Date: Mon, 26 Sep 1994 09:22:14 -0400 (EDT) From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" AIDS Daily Summary September 26, 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 ************************************************************ "AIDS and the Man" "Obituary: Tomas Fabregas" "Catholic Group Fights Condom Policy with T Ads" "Wilson Acts on Scores of Bills" "WHO Stresses Preventive Medicine" "Professional Education Program on Pain Management and HIV Disease is Launched in New York on September 26" "Groundbreaking TV Special About Young People and Sex in the 90s Premieres on MTV--Additional Air Dates Announced" "New HIV-1 Subtype Identified, Eludes Screening Tests" "HIV Infection in Women Conference, February 22-24, 1995" "Book Reviews: The Statistics of HIV" ************************************************************ "AIDS and the Man" Washington Post (09/26/94) P. D1; Rose, Lloyd "Jeffrey," by Paul Rudnick, is being called the first AIDS comedy. The title character is a young, gay man from the Midwest living in Manhattan, who swears off sex because of the AIDS crisis. Just as he does so, he meets Steve, who is HIV-positive. To deal with his fears of AIDS, dying, loving, and of being alone, he turns to a therapy group, a talk show, and a priest for help. "Obituary: Tomas Fabregas" New York Times (09/26/94) P. D9 Tomas Fabregas, an AIDS crusader who fought to alter the U.S. law that prevents foreigners with AIDS from entering the country, has died at age 36 of complications from the disease. In 1992, in an effort to test the law, he returned from the International Conference on AIDS in Amsterdam to the San Francisco International Airport, but did not have any difficulty in entering the country. Mr. Fabregas moved to the United States in 1979 from Spain and became infected while in the United States. "Catholic Group Fights Condom Policy with T Ads" Boston Globe (09/24/94) P. 15; Grant, Traci The Boston chapter of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights launched a campaign Friday that criticizes condom distribution in schools. The campaign involves plastering 200 posters, which condemn the distribution of condoms versus preaching about abstinence, on Boston's MBTA trains. This attack comes one week after the AIDS Action Committee began a similar program in support of condoms. "Wilson Acts on Scores of Bills" United Press International (09/23/94) California Governor Pete Wilson signed legislation Friday that permits involuntary testing for HIV under certain conditions. Under the measure, testing of previous blood samples will be permitted if a health care worker has received significant exposure to that individual's blood. "WHO Stresses Preventive Medicine" United Press International (09/23/94); Khan, Bob Participants of the 45th session of the World Health Organization's Regional Committee for the Western Pacific ended the meeting on Friday by pledging to work to prevent the spread of AIDS and to eliminate polio. The committee agreed that there exists a need for governments to provide strong support for programs that prevent and slow the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. "Professional Education Program on Pain Management and HIV Disease is Launched in New York on September 26" PR Newswire (09/23/94) The Roxane Pain Institute introduced its first professional education program in New York in order to focus attention on the necessity of pain management and HIV. Leading HIV and pain specialists will discuss topics including the causes of pain, the availability of treatments, and an HIV pain case history. "Groundbreaking TV Special About Young People and Sex in the 90s Premieres on MTV--Additional Air Dates Announced" PR Newswire (09/23/94) "Smart Sex" is a one-hour special on MTV that features young adults speaking honestly about their sexual attitudes and experiences. The program shows how this age group is handling sexual decisions at a time when HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases are so prevalent. The participants include people who are straight and gay, promiscuous and not using condoms, and those who are HIV-positive and practicing safer sex. This program is being broadcast because research shows that young people are looking for straightforward, real-life information from their peers on how to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV. "New HIV-1 Subtype Identified, Eludes Screening Tests" AIDS Alert (09/94) P. 130 A new subtype of HIV that is widespread in West Africa has been described in an analysis by French researchers. Called subtype "O," the virus is a genetic deviant of HIV-1 that is antigenetically distinct from other HIV-1 subtypes. This variant is detected in Cameroon chimpanzees and is now thought to be the virus type in 10 percent of HIV-1 infections in Cameroon. Other HIV subtypes range from "A" through "H," and each produces a different antigen. Subtype O seems to be limited almost completely to West Africa but, because of its diminished envelope bands, detection is difficult in most HIV antigen tests. Alterations to HIV antigen tests can be made to accommodate subtype O, yet health officials from the United States and the World Health Organization say that the modifications are only necessary in countries where subtype O has been identified. Some researchers believe that subtype O has only recently been detected because of its peculiar antigen composition, but that it has existed from the beginning of AIDS detection. "HIV Infection in Women Conference, February 22-24, 1995" AIDS Treatment News (09/02/94) No. 206, P. 6 The National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, the Public Health Service Office on Women's Health, and other federal agencies are sponsoring the first national meeting on HIV infection in adult and adolescent women in Washington, DC on February 22-24, 1995. "Book Reviews: The Statistics of HIV" Science (09/09/94) Vol. 265, No. 5178, P. 1602; Longini Jr., Ira M. AIDS Epidemiology, by Ron Brookmeyer and Mitchell H. Gail, describes the method that they developed called back-calculation, which is used for estimating the size of the HIV epidemic and for predicting the short-term course of the AIDS epidemic. Brookmeyer and Gail provide much of the quantitative history of the epidemic in the United States. There are also useful chapters on the development of statistical and mathematical methods for dealing with HIV and AIDS epidemiological problems.