Date: Tue, 15 Nov 1994 09:04:36 -0500 (EST) From: "JOHN FANNING, CDC NAC" AIDS Daily Summary November 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 ************************************************************ "Trauma Patients Bring Infections to Hospital" "Across the USA: Idaho/New York/South Dakota" "AIDS Researcher Suspended by School" "Across the USA: Tennessee" "Menino Visits Site of AIDS House" "AIDS Threatens African Food Supplies--U.N. Agency" "Cryopharm Reports Viral Inactivation of Cytomegalovirus in Transfused Blood; Study Results Presented at 47th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Blood Banks" "Ruling Allows Red Cross to Name Infected Donors" "HIV Infection among Women in Prison: An Assessment of Risk Factors Using a Nonnominal Methodology" Streetbeat: ACT UP Dead Again?" ************************************************************ "Trauma Patients Bring Infections to Hospital" Washington Post (Health) (11/15/94) P. 5; Colburn, Don A study of almost 1,000 patients admitted to a Baltimore, Md., trauma center found that one in four patients had a serious infection that could be transmitted through blood. The findings are "more alarming than reassuring" for health care professionals who may come in contact with a trauma patient's blood, said Ellis Caplan, chief of infectious diseases at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. Over a 15-week period last year, the patients were anonymously tested for exposure to HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and syphilis. Twenty-six percent showed evidence of infection of at least one of the four blood-borne infections. A total of 36 tested HIV-positive, 193 tested positive for hepatitis B, 146 for hepatitis C, and 16 were positive for syphilis. Caplan also said that "there's a much higher risk of the doctors catching it from the patients than patients catching it from the doctors." The Maryland Shock Trauma Center staff uses masks, fluid-proof Gore-Tex gowns and booties, and an intravenous system that minimizes the amount of needles used. "Across the USA: Idaho/New York/South Dakota" USA Today (11/15/94) P. 10A For the first time in Idaho, the Names Project AIDS Memorial quilt will be displayed. Two sections of the quilt will be exhibited at the College of Southern Idaho in December. In other AIDS news, groups that care for people with AIDS are circulating a petition to ask for a meeting with New York Gov.-elect George Pataki. The organizations are concerned because Pataki remained silent about AIDS issues during the campaign. Also, a University of South Dakota student is trying to create a state chapter of the Cannabis Action Network. The organization, which is trying to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, says that the drug can help people with cancer, glaucoma, and AIDS. "AIDS Researcher Suspended by School" Chicago Tribune (11/14/94) P. 1-3 Oakland University professor E. Rasul Chaudhry was suspended without pay for one year after he was found guilty of scientific and professional misconduct for violating safety requirements during HIV experiments in 1992. Many students had been working in Chaudhry's lab and were unaware of the potential dangers. A university investigation committee found evidence of three violations. Chaudhry's work, including his studies of the effect of HIV on wastewater, will be suspended at least until May 1996. "Across the USA: Tennessee" USA Today (11/14/94) P. 8A A Tennessee nurse who was stuck with an AIDS-exposed needle in 1993 will receive $88,992 as well as all medical expenses. The judge ruled that even though the former Johnson City Medical Center nurse is not HIV-positive, she has been permanently disabled by post-trauma stress. "Menino Visits Site of AIDS House" Boston Globe (11/14/94) P. 24 Boston Mayor Menino broke ground Sunday on a building in Beacon Hill that will house people with HIV. The $2.5 million building will consist of 20 units. "AIDS Threatens African Food Supplies--U.N. Agency" Reuters (11/14/94); Haller, Vera The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that the AIDS epidemic poses a threat to Africa's food supply. The FAO's annual State of Food and Agriculture report states that AIDS "has significant, long-term socio-economic implications on food security, agricultural productivity and national economies." The report says that AIDS has the potential to eliminate much of sub-Saharan Africa's work force. At the end of 1993, two-thirds of HIV carriers were believed to be in sub-Saharan Africa--a region which accounts for 10 percent of the world's population. Studies in Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia showed that farmers who were faced with fewer workers were delaying mulching and weeding and were producing poorer crops as a result. It is estimated that 50 percent of the population in Uganda over the age of 15 is infected with HIV and that "as the death toll mounts, each productive person becomes responsible for a higher number of dependents." The FAO report recommends that the loss in workforce productivity be balanced by international aid and government investment to modernize production methods. "Cryopharm Reports Viral Inactivation of Cytomegalovirus in Transfused Blood; Study Results Presented at 47th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Blood Banks" Business Wire (11/14/94) Cryopharm Corp. presented preclinical data Monday that showed that its photosensitizer, in conjunction with ultraviolet-A light (UVA), can inactivate cytomegalovirus (CMV), while maintaining the in vitro properties of platelets. Transfusion-related CMV infection can lead to complications including blindness and pneumonia in AIDS patients. The data showed that the UVA phototreatments were successfully applied to increase the safety of donated blood. The study used a compound derived from a family of plant compounds called psoralens, currently used to treat some skin disorders and cancers. The compound was engineered to minimize any negative reactions between blood cells and plasma proteins. CryopharmUS compound is unique in that it can selectively destroy high levels of contaminating viruses without injuring delicate blood cells and proteins. The study also confirmed previous results demonstrating Cryopharm's ability to inactivate HIV-1. "Ruling Allows Red Cross to Name Infected Donors" Toronto Globe and Mail (11/11/94) P. A6; Claridge, Thomas A judge ruled Thursday to allow the Canadian Red Cross (CRC) to give the names of HIV-infected blood donors to public health officials. Mr. Justice Douglas Carruthers, who said the case was about "the health and well-being of our society," rejected the claim that the release of the donors' identities would violate their privacy rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He also rejected arguments that releasing the donors' names amounted to mandatory HIV testing. When the donors gave their blood 10 years ago, Judge Carruthers said, they implicitly agreed to have their blood tested for whatever the CRC deemed necessary. The Canadian AIDS Society will appeal the decision. A lawyer for the Society said he hopes that the appeal will prevent the CRC from releasing the names until after the appeal is heard. "HIV Infection among Women in Prison: An Assessment of Risk Factors Using a Nonnominal Methodology" American Journal of Public Health (10/94) Vo. 84, No. 10, P. 1637; Hankins, Catherine A.; Gendron, Sylvie; Handley, Margaret A. et al A nonnominal study--one that details previous risk behaviors--was conducted in Quebec to determine the relative contributions of needle use practices and sexual behaviors to HIV- antibody seropositivity among female prison inmates. Of the 394 incarcerated women studied, 6.9 percent tested positive for HIV. Totals of 13 percent and 12.9 percent HIV-seropositivity were found in women who used intravenous drugs or whose primary source of income was prostitution, respectively. The analysis was later limited to injection drug users because of their high numbers among seropositive women. HIV seropositivity among female intravenous drug users was predicted by "subject awareness of previous sexual or needle contact with a person with HIV infection," "self-reported genital herpes," and "having had a regular sexual partner since 1979 who ever injected drugs." The prediction variables for intravenous drug users were determined to be significantly associated with the probability of HIV-1 infection. The researchers concluded that nonnominal testing is an ethical option to mandatory and anonymous testing among the incarcerated. "Streetbeat: ACT UP Dead Again?" Village Voice (11/01/94) Vol. 39, No. 44, P. 19; Schoofs, Mark ACT UP, the AIDS activism group, is facing serious problems. There has been a shift from fighting for friends or oneself to an abstract end to the disease. Since the late 1980s, membership has diminished, fundraising has decreased, and leaders of the group have either died or gone to other organizations. ACT UP's signature street protests occur less frequently now and draw smaller crowds. Members say that the group has fragmented into small, increasingly independent committees. Recently, a four-hour "emergency meeting" was held to reevaluate the organization's goal and structure. Many of the 75 participants, including convener Andrew Velez, say they attended the meeting just to see whether they should stay active in the group. The issues are now more complex than they were when ACT UP was founded during the Reagan era. Accelerated approval for experimental drugs, for example, was recently criticized by activists--including ACT UP--for undermining medical research. Topics discussed at the meeting included ways to attract new members, to integrate the work of the committees, to return the organization to its roots, and to intensify its efforts to "get drugs into bodies."