Finds Home for her Dearest Treasures" "Regulation of Body Piercing Goes to Wilson" "Meals for People With AIDS" "Questions and Answers: Smoking Cessation in Patients With HIV" "What Heterosexual Adults Believe About Condoms" "Experts, Senate Favor HIV Testing of Sex Offenders" "Wellness Spirituality in Homosexual Men with HIV Infection" "The Cause of AIDS" ************************************************************ "Indonesia May Have 2.5 Million People With HIV by 2000" Reuters (08/25/94) Indonesian Health Minister Suyudi warns that the Asian nation may have as many as 2.5 million people HIV carriers by the end of the decade. Suyudi hopes to keep the figure around 600,000 through "intense efforts." Indonesia plans to build a special hospital for HIV patients. "Mom Dying of AIDS Finds Home for her Dearest Treasures" Chicago Tribune (08/24/94) P. 1-1; Talalay, Sarah Karen Smith, a 34-year-old mother of five residing in Elgin, Ill., is dying of AIDS. Concern that her children would be separated after her death led her to find them a new mother. AIDS rights advocates say there is a need for AIDS-infected parents to plan for their children's future. They cite a 1992 American Medical Association study finding that an estimated 45,000 children are expected to be orphaned by AIDS in 1996. That number could total 100,000 by the end of the decade, the study warns. Smith chose Gayla Millican, who works rehabilitating developmentally disabled adults, to adopt the five children. "Regulation of Body Piercing Goes to Wilson" United Press International (08/24/94) The California Assembly has passed legislation that would impose new regulations on body piercing and tattooing. Supporters of the measure say the use of unsterilized needles in both body piercing and tattooing could spread the HIV. The bill is now on the desk of Gov. Pete Wilson, awaiting his signature to become law. "Meals for People With AIDS" Washington Post (08/25/94) P. D.C.5 Foods and Friends is a volunteer agency in Washington, D.C. that delivers nutritious meals to AIDS patients. The organization is currently emphasizing fund-raising and volunteer recruitment. "Questions and Answers: Smoking Cessation in Patients With HIV" Journal of the American Medical Association (08/17/94) Vol. 272, No. 7, P. 564; Chaisson, Richard E. Conflicting studies have made it unclear whether cigarette smoking hastens progression of AIDS among HIV patients, notes Dr. Richard E. Chaisson of Johns Hopkins University. Because it has been linked to rapid depletion of CD4 cells, and an increase in respiratory tract infections among infected persons, Chaisson says smoking tobacco and other substances is clearly correlated with important causes of sickness and death in HIV-positive individuals. Previously, however, some clinicians treating HIV patients did not address the importance of smoking cessation because they assumed the long-term health effects of smoking were not relevant in patients whose immune systems were seriously crippled by AIDS. Now, says Chaisson, it is evident that smoking cessation does offer short-term health benefits to HIV patients. The most harmful effects of smoking are caused by smoke and its components; therefore, he concludes, interventions--including nicotine replacement therapy--are warranted to reduce the incidence of smoking in HIV patients. "What Heterosexual Adults Believe About Condoms" New England Journal of Medicine (08/11/94) Vol. 331, No. 6, P. 406; Choi, Kyung-Hee; Rickman, Richard; Catania, Joseph A. Using data from a telephone poll of residents in 23 urban areas in the United States with a high prevalence of AIDS, Catania et al. surveyed 5,331 heterosexual adults aged 18 to 49 about their beliefs concerning condoms. Most acknowledged condoms as an effective method for prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Fifty-four percent, however, feared the condom would fail, 41 percent said the device reduced pleasure, 37 worried about losing their partner's trust by suggesting condom use, and 21 percent reported feeling uncomfortable about putting on condoms. Based on these responses, Catania et al. recommend that instructions depicting correct condom use be widely distributed and that publicity materials eroticize condom use. The team also suggests that condoms be more easily available through the mail and vending machines. Training and counseling, they said, are needed to increase sexual sensation with condoms. And, although they may not offer 100 percent protection against HIV, consistent use of condoms will certainly curb the spread of the disease. "Experts, Senate Favor HIV Testing of Sex Offenders" AIDS Alert (08/94) Vol. 8, No. 9, P. 111 The Working Group on HIV Testing, Counseling, and Prophylaxis--a panel of 16 legal and medical experts--has recommended HIV testing and counseling guidelines which include the hotly debated policy of limited mandatory testing of rape suspects. Group member Dr. Kenneth Mayer explains that "...there may be special circumstances where the psychic and physical harm of not knowing may be relevant, such as issues around pregnancy." Under the working group's guidelines, the rape survivor must request preconviction testing; probable cause must be present; test results would be disclosed only to the accused and the accuser and could not be used in court proceedings; and if the accused tests negative, another test should be administered in six months--unless an acquittal has been handed down. Women's groups, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union, strongly oppose mandatory testing of rape suspects, but the authors of the report say the violent nature of rape sets it apart from other forms of HIV exposure, such as consensual sex or health care workers treating infected patients. Presently, 32 states allow HIV testing of suspected or convicted rapists. "Wellness Spirituality in Homosexual Men with HIV Infection" Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (07/94-08/94) Vol. 5, No. 4, P. 28; Kendall, Judy The AIDS epidemic has spawned a plethora of community-sponsored support programs designed to help people cope with the various dimensions of the disease. Building a network of people who value and support each other is regarded by the authors of numerous studies as an important part of caring for infected persons. Dr. Judy Kendall, assistant professor at Oregon Health Sciences University School of Nursing, conducted a follow-up study of 29 homosexual men with HIV to extend previous grounded theory on wellness spirituality and to form a new theory on how human relationship influences wellness responses in seriously-ill individuals. Her findings confirmed the conclusions of other researchers who showed the importance of spirituality in the health and well-being of terminally ill patients. "The Cause of AIDS" Issues in Science and Technology (Summer 1994) Vol. 10, No. 4, P. 18; Root-Bernstein, Robert In response to Wanda K. Jones and James Curran's review of his book "Rethinking AIDS: The Tragic Cost of Premature Consensus," Robert Root-Bernstein feels that the book's estimated 2,000 references rebut claims by Curran and Jones that Root-Bernstein's arguments are "overstated" and "strained." He also says his critics "grossly distorted" his arguments. They write, for example, that "he [Root-Bernstein] interprets the failure of chimpanzees to develop AIDS after HIV infection to mean that HIV is 'incapable of causing AIDS by itself or perhaps at all.'" Root-Bernstein, however, argues that his conclusion is not that HIV is not a cause of AIDS, but that the scientific and medical establishment cannot be sure that it is. Any scientist, he says, should appreciate the difference.