Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 09:17:34 -0500 (EST) From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" Subject: CDC AIDS DAILY SUMMARY 03/16/94 AIDS Daily Summary March 16, 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 "Needle-Exchange Bill Has New Life" Baltimore Sun (03/16/94) P. 3B; Langfitt, Frank The Maryland Senate is expected to reconsider a bill today that would allow the city of Baltimore to implement a pilot needle-exchange program. The bill was defeated Monday night, falling just one vote short of the 24 needed to pass the Senate. Beatrice Tignor, one of the senators absent at Monday's vote, is expected to vote for the measure during the second round. If enacted, the bill will permit Baltimore to open several clinics as early as this summer to accommodate up to 1,000 intravenous drug users. The city's health commissioner, Dr. Peter Bellenson, endorses the program, speculating that it could prevent as many as 13 HIV infections in the first year alone. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. says he expects the Senate to pass the bill. Similar legislation is pending in the House of Delegates. "Africa Takes Small Steps to Help 'AIDS Orphans'" Christian Science Monitor (03/16/94) P. 14; Press, Robert M. The problem of "AIDS orphans" is severe in sub-Saharan Africa, the location of more than half of all reported cases of AIDS. Outside agencies and governments are just beginning to address the needs of healthy, abandoned children, as well as those of orphans who have contracted HIV from their mothers. Public-health experts from the United States, United Nations, and Africa recommend that families taking in AIDS orphans be given money, food, and clothing; otherwise the children could end up in crowded orphanages or homeless. Some churches and other private organizations have programs to help these children. Caritas, an international Roman Catholic charity, pays rent on several houses, in which they place destitute children--some of them with AIDS--and a housemother. Often, AIDS orphans cannot afford school fees. The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) in Uganda, a private agency, provides foster parents of AIDS orphans with food, clothing, and some financial support to allow the children to attend school. While such programs are a step in the right direction, the efforts are minuscule when compared to the size of the problem. The situation has reached crisis level in countries like Uganda, where a 1989 survey identified 25,000 AIDS orphans in the Rakai district alone. And in Tanzania's most badly affected area, Kagera, UNICEF estimates that there are some 30,000 AIDS orphans. "From Defensive Strategy to Front Line in War on AIDS" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (03/16/94) P. A7; Cimons, Marlene Dr. William Paul, head of the Laboratory of Immunology at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will soon shift the focus of his career to the coordination of research and budgeting for AIDS. He will do so as director of the newly transformed Office of AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health and as NIH's associate director for AIDS Research. The Office of AIDS Research was recently granted new powers by Congress and is now expected to have a considerable say in how $1.3 billion in federal AIDS funding will be spent. The office will also develop a budget for fighting the epidemic. Paul says he will listen to all voices in the AIDS community, although he says he does not support the idea of a "Manhattan Project" for AIDS, as suggested by some activists. Instead, Paul says his approach will be to "take a broader view of what needs to be done, to plan things to avoid duplication and seize the opportunities." Many feel that Paul's previous lack of involvement in AIDS research is a good thing, and that it will allow him to assume his new duties with unclouded vision. If there are any critics of his appointment, they have thus far remained silent. "HIV Carrier Convicted of Attempted Murder" Reuters (03/15/94) A week-long trial ended Tuesday with the conviction of an HIV-positive Oregon man on charges of attempted murder, reckless endangerment, and attempted assault for having unprotected sex with three women even though he was aware of his infection. Timothy Hinkhouse, 23, was described by Deputy District Attorney David Peters as an individual who "simply doesn't care." "He's not concerned when society says, 'You can't have sex because you have a deadly disease,'" Peters said in closing arguments. Hinkhouse was also convicted in April 1992 of reckless endangerment for having unsafe sex with two other women, and for third degree rape for having sexual relations with a 15-year-old girl. None of the people with whom Hinkhouse had intercourse has tested positive for HIV, but their contact with him was too recent to rule out possible development of the disease in the future. "MicroProbe Has Antiviral Agent With HIV Application" Reuters (03/15/94) MicroProbe Corp. announced its discovery of a new class of antiviral agents observed to be highly effective against both HIV and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), which causes AIDS-related retinitis. The compounds, known as oligonucleotides, have proven highly potent in cell culture in low concentrations against both viruses. "With their combination of high potency and low toxicity ... these agents could prove extremely valuable in the treatment of AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses," said Rich Meyer, chief scientific officer of the Bothell, Wash.-based biomedical company. MicroProbe Chief Executive Harvey Hoyt added that the compounds may be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, which should help reduce costs. "Uganda to Test Possible AIDS Vaccine in 1996" Reuters (03/15/94) Uganda, with the help of the United Nations' World Health Organization, will initiate tests of a possible AIDS vaccine in 1996, health minister David Makumbi announced on Tuesday. In the first phases of the trials, the drug--manufactured by United Biomedical Inc. of the United States--will be tested on 30 HIV-negative volunteers for safety and the ability to produce antibodies against disease. WHO officials, however, have said that it is not likely that a preventive vaccine for AIDS will be available for widespread public use before the turn of the century. The agency has identified Rwanda, Thailand, and Brazil, in addition to Uganda, as suitable testing sites for candidate AIDS vaccines. "New Surgical Gown Offering Comfort and Superior Overall Viral Protection to Be Showcased at New Orleans Nurses Congress; 3M Health Care Enters Surgical Gown Market" Business Wire (03/14/95) The 1994 Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN) Congress, held March 15-17 in New Orleans, will feature the introduction of a new surgical gown that offers comfort as well as documented resistance to viral penetration. Studies point to the need for such a product. According to research, operating room personnel come in contact with patient blood and body fluids in 28 to 33 percent of all procedures, exposing them to such pathogens as HIV and hepatitis B and C. A recent New York study further suggests that health care workers are treating a significant number of infected patients. Blood from 16.7 percent of a random sample of surgical patients between ages 25 and 44 was found to be infected with at least one of the three viruses. The 3M Prevention Fabric Surgical Gown responds to these concerns as the first gown that provides documented viral protection throughout the garment fabric, not just in reinforced areas. Study participants ranked the gown among the most comfortable tested, as it allowed sweat and body heat to escape while still protecting the wearer against patient body fluids. "Health care workers told us they were reluctantly choosing between an effective viral barrier and comfort," said Jim Farr, 3M's infection control products market manager. "3M set out to deliver comfort and an overall superior viral barrier in a single gown, appropriate for any procedure." "HIV From Transfusion Now Very Rare" American Medical News (03/07/94) Vol. 37, No. 9, P. 20; Teague, Bill T. Referring to the Jan. 17 issue of American Medical News, Bill T. Teague recalls that an "AIDS snapshot" indicating "means of exposure" showed that 5,984 HIV cases were attributable to blood transfusion, blood components, or tissue. Teague, president of The Blood Center in Houston, Tx., says it is important when presenting such facts to note that the overwhelming majority of these cases occurred before the spring of 1985. Today, many patients are terrified of accepting a transfusion because they believe that all blood is contaminated with HIV. Also, many doctors are not knowledgeable about the facts of AIDS transmission by blood transfusion since the blood supply began being tested for HIV in 1985. Since then, only about 20 AIDS cases have resulted from transfusions. "CDC Must Take Stronger Lead in Developing Trust, Cooperation" AIDS Alert (02/94) Vol. 9, No. 2, P. 22 In an external review of the efforts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a subcommittee on developing partnerships for HIV prevention concluded that the federal health agency needs stronger leadership, improved communication, and a more equitable funding process to form the partnerships needed to control the AIDS epidemic. "Few nongovernmental groups seem to understand what the CDC is, or how the overall policy and funding mechanism of government works," says the report. "For many organizations, the CDC is 'The Government' whose purpose it is to make the local organizations' job tougher." Despite the fact that the CDC has been steadily increasing funds to nongovernmental and community-based organizations, the subcommittee concludes that the current "partnerships" are not successful, or simply do not exist. The ones that do exist fail for a variety of reasons, including poor communication, poor or non-existent technical assistance, weak or inappropriate evaluation procedures, lack of trust and cultural appropriateness, unclear expectations and goals, and competition for few resources. "The Manhattan Project: It's A Bomb" Advocate (03/08/94) No. 650, P. 5; Moore, John P. Some prominent AIDS activists have endorsed an AIDS "Manhattan Project" to be modeled after wartime work on the atom bomb. But the Manhattan Project in this form is a flawed, potentially counterproductive concept, says research scientist John P. Moore, staff investigator at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York City. The vast majority of AIDS researchers would agree with him, Moore assures. Some activists suggest that AIDS researchers be moved to Army barracks outside of the nation's capital so as to focus their complete attention on critical research. Moore notes, however, that today's technology allows scientists to collaborate without being at the same site. More importantly, he declares, centralization of research is not progress and is, in fact, contrary to the way in which all great scientific discoveries have been made. Applying office-management strategies to a laboratory situation reflects profound ignorance of scientific research, he says. Moore predicts that a Manhattan Project would divert funds from the AIDS budget, and to a group of scientists who would perform research they would have conducted anyway. Lastly, Moore contends that AIDS research does not have the necessary leadership to make a Manhattan Project succeed. The only way in which such a project deserves support is as a phrase used to symbolize guided national research efforts, Moore concludes.