Date: Thu, 20 Oct 1994 09:05:11 -0400 (EDT) From: "JOHN FANNING, CDC NAC" Subject: CDC AIDS DAILY SUMMARY 10/20/94. AIDS Daily Summary October 20, 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 ************************************************************ "Teens Flock to Hear Johnson on AIDS" "Across the USA: Connecticut/Nebraska" "Initiative Would Speed Spread of TB, Study Says" "New York University Medical Center Calls Attention to the November 1994 Issue of the Journal of Virology, Which Reports a Breakthrough in Neutralizing the HIV Virus" "Cytel Awarded $1.6 Million in NIH Contract" "Loni Anderson Introduces Desk Diary to Benefit L.A. Shanti and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation" "AIDSLine: Cytomegalovirus Treatments" "Confronting the AIDS Vaccine Challenge" "Setting Up an AIDS Policy" "Government at Its Best: 15 More Innovative Programs" ************************************************************ "Teens Flock to Hear Johnson on AIDS" Baltimore Sun (10/20/94) P. 2A Teenagers filled the bleachers at the Laguna Beach (Calif.) High School gym to hear former Los Angeles Laker Magic Johnson speak about HIV, and how he is coping with his own infection. "I just live," said Johnson. "You get up in the morning and you take your medicine and you work out for two hours." He advocated abstinence to teens, and urged safe sex for those who will not abstain. Johnson, 35, announced that he was HIV-positive in 1991. "Across the USA: Connecticut/Nebraska" USA Today (10/20/94) P. 10A Two states recently announced AIDS-related news. In New Haven, Conn., more than 2,300 condoms were distributed by school clinics during the first year of an AIDS prevention program. The condoms are available to students starting in the fifth grade. And in Omaha, Neb., the Charles Drew Health Center will receive $1 million over the course of four years to provide mental health services to blacks with AIDS. "Initiative Would Speed Spread of TB, Study Says" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (10/19/94) P. B1; Shuit, Douglas P. Proposition 187, the anti-illegal immigrant initiative, would accelerate the spread of tuberculosis in California by driving illegal immigrants underground, predicts a study released Wednesday. The initiative would require health-care professionals to report undocumented immigrants to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. "If you scare people away...they aren't going to come in early," which is crucial to containing the disease, said Dr. Shirley Fannin, chief of disease control programs for Los Angeles County. The study, led by researchers at the University of California, showed that, under current law, most undocumented immigrants with tuberculosis believe they are safe from deportation, even when they go for medical treatment. California Gov. Pete Wilson, an active supporter of Proposition 187, said that if the initiative passes, services that are necessary to protect the public health will continue to be provided. With 1,940 cases reported in 1993, Los Angeles is second only to New York City in terms of number of tuberculosis cases. "New York University Medical Center Calls Attention to the November 1994 Issue of the Journal of Virology, Which Reports a Breakthrough in Neutralizing the HIV Virus" Business Wire (10/19/94) The New York University Medical Center recently drew attention to the November 1994 issue of the Journal of Virology, which reports the use of a human monoclonal antibody to neutralize HIV. One of the authors of the report, Dr. Susan Zolla-Pazner of NYU Medical Center, says that this is the first instance of a human monoclonal antibody effectively neutralizing the majority of clinically derived viruses in a laboratory setting. She says these findings contradict previous studies suggesting that "primary viruses" from patients are difficult or impossible to neutralize. Clinical trials may begin next year and, if successful, may lead to more definitive trials--including tests of the antibody's ability to prevent perinatal HIV transmission. "Cytel Awarded $1.6 Million in NIH Contract" Business Wire (10/19/94) The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $1.6 million contract to Cytel Corporation to expand Cytel's Theradigm technology. The five-year contract focuses on applying knowledge of the major histocompatibility complex system to develop therapeutic vaccines for malaria, HIV, and to expand of the company's hepatitis B program. Cytel's approach is designed to specifically activate cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in humans. Each Theradigm drug is designed to induce a specific CTL response against a single disease by adding a antigenic peptide--specific to the disease--to the general Theradigm model. Theradigm-HBV is currently in Phase II clinical trials. "Loni Anderson Introduces Desk Diary to Benefit L.A. Shanti and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation" PR Newswire (10/19/94) On Nov. 10, a reception will be held to benefit L.A. Shanti and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. At the reception, Loni Anderson will introduce a 1994 desk diary--proceeds of which will also benefit the two organizations. The desk diary contains photographs of 12 of the most beautiful and famous actresses, all of whom have donated their time for the cause--including Anderson herself, Elizabeth Taylor, and Diahann Carroll. L.A. Shanti offers free emotional support counseling and education to people with HIV, AIDS, and other illnesses. The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation distributes funds to worthy community-based AIDS groups throughout the United States. "AIDSLine: Cytomegalovirus Treatments" Advocate (10/18/94) No. 666, P. 33; Cohan, Gary R. Cytomegalovirus is an infection that causes, in healthy people, a mononucleosis-type illness marked by several weeks of fatigue and low-grade fever that resolves itself. It has an exposure rate of over 50 percent in the general population, but almost 95 percent of gay men test positive for CMV antibodies. In the weakened immune system of an HIV-infected person, CMV can reactivate and cause vision problems (retinitis), bowel inflammation, diarrhea (colitis), and esophagitis. A small percentage of AIDS patients will experience persistent fevers, pneumonia, hepatitis, nerve problems, or brain inflammation due to CMV. Presently, there is no effective way to prevent CMV complications in people with AIDS. People who are most at risk have less than 100 T cells. Treatments are available for the illnesses, but they have side effects--such as ganciclovir, which suppresses the bone marrow's production of red and white blood cells. "Confronting the AIDS Vaccine Challenge" Technology Review (10/94) Vol. 97, No. 7, P. 23; Essex, Max The best chance for protection from HIV comes when an individual receives a vaccine that exactly matches the virus to which he was exposed. Thus, there will have to be a variety of vaccines developed based on subtype, stage of infection, and route of transmission. Most prototype AIDS vaccines have been prepared to protect against subtype B, which is found mainly in Americans and Europeans. These vaccine antigens, however, are better suited to therapeutic use--the boosting of the immune response in someone already infected. Researchers must concentrate their efforts to develop preventive vaccines that are based on HIV subtypes found in Africa and Asia. Prototypes for these subtypes can be tested much faster and less expensively than those that target subtype B because fewer participants are needed when the rates of infections are so high. "Setting Up an AIDS Policy" Inc. (10/94) Vol. 16, No. 10, P. 121; Carney, Karen E. The standards promoted by the National Leadership Coalition on AIDS can be used as the foundation for a workplace AIDS policy. NLCOA's principles include compliance with federal, state, and local ordinances for disabilities; a policy of nondiscrimination; confidentiality of medical and health-insurance information; and continuing education for AIDS and other illnesses. The NLCOA offers two booklets: "Sample Policies," which describes guidelines from 13 companies, and "Accomodating Employees with HIV Infection and AIDS," which details case studies of 10 companies and explains accomodations, as well as their costs and benefits. "Government at Its Best: 15 More Innovative Programs" Governing (10/94) Vol. 8, No. 1, P. 36 The CARE/Project HOME AIDS Program of the Maryland Department of Human Resources is one of 15 finalists for the 1994 Innovations in State and Local Government Awards. The program provides private-home housing for HIV-positive single adults, which saves them money--compared to nursing homes--and improves the quality of their lives. The Ford Foundation awarded $20,000 to each finalist.