Date: Thu, 14 Jul 1994 09:21:31 -0400 (EDT) From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" AIDS Daily Summary July 14, 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 ************************************************************ "A Stretch of Hope for Those With HIV" "Learning About AIDS By Helping" "Man With AIDS Sues Airline" "Studds Challenges US Report of Progress on HIV" "Mixed Messages Sent Over HIV-Panel Trip" "Hemophiliac Wins AIDS Suit" "Expanding the AIDS Arsenal" "Scientists Say HIV and Herpes May Be Linked" ************************************************************ "A Stretch of Hope for Those With HIV" Washington Post (07/14/94) P. D.C. 2; Young, Vincent In the nation's capital, where AIDS is the leading cause of death among African-American men between the ages of 25 and 44, the 800 block of L St. SE is hailed as an AIDS-service corridor. The directors of the six HIV/AIDS organizations located in the Washington, D.C., neighborhood near the Navy Yard say they began to mobilize against the deadly disease in the mid-1980s. When government help eluded them and churches condemned them, they joined new organizations or created their own. Now, the strip of service groups is a source of information about AIDS prevention, housing, nutrition, grant applications, fund-raising, and activism. The corridor is home to the Inner City AIDS Network, an education service; the National Women's HIV/AIDS Project, which targets women for education; Safe Haven Outreach Ministry Inc., a shelter for AIDS patients; Us Helping Us, a holistic support group; URBAN Inc., which provides AIDS-ravaged communities with technical assistance, research, and program development; and Life Link, which offers peer counseling and a speakers' bureau. The organizations work closely together, according to Gregory Hutchings, director of Life Link. "Learning About AIDS By Helping" Philadelphia Inquirer (07/14/94) P. B1; Collins, Huntly Local Philadelphia educators attending a three-day workshop on AIDS sponsored by Drexel University not only listen to lectures on the topic, but gain hands-on experience as volunteers for local AIDS service organizations. For example, workshop participant Judy Gerber--a nurse--delivered a free lunch from local group MANNA to a disabled AIDS patient. The seminar was coordinated by Drexel molecular biologist Gail Dinter-Gottlieb, who has for the past four years instructed a course known as AIDS 101. Gottlieb says she is helping other teachers do the same by demonstrating to them how AIDS impacts all aspects of their students' lives. "Man With AIDS Sues Airline" Boston Globe (07/13/94) P. 43 Richard Cloutier of New Hampshire is suing Delta Airlines, alleging that he was removed from a June 11 flight because he had AIDS. Cloutier, 30, recalls being informed by a Delta employee that he could not remain on the plane unless he covered his hands and arms, which were covered with warts and scabs. The credit investigator from Dover, N.H., then told the agent that he was HIV-positive, and was escorted from the plane. He returned with a long-sleeve shirt to cover his arms, according to the complaint, but discovered that the plane had already departed. The airline did, however, transport him to his Atlanta destination on another flight 20 minutes later. Delta explained that the agent did not want Cloutier's open sores to contaminate blankets, pillows, or the personal belongings of other passengers, and that the plaintiff was not asked--but volunteered--his HIV status. In May, Delta was ordered to pay a terminated employee $275,000 for placing his name on a list of workers suspected of being HIV-positive. "Studds Challenges US Report of Progress on HIV" Boston Globe (07/13/94) P. 13 Rep. Gerry Studds (D.-Mass.) challenged reports by the government's top health officials that advances have been made in preventing HIV infection. Officials at Tuesday's hearing of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health estimated that 800,000 to 1 million Americans are HIV-positive. Dr. David Satcher, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggested that because the numbers are not rising, progress has been made through community efforts. "We happen to believe that we're headed in the right direction," he said. Studds argued that "every number I've ever seen, every community that we're concerned about, has increased." Dr. Philip Lee, director of the Public Health Service and assistant secretary for health, noted that HIV infection has declined among older homosexuals. The drop in HIV infection among adult gays, however, has been countered by an increase among young people, said Studds. He concluded that "we don't have a clue, basically." "Mixed Messages Sent Over HIV-Panel Trip" Richmond Times-Dispatch (07/13/94) P. B1; Billingsley, Anna Barron Russell C. Webb Jr., co-chair of a Virginia HIV prevention committee, was told to return immediately from meetings sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. He then received permission from Dr. Donald Stern, the state's new acting health commissioner, to stay and attend the panel discussions held as a platform for community-based HIV prevention committees nationwide to exchange information. Stern called the confusion "a simple administrative decision to give me more time to learn about the committee," whose existence he had only recently discovered. But some AIDS service representatives are concerned that the mix-up projects a more ominous message: that federal funding for HIV prevention and education programs in Virginia may be compromised. To qualify for federal funds for HIV/AIDS prevention programs, the CDC requires that states have community-based committees. The function of these committees, explains Elaine Martin of the state Department of Health, is to compose a list of funding priorities--which supposedly directs the department when it writes grants for federal money. "Hemophiliac Wins AIDS Suit" National Law Journal (07/11/94) Vol. 16, No. 45, P. A8 In a precedent-setting ruling, the American Association of Blood Banks was ordered to pay $570,000 to 67-year-old William Snyder, who contracted AIDS through a transfusion in 1984. While an AIDS test did not become available until 1985, Snyder's attorney argued that the association knew as early as 1983 of a "surrogate test" for a hepatitis strain that could have effectively screened for the deadly, unknown virus that would later be identified as HIV. The agency, which establishes standards for the nation's blood supply, recommended against that test in January 1983. "Expanding the AIDS Arsenal" U.S. News & World Report (07/11/94) Vol. 117, No. 2, P. 67; Brink, Susan; Smith, Anne Kates; Rubin, Rita The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a fourth drug to fight HIV infection. AIDS patients who cannot tolerate or no longer benefit from AZT, ddI, or ddC will now be able to take Stavudine, or D4T, which belongs to the same class of drugs as the other three. Stavudine does not cause anemia--one of the most serious side effects of AZT use--but it does have its disadvantages. Some patients experienced peripheral neuropathy, or pain, tingling, or numbness of the hands and feet. Stavudine, which will be sold under the name Zerit by Bristol-Myers Squibb, should be available by prescription sometime this month. The daily wholesale cost will be $6.22, roughly the same as that of AZT, and the manufacturer will help financially strapped patients find funding, or receive the drug free of charge. "Scientists Say HIV and Herpes May Be Linked" Washington Blade (07/08/94) P. 27; van Hertum, Aras Two clinical trials indicating that HIV patients who take both AZT and the herpes drug acyclovir have longer survival rates than those who take only AZT has renewed interest in an early theory that herpes viruses act as "co-factors" in HIV infection and stimulate the spread of the virus in the body. "Herpes viruses may drive the replication of HIV, while simultaneously taking advantage of immune system damage to cause opportunistic infections," explained British researcher Dr. Paul Griffiths. Scientists believe that cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr Virus (EPV) are two infections most likely to act as co-factors, while herpes simplex and herpes zoster are unlikely to serve in that function.