Date: Wed, 19 Jul 1995 09:44:34 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary July 19, 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 ************************************************************ "Sex Barely Gets a Foot in the Classroom Door" "S. African Boxers Found Infected with HIV in Tests" "State High Court OK's Falmouth Plan to Provide Condoms in Public Schools" "Donor's Disease Prompts Red Cross Blood Recall" "Envisioning a Cure" "Bombay Brothels Enslave 50,000 Nepali Girls--Report" "Young People Say They Have Contributions to Make in AIDS Fight" "Neutralization of HIV-1 by Secretory IgA Induced by Oral Immunization with a New Macromolecular Multicomponent Peptide Vaccine Candidate" ************************************************************ "Sex Barely Gets a Foot in the Classroom Door" New York Times (07/19/95) P. A4; Perlez, Jane Caught between the former Communist influence and the new role of the Roman Catholic Church, sex education in Poland is an embattled cause. Sex education is required in schools, but they have no books on the subject because no one can agree on the content. Without a textbook, educators say, it is hard to offer a subject that most teachers claim is too personal for them to discuss comfortably. The majority of the country's teachers have refused to take the scant training courses on sex education, and most principals are slow to invite any of Poland's few sexologists to the schools to fill the gap. Moreover, AIDS is not unknown to the conservative nation. Monar, a private AIDS foundation, estimates that there are 3,000 cases of AIDS and about 60,000 cases of HIV infection in Poland. The disease, however, also has not been discussed in the classrooms. "S. African Boxers Found Infected with HIV in Tests" Toronto Globe and Mail (07/18/95) P. C6; McKenzie, Glenn Officials announced on Monday that in 1994, 33 South African professional and aspiring boxers tested HIV-positive. South African authorities kept the existence of the HIV-infected fighters a well-guarded secret for months. The athletes were quietly barred from fighting, with the only explanation being that they were "medically unfit." Several jurisdictions, including the International Boxing Federation and the United States Boxing Association, require HIV testing of title-fight contestants. In addition, the International Amateur Boxing Association prohibits athletes who are HIV-infected or have hepatitis from boxing. Still, while the South African boxing community is becoming aware of the reality of AIDS, many boxing councils--including most state governing bodies in the United States--do not test their fighters. Scientists say boxers have a small risk of contracting HIV while in the ring. About half of the South African fights result in open wounds on both parties, but sports medicine researcher Dr. Martin Schwellnus of the University of Cape Town estimates the risk of transmission is about one in 27,000 fights. "State High Court OK's Falmouth Plan to Provide Condoms in Public Schools" Boston Globe (07/18/95) P. 1; Ellement, John Massachusett's Supreme Judicial Court said on Tuesday that providing condoms to public school students to stem the spread of AIDS does not violate the religious freedom of parents or conflict with their right to raise their children. The unanimous decision makes Massachusetts the first state to clearly state that such condom distribution can proceed without prior parental consent, said an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. The attorney for the parents who fought the condom distribution in Falmouth schools, however, called the ruling a deep intrusion into parents' rights to control what their children are exposed to in school. State Department of Health Commissioner David Mulligan declared, "It's the ruling we've always supported." Mulligan added that programs like Falmouth's could help reduce the spread of AIDS among young people, and could lower the incidence of other sexually transmitted diseases as well. "Donor's Disease Prompts Red Cross Blood Recall" Toronto Globe and Mail (07/17/95) P. A1; Picard, Andre The Canadian Red Cross (CRC) has recalled thousands of units of blood products after learning that a Vancouver man diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder donated blood often. Since a woman informed the agency last week that her father has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), the CRC has learned that his blood was used in the manufacturing of products used to treat hemophiliacs, organ-transplant and surgery patients, people with immune deficiencies, and burn victims. The recall is so widespread that it could cause shortages of Factor 8 and intravenous immunglobulin, said Dr. Maung Aye, national director of blood services at the CRC. Aye emphasized the fact that the withdrawal was voluntary and strictly precautionary in nature. Most blood products are now heat-treated to kill viruses and bacteria. Only last week, a doctor testifying at the inquiry into Canada's tainted blood scandal cautioned that CJD could be "the next AIDS." Although there have been no documented cases of CJD being transmitted by blood, it is similar to AIDS in the beginning of the epidemic in that there is no test for it. "Envisioning a Cure" Chicago Tribune (07/18/95) P. 2-1; Turano, James The Elton John AIDS Foundation, in collaboration with Los Angeles eyewear designer Oliver Peoples, is offering a limited edition line of eyeglasses. All proceeds from the sale will go directly to the foundation's AIDS care and education programs. John Bigger, an optician and buyer for Eyelines, the exclusive Chicago distributor of the spectacles, said the public response has been amazing. "The demand has been incredible...I've never had to create a waiting list for glasses," he said. Bigger believes that one reason the glasses are so popular is because they are "a subtle statement that the wearer supports the fight against AIDS." However, fans should know that the frames are not cheap, costing $275 each with the specially fitted sunglass clip costing an additional $85. The original 5,000 limited edition frames are almost sold out, but in the coming months, additional non-numbered frames will also be available. "Bombay Brothels Enslave 50,000 Nepali Girls--Report" Reuters (07/17/95); Verma, Sonali According to Human Rights Watch Asia, up to 50,000 Nepali girls are enslaved in Bombay brothels, where they are abused. In a report titled "Rape for Profit," the U.S.-based human rights group said that thousands of girls with an average age of 10 are brought across the 500-mile border between India and Nepal by paying off officials on either side. The report said that many of the girls--who are lured from distant, poor villages with promises of marriage or jobs--are sold to brokers for $4 who take them to the brothels, where they are raped and tortured. "I am not living even now, so how does it matter if I die," asked one HIV-infected Nepali prostitute. "Because many of the girls contract AIDS sooner or later, there is a growing demand for 'fresh meat' and traffickers have begun looking for Nepali girls of all castes and localities," the report noted. It said that 20 percent of Bombay's 100,000 prostitutes were under the age of 18, and that about half of them are thought to be infected with HIV. "Young People Say They Have Contributions to Make in AIDS Fight" Nation's Health (07/95) Vol. 25, No. 6, P. 8 Teenagers attending the National Youth Summit on HIV Prevention and Education in May said that adults need to listen to the youth of America for a new perspective on fighting AIDS. "Adults need to accept the fact that they can learn from young people," said one participant. During the conference, more than 160 teens and young adults developed a list of recommendations that garnered both attention and praise from some federal and state officials. Helene Gayle, Washington director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, "This [summit] gives us hope." The summit's broad recommendations included demanding that youth have a real influence on the policy process, coordinating youth efforts in national AIDS education and prevention efforts, increasing the role of peer education, and developing AIDS policies that encompass and respect diversity. "Neutralization of HIV-1 by Secretory IgA Induced by Oral Immunization with a New Macromolecular Multicomponent Peptide Vaccine Candidate" Nature Medicine (07/95) Vol. 1, No. 7, P. 681; Bukawa, Hiroki; Sekigawa, Ken-Ichiro; Hamajima, Kenji Bukawa et al. recently developed a new macromolecular multicomponent peptide antigen--called VC1--which is made of HIV-1 peptides from four subtypes of the third hypervariable region (V3), a CD4 binding site. Using this vaccine and a cholera toxin (CT), they found that oral immunization induces a high level of gut-related and secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibody to HIV-1 in mice. Serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies induced by oral immunization with VC1 and CT inhibited nearly 30 percent of syncytium formation of HIV-1 (IIIB) at a 1:8 solution, but failed to inhibit it when used with a weaker solution. Three separate neutralizing assays indicate that the secretory IgA antibody can neutralize HIV-1 (IIIB), HIV-1 (SF2), and HIV-1 (MN). According to the authors, the findings suggest that oral administration of VC1 produces strongly antigen-specific IgA and IgG antibodies in secretion and serum. This new approach may be important in the development of a vaccine that will protect mucosal surfaces from HIV-1, they conclude. CORRECTION: The AIDS Daily Summary for July 5, 1995 contained an error. The first sentence of "Antigenic Oscillations and Shifting Immunodominance in HIV-1 Infections" by Nowak et al. incorrectly stated that The Lancet was the source. The correct source is the journal Nature.