Date: Fri, 14 Jul 1995 09:41:17 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 07/14/95 AIDS Daily Summary July 14, 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 ************************************************************ "House Panel Votes 41-0 to Extend AIDS Project" "House Panel to Draft Bill on AIDS Tests of Newborns" "Panel Recommends Steps for Ensuring Safe Blood Supply" "Selling Idea of HIV Test for Pregnant Women" "New Guidelines to Prevent Fatal Illness in AIDS Patients" "Mail Carrier Won't Deliver to Home of AIDS Patients" "Control Board Meets--and Hears--the People" "Across the USA: Washington" "New Surveillance Tool Makes Surveys Easier" "Toxic Transfusions" ************************************************************ "House Panel Votes 41-0 to Extend AIDS Project" Washington Times (07/14/95) P. A6; Price, Joyce In a unanimous decision, the House Commerce Committee on Thursday recommended five-year reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act. The measure would authorize $875 million in the first year for the care and treatment of HIV-infected individuals. An Appropriations subcommittee, however, has recommended $651.36 million in fiscal 1996 funding--a figure which is slightly higher than this year's total, but far lower than the $723.5 million sought by the White House. Although Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) said that a floor vote could be made on July 24, a House vote before the August recess is not likely, said a spokesman for Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas). AIDS advocacy groups praised Thursday's decision. "The fact that it was a unanimous vote...shows a bipartisan commitment" to the program's services, noted Mark Barnes, executive director of the AIDS Action Council. Related Stories: New York Times (07/14) P. A15; Philadelphia Inquirer (07/14) P. A4 "House Panel to Draft Bill on AIDS Tests of Newborns" New York Times (07/14/95) P. A15; Sack, Kevin Leaders of the House Commerce Committee announced on Thursday that they will draft bipartisan legislation requiring HIV tests for newborns unless their mothers had been tested during pregnancy. The decision increases the likelihood that Congress will pass a bill that would, for the first time, require states to conduct HIV tests on some infants. The committee appeared ready to pass an amendment that would force states to require HIV tests for newborns or risk losing funds provided under the Ryan White CARE Act--a concept which seems to have wide support in the House from both sides. However, in response to objections raised by the National Governors' Association and others, some committee members said they were not willing to support a measure that would impose new expenses on states. The decision to provide federal funding for HIV testing will likely reduce state and local officials' fiscal concerns, but it has not lowered the vehement opposition of AIDS advocates and health authorities who believe that mandatory testing could keep some women from obtaining adequate prenatal care. Related Stories: Washington Times (07/14) P. A6; Philadelphia Inquirer (07/14) P. A4 "Panel Recommends Steps for Ensuring Safe Blood Supply" Wall Street Journal (07/14/95) P. B7; Zachary, G. Pascal A committee of experts convened by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine has called for the government to work harder at guaranteeing the safety of the U.S. blood supply. The panel studied a series of "missed opportunities" by U.S. blood bankers and health regulators in the early 1980s that led to the deaths of about 28,000 hemophiliacs and blood-transfusion recipients. In a report released on Thursday, the Institute of Medicine said that caution, fear of criticism, and a "failure of leadership" were reasons why industry and government did not respond faster to the blood crisis. The report recommended the creation of a Blood Safety Council, under the Department of Health and Human Services, that can make sure that the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration sound early warnings to potential blood safety issues and respond appropriately. In addition, the Institute urged federal lawmakers to consider forming a "no-fault" compensation fund for people who are harmed by contaminated blood. This fund would solve the major loophole in which blood suppliers are practically exempt from liability lawsuits, so that HIV-infected persons and others cannot be compensated easily. Related Story: Philadelphia Inquirer (07/14) P. A1 "Selling Idea of HIV Test for Pregnant Women" USA Today (07/14/95) P. 10D; Painter, Kim Officials from several health agencies met in Atlanta this week to discuss issues related to the voluntary HIV testing of pregnant women. Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) came nearly a year and a half after researchers discovered that AZT could reduce maternal-fetal transmission of HIV. "This is a real breakthrough. This is the first time in the AIDS epidemic that a drug can prevent a large number of transmissions," said the CDC's Dr. Helene Gayle. Though studies suggest that most pregnant women advised about the risks of HIV will take the test, no one knows how many physicians will actually provide such counseling. "I'm told anecdotally that it's not being done as frequently as we would like," said Dr. Michael Mennuti of the University of Pennsylvania and of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. "New Guidelines to Prevent Fatal Illness in AIDS Patients" Reuters (07/13/95); Cooper, Mike The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidelines on Thursday for the treatment and prevention of potentially fatal infections in AIDS patients. "We've tackled 17 different opportunistic infections in a way that's never been done before," said Dr. Jonathan Kaplan of the CDC, which published a 34-page summary of recommendations. Kaplan said that preventing the infections can "give people more years and higher quality of life during those years." The guidelines now recommend that patients with Pneumocystic carinii pneumonia who cannot tolerate the drug TMP-SMZ should be given dapsone or dapsone with pyrimethamine, instead of monthly doses of aerosolized pentamidine. This regimen is also recommended for AIDS patients with toxoplasmosis. The CDC also said that AIDS patients should use a condom during intercourse to reduce the risk of exposure to cytomegalovirus, herpes, and other sexually transmitted diseases. "Mail Carrier Won't Deliver to Home of AIDS Patients" Chicago Tribune (07/13/95) P. 1-8 A mailman in Charleston, W.Va., has refused to deliver mail to the home of a couple that has AIDS. The carrier said he is afraid of cutting himself on the couple's metal mail slot and coming in contact with envelopes and stamps they had licked. "It's not a matter of ignorance. It's a matter of safety," he said. Pat and Fred Grounds are the sole residents so far of a new home for AIDS patients. Charleston Postmaster Richard Esslinger has not announced whether he will take any disciplinary action against Tim Snodgrass, who has delivered mail for 10 years. Esslinger has, however, asked medical experts to speak with Snodgrass and other postal employees about AIDS. "Control Board Meets--and Hears--the People" Washington Post (07/14/95) P. A14; Schneider, Howard; Vise, David A. For two and a half hours on Thursday, the new D.C. financial control board heard complaints and recommendations about the city's government and finances. While some argued over broad issues like democracy and self-determination, others were more personal--seeking AIDS funding, trash pickup, and help for the public schools. Underlying it all was the shared perception that the rules in the District of Columbia have changed--these people were coming to meet the new boss, instead of going to the mayor's office or the D.C. Council. "You go to where the power is," said Steve Michael of ACT UP Washington, who attended the meeting to ask the board to increase funding for AIDS and to form an AIDS task force. "Across the USA: Washington" USA Today (07/14/95) P. 5A The first man in Washington state to be charged with murder for exposing an individual to HIV will not be tried. Jeffrey Walker, who infected his girlfriend with HIV four years ago, is not competent, a judge ruled. "New Surveillance Tool Makes Surveys Easier" AIDS Alert (07/95) Vol. 10, No. 7, P. 93 This year, the Connecticut Department of Health will use a new surveillance tool--called a rapid assessment HIV survey, or RAP--to determine the prevalence of HIV in prisons. RAP is being pilot-tested at 11 sites across the nation. "The RAP surveys are designed to be used one time, and, hopefully, are simple enough that health department staff who are not trained in scientific methodology can analyze and interpret the data for community planning activities," says David Withum of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Until now, health departments have had to rely mainly on the CDC's continuing seroprevalence surveys in 20 cities to monitor trends in the AIDS crisis. The RAP surveys will augment the seroprevalence surveys, which have been criticized as too general and diffuse to help specific communities, Withum adds. The 11 test sites involve a variety of demographic and geographic characteristics. Targeted areas include a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases, a drug treatment center, a sentinel hospital, and migrant workers at a community health center. "Toxic Transfusions" Maclean's (06/26/95) Vol. 108, No. 26, P. 57; Fulton, E. Kaye Vic Parsons' new book, "Bad Blood: the Tragedy of the Canadian Tainted Blood Scandal," carefully chronicles the series of events which led to as many as 1,000 Canadian hemophiliacs becoming infected with HIV after receiving contaminated blood supplies in the early 1980s. "The tragic irony of this infection was that the blood transfused into the veins of those unfortunate patients was intended to give life," writes Parsons. The author claims that the catastrophe might have been contained--or avoided--earlier than it was. He builds a steady case against blood bureaucracy--including the Canadian Red Cross and the federal regulatory Bureau of Biologics--which operated a system filled with flaws and false economies. According to Parsons, safety was second to budget trimming. The book also contains brutally honest stories of infected hemophiliacs and their families, including a chapter involving Parson's son, David--a hemophiliac who was 15 when he first learned he was HIV-positive in 1986.