Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 09:09:33 -0400 (EDT) From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" AIDS Daily Summary July 15, 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 ************************************************************ "Herpes Drug Can Raise AIDS Patients' Life Expectancy, Hopkins Team Says" "TV Preview: Women and AIDS" "Two Foreigners to Cycle Across Japan for AIDS" "AIDS Programs OK'd in Fairfax Schools" "AIDS Risk Not Understood" "AIDS, War a Deadly Mix in Rwanda" "No News on Sunday" "The Fight Against AIDS Owes Much to Stonewall" ************************************************************ "Herpes Drug Can Raise AIDS Patients' Life Expectancy, Hopkins Team Says" Baltimore Sun (07/15/94) P. 7A; Selby, Holly The anti-herpes drug acyclovir, used in combination with the anti-viral drug AZT, can prolong the life of end-stage AIDS patients by as much as 1-1/2 years, according to a Johns Hopkins University study. The results confirm data from a European clinical trial, as well as one conducted in Australia, notes Dr. Neil Graham, one of the study's authors. In both laboratory studies and human clinical trials, herpes simplex appears to worsen HIV infection. Acyclovir may benefit AIDS patients by halting this effect, Graham says. The study also indicates that 600 to 800 milligrams per day of acyclovir is beneficial to AIDS patients--a dose significantly lower than previously thought. The study does not determine whether the anti-herpes agent would help AIDS patients who are unable to tolerate AZT. "TV Preview: Women and AIDS" Washington Post (07/15/94) P. B1; Rovner, Sandy PBS will tackle the issue of women, sex, and AIDS when it airs "The Heart of the Matter" at 10 p.m. tonight. The documentary follows Janice Jirau, an African-American woman with AIDS who contracted HIV from her husband even though they both were aware that he had the disease. The film captures her as she comes to terms with her condition, finds comfort in the church, speaks before the Presidential AIDS Commission, and learns too late the lessons that might have spared her. Also featured is Audrey Johnson, a pediatric AIDS nurse and pastor of the New Orleans church where Jirau discovers solace. Johnson repeatedly drives home the message that pressure on young people to have sex is more telling than familial and religious endorsement of abstinence. The documentary also stresses that the problem will not disappear. HIV is spreading more rapidly among women than any other segment of the population. By the turn of the century, it is estimated that 20 million women around the globe will be infected. Jirau's story, as well as those of two other HIV-positive women, help relay the film's point--that education is required for those who are not infected, and compassion is needed for those who are. "Two Foreigners to Cycle Across Japan for AIDS" Reuters (07/15/94) Rob McMullan, a Canadian, and Philip Byrnes, an Australian, today embarked on a three-month trek across Japan to raise money for local AIDS research. The two Westerners will jog the first few miles, then ride bicycles for the rest of the journey across all four of the country's main islands. Their goal is to collect as much as $125 million, the total that would be raised if each of Japan's 123 million people donated 100 yen. McMullan and Byrnes said they also hope to erase the commonly held misconception among the Japanese that AIDS is primarily a disease that affects foreigners. "AIDS Programs OK'd in Fairfax Schools" Washington Times (07/15/94) P. C11; Koklanaris, Maria The Fairfax County School Board in Virginia voted last night to continue one AIDS program, and instituted two new ones. "Face to Face," a program in which young people with HIV/AIDS speak directly to students, will remain an optional element of the district's AIDS education curriculum. The board also added a play, called "Secrets," and "Facing Reality in the Age of AIDS," a presentation by a New Hampshire couple who have abstained from all sexual activity since the husband contracted HIV. "AIDS Risk Not Understood" United Press International (07/14/94); Gibian, Jonathan Jay Most people are not aware that the risk of contracting AIDS increases exponentially with each new sexual partner, according to a study by Ohio State University researchers. The study examines what the concept of "phantom" sex partners really means, compared to what people think it means. OSU psychologist and study co-author Laura Brannon said 173 adults were asked how many possible HIV carriers they would be exposed to if they had nine sexual partners, and each partner also had nine partners. The average guess was 90, but the correct figure is 511. "People tend to view the concept in a very simplistic manner," said Brannon. "They believe if they go from three to six sex partners, they've doubled their exposure. Actually, it's much more than that." As a result of this misunderstanding, people tend to significantly underestimate the dangers to which they are exposed. The study demonstrates just how naive people are about their AIDS risk, Brannon concludes. "AIDS, War a Deadly Mix in Rwanda" Houston Chronicle (07/14/94) P. 20A; Fritz, Mark Even before it erupted into an orgy of rape and killing, the African nation of Rwanda was identified as one of the worst AIDS-ravaged countries in the world. Now, it is even worse, and few experts challenge the belief of doctors working in Rwanda and other war-torn African states that these conflicts have contributed to the spread of AIDS in Africa over the past two decades. Sexual activity increases in refugee camps, where thousands of different population groups are crammed in squalor, explain international health experts. In addition, invading soldiers rape women in conquered areas, and members of peacekeeping forces frequently engage in consensual sex with locals. Also, health services are generally crippled during conflict, and doctors sometimes are forced to take a chance that blood used in transfusions is not contaminated. Finally, say health experts, the multitudes of people killed or wounded with machetes guarantee that any single such weapon was drenched with the blood of several people at once. There is also a feeling that AIDS prevention is pointless, given the more pressing concerns of war, scarcity of food, and immediate diseases such as cholera and dysentery. "No News on Sunday" Nature (07/07/94) Vol. 370, No. 6484, P. 1 A series of new developments suggests that the London Sunday Times appears to have quieted its controversial campaign endorsing the belief that HIV does not have a causal role in the development of AIDS. The paper's editor, Andrew Neil, is now with Fox Television in the United States, and Neville Hodgkinson, the author of most of the articles that have for the past two years argued the unimportance and/or irrelevance of HIV, has also left the Times. Acting editor John Witherow defends the publication's coverage on the subject, and still insists that the idea that HIV causes AIDS does not conform to the facts. It is unlikely, however, that anyone would be willing to take Hodgkinson's place in lauding the Duesberg theories. Therefore, the scientific journal Nature will cease coverage of the Sunday Times' treatment of HIV, "relieving readers of a degree of boredom." "The Fight Against AIDS Owes Much to Stonewall" Washington Blade (07/08/94) Vol. 25, No. 28, P. 37; Gebbie, Kristine National AIDS policy coordinator Kristine Gebbie says America should be thankful for Stonewall, five days of riots in which homosexuals rebelled against harassment routinely doled out because of their sexual preferences. The solidarity in fighting ignorant discrimination and exclusion helped prepare the gay community for the fight against AIDS, says Gebbie. The gay community was the first to recognize the urgency of the disease and mobilize against it. Efforts to educate, help care for the infected, and lobby for better treatments and vaccines effectively reduced the rate of new infections among gay men and saved innumerable lives. Infection continues to spread, however, among younger gay and bisexual men, Gebbie notes. Young homosexuals suffer from isolation and low self-esteem, which translates into risky behaviors such as promiscuity, unsafe sex, and drug and alcohol abuse. Gebbie is optimistic that the recent Stonewall 25-year commemoration boosted the esteem of many lesbians, gays, and bisexuals and encouraged them to not place themselves at risk for HIV infection.