Date: Fri, 22 Dec 1995 09:27:34 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 12/22/95 AIDS Daily Summary December 22, 1995 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 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "Drug Seems to Cut AIDS Infection for Workers Stuck with Needles" "How Blood Was Smuggled from AIDS-Ravaged Africa" "Abbott AIDS-Drug Application" "Nature and Apathy Destroy AIDS Vigil" "Vatican Cautions on Sex Education" "Hemagen in Pact to Create Diagnostic Test for AIDS" "Washington Wire: Effects of Federal Shutdown" "Added Challenges in Fighting AIDS: Red Tape, Delays" "HIV Suppression by Interleukin-16" "Sunday, the Rabbi Got AIDS" ************************************************************ "Drug Seems to Cut AIDS Infection for Workers Stuck with Needles" New York Times (12/22/95) P. A32; Altman, Lawrence K. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that AZT appears to decrease by nearly 80 percent the risk of HIV infection for health workers accidentally jabbed with needles. With the help of British and French health officials, the CDC assessed 31 health care workers who became infected after such injuries and who had no other AIDS risk factors. The researchers determined that the workers' risk of infection was increased if the needle went in deep, had been obviously contaminated, or had punctured a vein or artery. In addition, needles taken from a person dying of AIDS, when HIV is frequently most concentrated, heightened the risk of infection. Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding, head of San Francisco General Hospital's infection control program, noted that although there were limitations in the research, the resulting data was likely the most useful scientists would find. The CDC intends to discuss the need for new guidelines on needlestick injuries, which can also transmit hepatitis B and C, in April. Related Stories: Washington Times (12/22) P. A12; Baltimore Sun (12/22) P. 7A "How Blood Was Smuggled from AIDS-Ravaged Africa" Philadelphia Inquirer (12/22/95) P. A1; Shaw, Donna Documents show that between 1985 and 1987, Armour Pharmaceutical Co. bought blood plasma smuggled out of Africa to Europe and then made it into products for human use. The shipments of plasma were mislabeled as animal plasma, but there are no indications that Armour was aware of the deed, which was done by an African supplier and an air-freight service to evade taxes and customs investigation. Armour claims the material was bought from what it believed to be a reputable broker, who said that the plasma came from Canadian donors who had been tested for HIV, the documents show. The documents were recently made public by the Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada, which is trying to determine how and why thousands of Canadians became HIV- and hepatitis-infected from plasma-based drugs, most of which were brought in from the United States. "Abbott AIDS-Drug Application" Wall Street Journal (12/22/95) P. B11 Abbott Laboratories has filed a drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its ritonavir. The compound is a protease inhibitor, a class of drugs which have been shown to reduce viral load in HIV-infected patients and boost their immune systems in clinical studies. "Nature and Apathy Destroy AIDS Vigil" New York Times (12/22/95) P. A22; Ybarra, Michael J. San Francisco's AIDS Vigil, a tent city pitched in front of the Federal Building ten years ago in protest of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's delays in reviewing treatments for HIV, has come to an end. The campers had withstood pressure from all sides to leave, yet stayed, distributing condoms, AIDS information, and bleach to drug users. But last week, strong winds demolished the tents, leaving the group, which had slowly diminished from 12 people to two men, huddled in a doorway. The campers said that as the years went by, indifference was the greatest problem. The weekly mass protests in the early days turned into yearly events and then stopped altogether. The tents, which had been flattened before and re-erected, were thrown away after this last storm. "Vatican Cautions on Sex Education" Washington Post (12/22/95) P. A23; Williams, Daniel A new handbook from the Vatican urges parents to take their children out of sex-education classes that teach "safe sex" or deal with sex only as a health issue not-related to Christian values. The guidelines were issued by the Pontifical Council for the Family in a report called "Human Sexuality: Truth and Significance." The recommendations conform to the Roman Catholic Church's teachings, and therefore favors abstinence outside of marriage, opposes contraception and abortion, and terms homosexual activities and masturbation as "disorders." The book advises containing sex within marriage to control the spread of AIDS. Furthermore, the book advises parents to "refuse the promotion of so-called 'safe sex,' or 'safer sex,' a dangerous and immoral policy based on the illusory theory that a condom can provide sufficient protection against AIDS." "Hemagen in Pact to Create Diagnostic Test for AIDS" Wall Street Journal (12/22/95) P. B4 Sheffield Medical Technologies and Hemagen Diagnostics Inc. will collaborate to develop a test to forecast the speed of AIDS progression in patients. According to Sheffield, impending licensing deals for its candidate AIDS and cancer products could generate profit for the firm by 1998. The small biotechnology firm, which does not produce any operating revenue, acquires the rights to preliminary drug research projects, and then develops them to the level at which they can be sold to a larger company for more money. "Washington Wire: Effects of Federal Shutdown" Wall Street Journal (12/22/95) P. A1 The second federal government shutdown has, among other things, interrupted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's disease tracking efforts with states. "Added Challenges in Fighting AIDS: Red Tape, Delays" Miami Herald (12/21/95) P. 1B; Rogers, Peggy Patients and experts say that HIV-infected Dade County, Fla., residents sometimes must undertake monumental struggles to obtain public assistance. "We see people who are very weak, very much in pain, who have to take very long bus rides and then wait hours for services," said Martin Terris, director of planning and community development for the county's HIV/AIDS Planning and Management Organization. The nonprofit group recently conducted a study to assess the challenges that infected residents face and concluded that Dade can barely begin to fill the need for some services, especially housing. Some patients surveyed praised humane doctors and heroic, tireless social workers. Still others reported physicians who had rejected them, including one who hid behind a curtain, and insensitive workers. In addition, patients applying for state or federal assistance were required to fill out extremely detailed applications for several different agencies because the programs are administered by separate agencies. "This translates into a whole series of barriers to the person who needs care," noted Margaret Paternek, an associate director of the HIV/AIDS Planning and Management Organization. "HIV Suppression by Interleukin-16" Nature (12/07/95) Vol. 378, No. 6557, P. 563; Baier, Michael; Werner, Albrecht; Bannert, Norbert; et al. Baier et al. of Germany's Paul-Ehrlich Institute report in the journal Nature that interleukin-16 (IL-16), a previously identified lymphocyte chemoattractant, suppresses the replication of both HIV and the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). African green monkeys that are naturally infected with SIV in the wild have high levels of immunodeficiency virus-suppressing lymphokine (ISL) activity, a low level of virus in the blood, and never progress to simian AIDS. The IL-16 of these monkeys is extremely similar to its human version. The protein may therefore play a role in the low viral load in healthy HIV-positive individuals and naturally infected African green monkeys. The specific method by which IL-16 inhibits HIV replication is not clear. However, the researchers note that the protein is known to bind to the CD4 receptor, and therefore may resemble some anti-CD4 antibodies that inhibit transcription. Additional research is required to assess what part of the ISL activity is related to IL-16, which may have antiviral therapeutic properties, the researchers conclude. "Sunday, the Rabbi Got AIDS" Village Voice (12/05/95) Vol. 40, No. 49, P. 27; Beiser, Vince Most Orthodox Jews are hesitant to acknowledge that AIDS exists in their communities. However experts estimate that in New York, some 15,000 of the area's 2 million Jews are HIV-infected. No one knows how many cases are in the Orthodox societies because virtually all are kept are concealed. Transmission routes such as sex with prostitutes and sex with injection drug users have been mentioned, but the majority of all HIV infections in these communities come from men having sex with men. For Orthodox Jews, this is the worst possible way because the Torah condemns homosexuality. Oftentimes, HIV infection--no matter how the virus is acquired--is seen as evidence of that person's homosexuality, a sin which can affect the whole family. Seropositive Jews often leave their communities, searching for more accepting ones, while others stay but guard their secret closely for fear of being shamed and outed. Denial is a serious problem among many gay Orthodox Jews. One Orthodox woman says she had to watch her homosexual brother die from AIDS with hardly any sympathy visits from people in the community because her parents did not want his sexuality or his infection known. Sarah's outrage about the denial and ignorance led her to help found the Tzvi Aryeh AIDS Foundation, one of the first AIDS organizations specifically geared toward the Orthodox community. Volunteers are currently working to establish a Yiddish-language AIDS hot line and organize groups to visit people with HIV and AIDS. AIDS Daily News will not be distributed Monday, December 25 and Tuesday, December 26, in observance of the Christmas holiday. Distribution will resume Wednesday, December 27.