Date: Thu, 27 Oct 1994 15:08:39 -0400 (EDT) From: "JOHN FANNING, CDC NAC" AIDS Daily Summary October 27, 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 ************************************************************ "Schwartz Has Plan to Boost Health Care" "Court Overturns Limited Visits to Gay Father" "America's Silent Epidemic" "Nurse's Car Will Display AIDS Plate" "Reaching Out to Asians & Pacific Islanders Facing HIV & AIDS; Campaign to Be Unveiled at Nov. 3 Media Conference" "Osteotech Demineralization Process Inactivates HIV, Hepatitis and Other Viruses" "New Symposium Series' First Topic Focuses on AIDS" "AIDS, HIV-Carriers Hit 1,709" "Infections Related to Venous Access Devices in Patients with AIDS" "HIV Prevention Programs" ************************************************************ "Schwartz Has Plan to Boost Health Care" Washington Post (10/27/94) P. C3; Goldstein, Amy District of Columbia Republican mayoral candidate Carol Schwartz announced Wednesday a plan to improve the health of the city's residents. She said she would emphasize preventative care, expand drug treatment, and continue many controversial methods the city is using to fight AIDS. Schwartz supported several AIDS-prevention techniques that current mayor, Sharon Pratt Kelly initiated--such as providing condoms at public secondary schools and making clean needles available to injection drug users. While stopping short of offering concrete solutions to the problems she cited, Schwartz said the District must expand its public health services. She was not sure, however, whether she would keep open some of the 15 clinics that may be closed for financial reasons. Related Story: Washington Times (10/27) P. C6 "Court Overturns Limited Visits to Gay Father" Washington Post (10/27/94) P. D1; Fisher, Marc The Maryland Court of Special Appeals has overturned a judge's ruling that limited a homosexual father's right to see his children. In a nine-to-four decision, the court ruled that if the father, David North, was permitted to see his children during the day, there is no reason to believe that nighttime visits would expose them to greater harm. The judges also said that this is the first time a child's visits with a non-custodial parent may not be restricted because the parent in HIV-positive. The Norths divorced in 1991, after David North told his wife that he was infected with HIV. North did not reveal his homosexuality to his wife until 1992. Two judges said that North's "proven poor judgment and reckless behavior" justified limiting his time with his children--referring to the fact that he continued to have sexual intercourse with his wife after he discovered that he was HIV-infected. "America's Silent Epidemic" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (10/26/94) P. A1; Roan, Shari As sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) flourish, many young American are naive about the risks of sex in the 90s. Teen-agers and young adults are now the primary recipients of sexually transmitted diseases which, among other things, can increase the risk of contracting HIV. Statistics show that many people are infected with HIV when they are in their late teens and early 20s. Even though AIDS and safe sex are universal discussion topics, the message is not getting through to teenagers in particular. Experts suggest several reasons for the increase including an increasingly promiscuous society in which people begin having unprotected sex younger, Americans' inability to discuss sex and provide factual sex education in the home, and an antiquated approach to STDs by the government, health organizations, and schools. "Nurse's Car Will Display AIDS Plate" St. Louis Post-Dispatch (10/26/94) P. 4A A registered nurse who specializes in AIDS care will be able to keep his custom license plate that reads "AIDS RN". The Missouri Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) initially denied Steve Lee--who wanted to show his pride in his work and AIDS awareness--the license plate. The agency reversed its decision this week on the condition that Lee prove he is a registered nurse at a hospital. Many AIDS groups had told the state agency that they did not want license plates bearing "AIDS" or "HIV" because they were just another reminder to people who may be infected, said Christine Quigley, a unit manager at the DMV. "Reaching Out to Asians & Pacific Islanders Facing HIV & AIDS; Campaign to Be Unveiled at Nov. 3 Media Conference" Business Wire (10/25/94) The largest HIV/AIDS campaign yet to reach out to Asians and Pacific Islanders will be introduced at a media conference on Nov. 3 in Los Angeles. "Facing HIV & AIDS" is a multilingual approach that will inform those who know or think they may be infected of the wide range of confidential services and resources available to them. The program is a collaboration between the Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team (APAIT) and Pacific Asian Language Services (PALS). "Early detection and treatment are key to providing the highest quality of life for those with HIV and AIDS," said Dean Goishi, director of APAIT. The project is funded by a CARE Grant for the County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services, AIDS Program Office. "Osteotech Demineralization Process Inactivates HIV, Hepatitis and Other Viruses" PR Newswire (10/24/94) A new study, "Inactivation of Viruses During Bone Demineralization," was presented to the North American Spine Society (NASS) Annual Meeting last Friday. The study described the potent virucidal effect of Osteotech, Inc.'s bone demineralization process on HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and cytomegalovirus. "The study results presented at NASS indicate that in the unlikely event tissue from an HIV positive donor is not detected during the screening and testing process, there is less than 1 chance in 2.8 billion that HIV will survive our proprietary demineralization process," said Osteotech President and Chief Executive Officer, Richard Bauer. Demineralization is a process in which certain minerals and cellular elements are removed from ground forms of banked bone. "New Symposium Series' First Topic Focuses on AIDS" PR Newswire (10/24/94) The subject of the first Page-Wood Symposium series, which is combined this year with the second Cleveland Virology Symposium, is "AIDS and the Structure and Function of Viruses." The three day conference--to be held Oct. 27-29--will include topics such as "Public Health and Social Policy," "Vaccine Development, Immunology, Developing Therapies," and "Virus Structure." Experts from around the country are scheduled to speak at the conference, which was established by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in honor of the memories of Irvine H. Page, M.D. and Harland G. Wood, Ph.D. "AIDS, HIV-Carriers Hit 1,709" Nikkei Weekly (10/10/94) Vol. 32, No. 1,641, P. 20 The Japanese Health and Welfare Ministry's AIDS Surveillance Committee reported cases of 92 new HIV carriers and AIDS patients in Japan during the July-August period--the third highest total during a two-month period. Of the total, 50 were Japanese males, exceeding the past rate of 37 in the May-June period. Eight new cases of HIV or AIDS were diagnosed in Japanese females. The remaining 34 were non-Japanese cases occurring in 18 males and 16 females. The current number of AIDS patients and HIV-infected people in Japan is 1,709, according to the committee. Effective January, the Ministry will add phthisis and two other symptoms to carinii pneumonia, Kaposi's sarcoma, and other representative AIDS symptoms to its definition of AIDS patients. These additions will increase the number of AIDS patients by approximately 10 percent, said one ministry official. "Infections Related to Venous Access Devices in Patients with AIDS" Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (9/94-10/94) Vol. 5, No. 5, P. 43; Settle, Jane T.; Neff-Smith, Martha; Wan, George J. A retrospective study of venous access devices (VADs) was conducted in patients with AIDS to compare infection rates in implanted external catheters and completely implanted ports. VADs are often found in PWAs who need long-term administration of medications and access for phlebotomy and dehydration. All 48 participants were diagnosed with AIDS and received a total of 54 VADs. While the 41 external catheters had an infection rate of 36.5 percent, the 13 ports had a 30.8 percent infection rate. The authors hypothesize that lack of compliance with care of the device is a significant factor in the development of VAD infections. "HIV Prevention Programs" Science (10/07/94) Vol. 266, No. 5182, P. 13; Holtgrave, David R.; Qualls, Noreen David R. Holtgrave and Noreen L. Qualls of the Centers for Disease Control's Office of HIV/AIDS fully endorse Aggleton et al's overview of issues related to the primary prevention of HIV infection. They note that while HIV prevention programs work, further empirical research is needed to address more complex questions--such as which interventions work best, when do they work, and at what cost. The CDC and its prevention partners now have a community-based approach to HIV prevention. Community planning groups need the best available scientific data that is engineered to best suit their purposes. Holtgrave and Qualls both advocate the continued financial, human, and material support to the creation and implementation of HIV prevention programs.