Date: Wed, 26 Jan 1994 12:04:33 -0500 (EST) From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" Subject: CDC AIDS DAILY SUMMARY 01/26/94 AIDS Daily Summary January 26, 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 1993, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD "Hemophiliacs Seek Redress for AIDS' Toll" Washington Times (01/26/94) P. A8 (Finn, Peter) When it was created in the late 1960s, Factor 8, a blood clotting product, doubled the median life span of hemophiliacs. But 15 years later, 90 percent of the Factor 8 supply was contaminated with HIV, and 80 to 90 percent of the 10,000 hemophiliacs who inject it at least once a week are now infected. Two thousand have died already, and the ones still living are now seeking redress from four pharmaceutical firms that manufactured Factor 8, and from the hemophilia foundation, which encouraged its members to continue use of the product despite scientific fears that it was potentially hazardous. Hemophiliacs continued to inject the product, and thousands were infected between 1981 and 1985, when the Food and Drug Administration approved a test to screen blood for HIV. The drug companies and the hemophilia foundation, while acknowledging that the hemophiliacs contracted the virus through contaminated Factor 8, insist that HIV was not isolated until 1984, and that they did the best they could with the knowledge and technology that was available at the time. The hemophiliacs, however, contend that the companies ignored warnings and advice from the Centers for Disease Control that a deadly new virus was loose in the blood supply. They feel they have a case, and on Sept. 30, 1993, a class-action suit lawsuit was filed on behalf of America's infected hemophiliacs, who are seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. A national investigation of AIDS infection among hemophiliacs is starting at the Institute of Medicine in the National Academy of Sciences, and is expected to report its findings late this year. "Farm Family's 6 Sons, Wives, Babies Fall" Washington Times (01/26/94) P. A8 (Finn, Peter) The ironic, deadly effects of Factor 8 blood clotting product contaminated with HIV is evident in one Iowa farm family. Seven sons and four daughters were born to Mary and Vince Goedken, but six of the seven sons suffered from hemophilia, which was a crippling disease in the 1950s. One son died of uncontrolled bleeding from a brain hemorrhage in 1971 at age 11. Eventually, medical advances introduced Factor 8, which the remaining five hemophiliac sons injected at least once a week, allowing them to lead healthy, normal lives--until AIDS surfaced. Then, one by one, Mary and Vince began to lose their family. Ernie Goedken died first in March 1987 at age 46. Another son, Dennis, infected his wife Karen, who then infected their child while still in the womb. Only four-and-a-half months old, baby Clayton Goedken died of AIDS in September 1987. The grief ruined Dennis and Karen's marriage and they died apart--he in October 1989 and she in March 1991. A year earlier, Jan, infected by her husband, Loras Goedken, died of AIDS. With the August 1991 death of J.J. Goedken, Loras is the only hemophiliac brother still alive, and he has HIV. The Goedken family suffered the loss of four sons, two women, and a baby--all from AIDS, all within the same family, and all within four-and-a-half years. "Magic Case Highlights Indonesia's AIDS Problems" Reuters (01/26/94) (Sinaga, Simon) Jakarta--Indonesia's withdrawn invitation for Magic Johnson to visit demonstrates the country's poor knowledge of AIDS and the state's reluctance to promote condom use outside of marriage, said health experts and officials. Escobat Gani, dean of the University of Indonesia's public health facility, said that many Indonesians believe AIDS can be transmitted by mosquitoes or through casual body contact. Gani asserted that the case of Magic Johnson's visit indicates that people need more AIDS education. Also, an unidentified senior health ministry official revealed the impact of Moslem disapproval of condoms. "It is feared [by Moslem leaders] that use of condoms would lead to freer sex," said the official. "Health Minister [Suyudi] instructed [us] not to campaign the use of condoms nationally." Indonesia's largest daily newspaper, Kompas, also criticized the cancellation of the plans for Johnson's visit, predicting that it would hamper AIDS-prevention efforts and frighten away infected Indonesians. "In Indonesia, those who are HIV-positive will continue to be under the surface, hiding themselves and reluctant to show up because of this ..." said Kompas in an editorial. The country's official statistics register fewer than 200 people with HIV, but the government has predicted that it could have as many as 500,000 infected by 1995. Magic Johnson, a former NBA great who retired after announcing his HIV-positive status, was to visit Indonesia next month, where he would present exhibition basketball to generate funds for an AIDS awareness campaign in Indonesia. "R.A. Radley, 43, Dies; National AIDS Leader" New York Times (01/26/94) P. B6 R.A. Radley, a national leader in the battle against AIDS, died Friday of complications related to the disease, which he had for eight-and-a-half years. Radley, 43, was the founding executive director of the Design Industries Foundation for AIDS in 1986. That effort made him the first full-time grant-maker to AIDS services and prevention campaigns. In addition, Radley was a founding board member of the Gay Men's Health Crisis; New York City AIDS Fund; Photographers and Friends United Against AIDS; and Funders Concerned About AIDS, a group representing foundation and business executives supporting HIV and AIDS projects. Radley is survived by his parents and a brother. "AIDS--Dentist" Associated Press (01/25/94) Miami--The fourth of six AIDS patients infected by a Florida dentist on Monday settled a lawsuit with the insurance company that referred her to Dr. David Acer. The settlement, for an undisclosed amount, was reached between 19-year-old Sherry Johnson and Cigna Dental Health of Florida Inc. Johnson, a student at Indian River Community College, tested HIV-positive in December 1992. Acer and three of the six patients he infected have died, and investigators remain puzzled about precisely how the dentist transmitted the virus. Johnson's immune system is weakening, according to her attorney, Robert M. Montgomery. "Giving Food and Dignity to People With AIDS" Toronto Globe and Mail (Canada) (01/25/94) P. A5 (Picard, Andre) With the list of symptoms and related complications associated with HIV and AIDS, there are symptoms that are often ignored, such as loneliness and poverty. In Canada today, infected persons most likely are poor and, according to medical research, the poorer an HIV/AIDS patient is, the more likely it is that the patient will get sick. Fortunately, these symptoms have some life-prolonging treatments, among them good food and caring friends. Last week in Montreal, Canada's first food bank for HIV/AIDS patients opened. To date, the AIDS Montreal Direct Assistance Foundation serves about 110 regular clients, including 80 men and 30 women living on welfare or other disability pensions. Because diet is a matter of life and death to these patients, the shelves of the food bank are stocked with high-protein fresh produce and meats, as well as vitamins and supplements. The foundation also offers personal hygiene products, because experience indicates that infected people spend most of their money on treatments, and are forced to scrimp on essentials like toilet paper. Unlike other food banks, however, clients are not handed a bag of groceries, but roam the aisles stocking up on the products they need. In addition to these products, says founder Michael Parenteau, HIV/AIDS patients can collect some dignity at the foundation. "$3 Billion Planned to Help in AIDS, Population Programs" Nikkei Weekly (Japan) (01/10/94) Vol. 32, No. 1602, P. 2 Over the next six years, the Japanese government plans to spend $3 billion on education and health programs aimed at curbing the spread of AIDS in developing countries. The plan will support such initiatives as the distribution of contraceptives, health and hygiene education, and research. The grants, technical cooperation, and yen-based loans will be funded by the official development assistance budget. Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa will formally announce the details of the program on Feb. 11, when he meets with U.S. President Bill Clinton in Washington. "AIDS Digest: And in Brief..." Washington Blade (01/07/94) Vol. 25, No. 1, P. 25 Eight million HIV-positive people across the globe will contract tuberculosis before the end of the decade, and 3 million of them will die as a result of the disease, estimates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency projects that the proportion of HIV patients among worldwide TB cases will climb from 4.2 percent in 1990 to 8.4 percent in 1995 to 13.4 percent in 2000. By that time, the agency predicts, more than 1.4 million HIV-infected persons will develop TB. Sub-Saharan Africa will account for nearly 50 percent of HIV-associated TB deaths. "How Other Countries Sound Call Against AIDS" Advertising Age (01/10/94) Vol. 65, No. 2, P. 39 While the United States has recently embarked on a media advertising blitz to battle AIDS, other nations are also fighting the disease with words. In Australia, for instance, government agencies spend $10 million a year on AIDS ads. Condom marketers spend $1.5 million on TV commercials and more on point of purchase. Advertising efforts in Brazil are still a novelty there--condoms have been mentioned as a means of prevention only since December. Four national networks broadcast the current campaign. France promotes condom use and AIDS awareness via outdoor billboards. Thailand put some of its $60 million 1993 AIDS awareness, education, and prevention budget to use by enlisting Ogilvy & Mather--the same agency that developed the American advertising campaign--to produce two television spots. Another firm produced TV public service announcements in September 1992. None of the ads, however, is sexually explicit, although most feature condoms. In the United Kingdom, the current newspaper campaign portrays four pictures of a young couple--from first meeting each other to tearing off their clothes at home--with the question below each frame asking, "How far will you go before you mention condoms?" "HIV-Specific T-Helper Activity in Seronegative Health Care Workers Exposed to Contaminated Blood" Journal of the American Medical Association (01/05/94) Vol. 271, No. 1, P. 42 (Clerici, Mario et al.) Clerici et al. sought to evaluate HIV-specific cellular immunity responses in uninfected health care workers with high-risk occupational exposure to blood and body fluids of HIV-positive patients. Following such occupational exposures, the research team obtained peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PMBCs) from eight health care workers and nine control health care workers. The PMBCs from all participants indicated intact T-helper function. The researchers found that HIV-specific T-helper activity was evident in six of the eight HIV-negative health care workers who were exposed to HIV-positive body fluids. Potent T-helper activity was detectable for four to eight weeks after exposure, but was lost in patients followed up for 8 to 64 weeks. Clerici et al. conclude that exposure to HIV without evidence--through antibody or polymerase chain reaction analysis--of subsequent infection appears to result in activation of cellular immunity without activation of antibody production.