Date: Wed, 16 Nov 1994 09:04:14 -0500 (EST)
From: "JOHN FANNING, CDC NAC" <CLEARINGHOUS@delphi.com>
Subject: CDC AIDS DAILY SUMMARY 11/16/94.
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                     AIDS Daily Summary
                      November 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 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
 
 
************************************************************
"Addressing AIDS with Bop & Hop"
"Needle Exchanges Prove Their Worth"
"Yes--In Our Back Yard"
"Charter Cited in Appeal of Ruling on Tainted-Blood Donors"
"Long-Isolated Albania Fights Infectious-Disease 'Imports'"
"Amid Tensions, Group Evokes Love, Ire"
"Reducing the Risk of Maternal-Infant Transmission of HIV: a Door
is Opened"
"Maternal Transmission and Viral Load"
"Bookshelf: HIV Infection"
"Grantwatch: Uncharted Territory: A Retrospective on MAFC"
***********************************************************
 
"Addressing AIDS with Bop & Hop"
Washington Post (11/16/94) P. B7;  Harrington, Richard
     Just after "Red Hot + Country" was released, comes "Stolen 
Moments: Red Hot + Cool."  It is the fifth in a series of AIDS 
consciousness/fund-raising albums.  While "Red Hot + Country" is 
geared to rural whites--who represent one of the fastest growing 
AIDS populations--"Stolen Moments" is aimed at urban minorities. 
"Stolen Moments" combines hip-hop-meets-jazz and acid jazz in a 
collection that includes Donald Starr, Guru of Gangstarr, and 
Digable Planets.    Michael Franti, for example, sings, "How am I
going to live my life if I'm positive/ Things are going to be 
negative," in a cut titled "Positive".  The song addresses the 
difficulty of committing to an HIV test and the anxiety of 
waiting for the results.
      
"Needle Exchanges Prove Their Worth"
Chicago Tribune (11/15/94) P. 1-14
     As few modern diseases have, AIDS has mobilized American society,
write the Chicago Tribune editors.  One issue that the country 
has been reluctant to deal with is that 25 percent of AIDS 
patients become infected through intravenous drug use.  Although 
needle-exchange programs were suggested long ago, the war on 
drugs conflicted with this effort.  People insisted that the 
programs would condone drug use and do little to slow the 
epidemic.  For several years now, both legal and illegal 
needle-exchanges have been operating in the United States and 
have proven their success.  In a study of drug addicts in New 
York City, for instance, the rate of infection is about 5 percent
each year.  The rate for participants in the needle-exchange 
program fell to 2 percent.  Their use of dirty syringes also 
dropped dramatically.  Last year, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) found that needle-exchange programs do not 
encourage more drug use or addicts and that they do decrease 
needle-sharing.  The CDC report concluded that the government 
should lift its ban on the use of federal funds for needle 
programs and states with laws forbidding possession and 
over-the-counter sales of syringes should revoke them.  The cost 
of the policies are too high to let them remain.
      
"Yes--In Our Back Yard"
Boston Globe (11/15/94) P. 23;  Carroll, James
     On Sunday, ground was broken for the construction of housing for 
people with AIDS in Beacon Hill, Mass.  Many communities--out of 
fear, ignorance, and denial--have tried to prevent AIDS patients 
from living amongst them.  Boston, however, leads the nation in 
providing housing options for people with AIDS.  Larry Kessler, 
head of the AIDS Action Committee, said that despite worry and 
opposition, the feeling after an AIDS residence opening is that 
neighbors in Boston are supportive.  At the groundbreaking, a 
resident of the community welcomed the new neighbors.  She also 
described the four-year process in which many organizations 
worked together to realize a project that began with people 
living in the neighborhood itself.
      
"Charter Cited in Appeal of Ruling on Tainted-Blood Donors"
Toronto Globe and Mail (11/15/94) P. A7;  Downey, Donn
     In its application to appeal a ruling that permits the release 
the names of HIV-infected blood donors, the Canadian AIDS Society
cites the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as common law. 
Judge Carruthers "erred in failing to uphold the common-law 
rights of the donors to their bodily integrity and privacy," the 
application states.  The society wants a permanent injunction to 
prohibit the Canadian Red Cross (CRC) from notifying donors who 
tested HIV-positive 10 years ago unless they asked for the 
results.  While the AIDS society said that the release of names 
amounted to mandatory testing, Judge Carruthers said that the 
donors gave implicit consent for whatever tests the CRC deemed 
necessary.  The AIDS society says that the judge erred in finding
that consent for blood testing for some purposes implied consent 
for HIV testing.
      
"Long-Isolated Albania Fights Infectious-Disease 'Imports'"
Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (11/14/94) P. A3;  
Williams, Carol J.
     International agencies, as well as neighboring countries who fear
that Albania's various epidemics could spread, are helping the 
country fight infectious diseases.  Also with the help of foreign
agencies, Albania has launched a massive AIDS awareness campaign.
The 500,000 migrant workers who illegally enter the country from 
Greece and Italy are believed to be the source of a sudden 
outburst of AIDS.  There have been 10 HIV cases identified in 
less than a year and three Albanians are already sick from the 
virus.  "The cases we've identified so far are just the tip of 
the iceberg....This country had no sex education of any shape or 
kind and still doesn't," said Alireza Mahallati, the local UNICEF
director.  Many of the migrant workers become sexually involved 
with a high-risk partner outside of Albania and spread the 
disease when they return to their girlfriends or wives back home.
Contraceptives are now available, although their high cost is 
prohibitive and many rural Albanians do not understand them.  
Birth control was banned under the Communist rule that lasted 
until late 1990.
      
"Amid Tensions, Group Evokes Love, Ire"
Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (11/14/94) P. B1;  Boxall, 
Bettina
     AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) represents the face of AIDS 
charities to much of the Southern California public.  In size and
budget, APLA is second only to New York's Gay Men's Health 
Crisis.  Amidst cries from some of a lack of concern for staff 
and clients, APLA has instituted changes including appointing a 
new executive director, reworking some programs, and trying to 
mend relations with other AIDS agencies.  The agency is also 
trying to adjust to the growth that resulted in a $20 million 
budget and more than 4,000 clients.  Despite criticism, however, 
there are many who call APLA their salvation.  Paul Gronenberg, 
for example, has benefited greatly from APLA's food bank, its 
client line for advice on government and private programs, its 
support group, and its dental clinic--all provided at no cost to 
him.
      
"Reducing the Risk of Maternal-Infant Transmission of HIV: a Door
is Opened"
New England Journal of Medicine (11/03/94) Vol. 331, No. 18, P. 
1222;  Rogers, Martha F.;  Jaffe, Harold W.
     The discovery that zidovudine (AZT) reduces maternal-infant 
transmission is an important advance in HIV prevention, but the 
results raise many questions.  First, it is not known how AZT 
reduces the risk of transmission, so other strategies that work 
in the same way could potentially be effective too.  In addition,
some question the effectiveness of the AZT therapy in women whose
clinical characteristics differ from those in the trial and the 
long-term effects of AZT-exposure during pregnancy.   There is 
also a question of counseling for women who receive AZT during 
pregnancy.  Health care professionals need to ensure that women 
know that it is not 100 percent effective in preventing the risk 
of transmission of HIV.  Finally, the issue of testing is raised 
because if women do not know they are HIV-infected, they cannot 
avail themselves of AZT therapy.  Guidelines on HIV counseling 
and testing of pregnant women are currently being developed by 
the Public Health Service.  The general opinion, however, is that
there should be routine HIV counseling and testing for all 
pregnant women, but it is emphasized that all testing should be 
voluntary.
      
"Maternal Transmission and Viral Load"
AIDS Treatment News (10/21/94) No. 209, P. 6
     A study directed by Barbara Weiser and Harold Burger, 
co-directors of HIV research at the New York State Department of 
Health's Wadsworth Center, measured the plasma HIV RNA levels in 
27 HIV-infected mothers at the time of delivery.  Of the 11 
mothers with the highest HIV RNA levels, eight transmitted HIV to
their infants.  None of the other 16 mothers transmitted HIV.  
The researchers had previously published a paper in which they 
used quantitative viral cultures to measure viral load in the 
mothers' blood.  They found that one mother with a low level and 
three with  mid-range levels (in the viral culture tests) had 
high levels of HIV RNA and transmitted HIV.  "These data identify
HIV-1 plasma RNA level as a major determinant of mother-to-child 
transmission and provide a strong scientific rationale for 
implementing multiple strategies to interrupt transmission by 
reducing viral load," the researchers concluded.
      
"Bookshelf: HIV Infection"
Lancet (10/29/94) Vol. 344, No. 8931, P. 1213;  Nguyen, tran Hien
     "Clinical Manifestations in Adults" is an inexpensive teaching 
aid consisting of set of 24 clinical slides.   It is intended for
use by doctors who care for HIV-infected patients in Asian and 
Pacific regions and those who teach others about HIV.  The slides
cover many aspects of HIV and AIDS, but not prevention strategies
and counseling.  The slides include pictures of lesions of 
Kaposi's sarcoma, Pneumocystitis carinii pneumonia, fungal nail 
infection, and Bell's palsy.  The text that accompanies each 
slide offers questions, answers, and up-to-date information.  
Some weak aspects of the slides are the confusion between some 
pictures and text and the lack of contrast between the background
and the text.
      
"Grantwatch: Uncharted Territory: A Retrospective on MAFC"
Health Affairs (Fall 1994) Vol. 13, No. 4, P. 178
     In June, the Minnesota AIDS Funding Consortium, a six-year 
project started in 1988 to raise funds from 35 local sources, 
released its final report.  "Uncharted Territory: A Retrospective
on MAFC" describes four "emerging principles" that directed its 
plans as well as its lessons learned and future challenges--which
include policy change as part of a "long-term response to HIV."  
MAFC stresses the importance of advocacy in effective service 
delivery and in improving the quality of life for HIV-infected 
people.