Date: Tue, 11 Oct 1994 08:58:31 -0400 (EDT) From: "JOHN FANNING, CDC NAC" Subject: CDC AIDS DAILY SUMMARY 10/11/94. AIDS Daily Summary October 11, 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 ************************************************************ "Children's Hospital to Join Study of Teens with HIV" "Annual Walk to Raise Funds to Fight AIDS This Sunday" "Elton John AIDS Charity Boosted by Disney Film" "Mitterand Hat Tops Crawford Bikini at AIDS Sale" "Red Cross Faces Another Suit Over HIV Transfusions" "Injection Drug Users' Needle-Cleaning Practices" "Behavior Change" "Asian Briefs: WHO Warns Conference of AIDS Threat" "Medical Briefs: Stavudine Approved" "AIDS: Case: Jeanne v. The Hawkes Hospital of Mt. Carmel" ************************************************************ "Children's Hospital to Join Study of Teens with HIV" Philadelphia Inquirer (10/11/94) P. B2 The federal government has granted Children's Hospital of Philadelphia $500,000 to study teenagers with HIV, and teenagers in danger of becoming infected with the virus. Children's Hospital, the first in the country to receive a federal grant that targets teens with HIV, is one of a dozen locations across the country that will be funded under the federal program. "Annual Walk to Raise Funds to Fight AIDS This Sunday" Philadelphia Inquirer (10/11/94) P. B2 A 12-kilometer AIDS fund-raising walk will be held in Philadelphia on Sunday, Oct. 16. Organizers of the eighth annual "From All Walks of Life" event hope to raise $850,000 for 43 regional AIDS organizations. More than 14,000 walkers participated last year, raising $625,000. "Elton John AIDS Charity Boosted by Disney Film" Reuters (10/07/94) A total of $238,000 was raised at the London premiere of the Walt Disney movie "The Lion King" for the AIDS Foundation created by singer Elton John. "Mitterand Hat Tops Crawford Bikini at AIDS Sale" Reuters (10/06/94); Yanowitch, Lee More than $190,000 was raised last Wednesday at a Paris auction of celebrity paraphernalia to benefit the fight against AIDS. The black felt hat of French President Francois Mitterrand--which raised $6,600--and model Cindy Crawford's autographed bikini--which sold for $1,320--were among the items auctioned. Attendance is high at AIDS benefits in France, which has the most AIDS cases of any European country, for members of the arts and entertainment world, where many lives have been claimed by the disease. "Red Cross Faces Another Suit Over HIV Transfusions" Washington Business Journal (09/30/94-10/06/94) Vol. 13, No. 20, P. 17; Lombardo, John The American Red Cross is being sued for $10 million by a general practitioner who received a blood transfusion with HIV-tainted blood. Robert Baxter, who now has full-blown AIDS, had a successful kidney operation at the University of Virginia Medical Center in 1984. He was unaware of any problems until he received a letter in 1992 from the Washington, D.C.-based Red Cross informing him that the blood he had received was HIV-infected. Baxter now alleges that the Red Cross' negligence led to his infection with HIV. In defense, the Red Cross claims there was a lack of available HIV tests in 1984--Red Cross attorneys say that the current AIDS antibody test, currently used on all donors, was not developed until after 1984. Although the Red Cross would not specify the exact number, a Washington, D.C., attorney said that there are 12 similar cases currently pending in the District. "Injection Drug Users' Needle-Cleaning Practices" American Journal of Public Health (09/94) Vol. 84, No. 9, P. 1523; Siegal, Harvey A.; Carlson, Robert G.; Falck, Russel et al The effectiveness of bleach in inactivating HIV in drug users' injection equipment is in question. In a letter to the editor published in the American Journal of Public Health, Harvey Siegal et al respond to the report by Shapshak and his colleagues that a minimum of 30 seconds in bleach is needed for sufficient cleaning of the equipment. Through their own observations of 77 intravenous drug users, Siegal et al noted a great disparity in the amount of bleaching time--from 1 to 75 seconds--as well as in the methods of cleaning of the equipment. Despite the fact that the study was conducted in project offices, the results provide some evidence of how drug users really use bleach when cleaning. It is important to clearly state disinfection techniques in prevention messages that target drug users, because a few seconds' difference can make all the difference between becoming infected with HIV or remaining uninfected. "Behavior Change" Focus (09/94) Vol. 8, No. 9, P. 7 During an 18-month period of intense media coverage of AIDS, lesbian bar patrons increased their AIDS knowledge and reduced their high-risk behaviors. Questionnaires distributed in 1986 and 1987-1988 showed that casual sex decreased between the first survey and the second one. While 33 percent of lesbians from the first survey said that AIDS had not changed their thinking or behavior, only 3 percent in the second survey said they were unaffected. Other behaviors, such as monogamy and knowing a person's sexual history before having sex, did not change between the surveys. "Asian Briefs: WHO Warns Conference of AIDS Threat" Nikkei Weekly (09/26/94) Vol. 32, No. 1639, P. 32 The World Health Organization said that Cambodia is set to become the next location of an HIV-epidemic, even though no AIDS cases have been reported there yet. Officials made the prediction at the 45th session of the WHO Western Pacific Regional Committee in Malaysia. A WHO director said that Cambodia could become a new danger zone because of its proximity to Thailand and its growing sex industry. "Medical Briefs: Stavudine Approved" Advocate (09/20/94) No. 664, P. 26; Cohan, Gary R. The Food and Drug Administration has approved stavudine, or d4T, which is available by prescription. Before approval, stavudine and AZT were compared in HIV-infected adults that had CD4 cell counts between 50 and 500 and who had no less than 24 weeks of prior AZT therapy. The drug's primary side effect of peripheral neuropathy appears to be dose-related and may be reversed by withdrawal from treatment. "AIDS: Case: Jeanne v. The Hawkes Hospital of Mt. Carmel" National Law Journal (09/26/94) Vol. 17, No. 4, P. C3 In 1985, Holly Lalonde was infected with HIV while undergoing a blood transfusion. Prior to surgery, Lalonde had donated her own blood, out of fear for AIDS, to be used if needed. A second unit of blood, however, was required and 15 months after the surgery, she tested HIV-positive. Lalonde, under the alias Judy Jeanne, sued Ohio's Mt. Carmel Hospital for negligence and unauthorized transfusion. She was awarded $12 million which, on appeal, was reduced to $8.5 million. Mt. Carmel appealed because the award exceeded the state's limit on medical malpractice non-economic damages and settled in 1991 for an undisclosed amount.