Date: Fri, 16 Jun 1995 09:44:54 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary June 16, 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 ************************************************************ "U.S. Warns of Parasite in Tap Water" "AIDS-Related Virus Shows Potential for HIV Vaccine" "House Votes Big Increase in Military Budget for '96" "Clinton Creates Group to Improve Campaign Against AIDS" "Shortages Lower D.C. Health Defenses" "M.S.L. Tansi, 48, Congo Novelist Known for Bitter Colonial Satire" "High School's Ventilation to Be Tested" "NYU to Quit Its Monkey Business" "Christian Soldiers" ************************************************************ "U.S. Warns of Parasite in Tap Water" Washington Post (06/16/95) P. A1; Lee, Gary On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cautioned that drinking tap water could be hazardous to immunocompromised individuals. Although the two agencies suggested that such people may want to take precautions, such as boiling water before drinking it, they did not actually recommend that people with weakened immune systems stop drinking tap water. The CDC estimates that as many as 6 million Americans have weakened immune systems, including an estimated 1 million HIV-infected persons. According to the CDC, recent studies have shown that the waterborne parasite cryptosporidium is frequently found in lakes, rivers, and some reservoirs in the United States. "We do not know if the level of the organisms in the water poses a public health threat," said the CDC's Dennis Juranek. "But we cannot rule out that there will be a low level of transmission of the bacteria" to people who consume water directly from the tap, he added. Critics, however, argued the federal guidelines were much too cautious. Related Story: New York Times (06/16) P. A20 "AIDS-Related Virus Shows Potential for HIV Vaccine" USA Today (06/16/95) P. 12D; Painter, Kim Scientists from Harvard University have discovered that HIV-2, a weaker variant of HIV-1, can prevent infection of HIV-1, which causes AIDS. The next step in this research involves determining the characteristics of HIV-2 that protect patients with HIV from contracting AIDS. Phyllis Kanki, a member of this research team, is confident that additional research of "this related virus can tell us how we can make a vaccine that will create immunity against HIV-1." Related Stories: New York Times (06/16) P. A20; Washington Post (06/16) P. A26 "House Votes Big Increase in Military Budget for '96" New York Times (06/16/95) P. A19; Schmitt, Eric The House approved a defense budget bill on Thursday that authorizes more than $267 billion for fiscal year 1996. The measure adds more than $9 billion to the Clinton Administration's request of $258 billion. Among its provisions, the bill orders military personnel who test HIV-positive to be discharged. It also establishes restrictions on U.S. troops serving in United Nations peacekeeping operations. Related Story: Washington Post (06/16) P. A15 "Clinton Creates Group to Improve Campaign Against AIDS" New York Times (06/16/95) P. A22; Dunlap, David W. President Clinton established a new council on Thursday to advise him on how the government could improve AIDS prevention, care, and research. The new Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS will bring "real world experience" to AIDS considerations, said AIDS policy director Patricia S. Fleming. "Each [of the 30 members] has some personal experience with the AIDS epidemic which can be useful to us as we make policy," she added. The leader of the council is Dr. R. Scott Hitt of the Pacific Oaks Medical Group, which the White House described as the largest private U.S. medical practice specializing in HIV and AIDS. Other members include Steve Lew, who is executive director of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance Community HIV Project in San Francisco; and Debra Fraser-Howze, president of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. "Shortages Lower D.C. Health Defenses" Washington Post (06/16/95) P. A1; Goldstein, Amy Shortages of standard medical supplies have impaired the ability of the District of Columbia's public health system to find and control infectious diseases, including AIDS. The city's primary medical laboratory has not screened blood samples for HIV since mid-May, when it ran out of the necessary chemicals. The tuberculosis clinic has periodicly stopped giving chest X-rays because it has neither film nor developing solution. In addition to keeping thousands of low-income residents from learning whether they are ill with two serious public health threats in the city, the shortages have also hurt many nonprofit groups that rely on free services from the city's public health system. Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington is now charging residents of the nation's capital $38 for a formerly free AIDS test, after starting to send specimens to the Whitman-Walker Clinic. Due to the District's budget problems, the city has closed five of its 15 neighborhood clinics and laid off almost 200 employees--including 41 doctors at D.C. General Hospital. Also, one of the city's two clinics specializing in sexually transmitted diseases has closed, and D.C. General's AIDS clinic has been suffering since the resignation of two of its three doctors last month. "M.S.L. Tansi, 48, Congo Novelist Known for Bitter Colonial Satire" New York Times (06/16/95) P. A25; Kennedy, Randy On Wednesday, novelist Marcel Sony Labou Tansi--who many consider to be Central Africa's greatest writer--died in the remote Congo village of FouFoundou, where he had gone for treatment of AIDS. The cause of death was AIDS-related complications, the Associated Press reported. Tansi's wife, Pierrette, died four days earlier, also from complications due to AIDS. Tansi's novels were known for their biting satirical treatment of colonial Africa and the dictators who came after independence. Critics have often said his books are hard to read because they use complicated puns, symbolism, and imagery to reinforce his message that Africa's colonial masters took advantage of the continent's economic resources and its spirit. His best-known novels include "Life and a Half," "The Shameful State," and "The People Before." "High School's Ventilation to Be Tested" Washington Post (06/16/95) P. B8; Bates, Steve Officials in Alexandria, Va., say they will examine the air ventilation systems at T.C. Williams High School, where at least 140 students and staff members have tested positive for exposure to tuberculosis (TB). An early study suggested possible problems in the 30-year-old school's air flow, but officials said it was too soon to say whether they contributed to the large number of people who have recently tested positive for TB exposure. Alexandria Health Director Joshua Lipsman said, "There is no reason for alarm," noting that the exposure rate was 8.6 percent of the 1,619 people tested. An exposure rate below 10 percent indicates that the spread of infection is under control, he said. A total of 150 students and staff members at the school were tested for TB after one student was diagnosed with the disease in early June. "NYU to Quit Its Monkey Business" Science (06/02/95) Vol. 268, No. 5215, P. 1267 New York University (NYU) is considering selling its Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP), a leader in work on experimental AIDS and hepatitis vaccines. LEMSIP director Jan Moor-Jankowski claims that the school is selling the lab in retaliation for his resignation last year from NYU's animal welfare oversight panel. He said he quit in protest of the experiments on cocaine and monkeys conducted by NYU's Ron Wood. NYU has vigorously defended Wood's studies, even though they have drawn fire from animal rights activists. Wood's lab would not be affected by the sale of LEMSIP. NYU officials deny Moor-Jankowski's charges. David Moore, an associate dean at the NYU School of Medicine, says that LEMSIP is for sale because it no longer supports NYU Medical Center's core basic research. The university is negotiating the sale of LEMSIP with two other organizations, the Aaron Diamond AIDS research center and the Frederick Coulston Foundation, which operates another large primate lab. "Christian Soldiers" POZ (04/95-05/95) No. 7, P. 36; Perez, Juan Carlos The Least of These is a nonprofit volunteer organization with chapters in New York and New Jersey that unites evangelicals and people with AIDS to fight ignorance, homophobia, and AIDS. The members offer compassion, home-cooked food, resources, and love without preaching. Every Monday night, members travel to various places, including the Discreet Wards of Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Center in Manhattan, Goldwater Memorial Hospital, and Rikers Island prison. The volunteers have all been trained in the field of caretaking and are approved by all the places they visit. "A lot of people count on them, and they don't leave till they have seen everyone...It makes me feel wanted," says Cesar Gomez, who has AIDS. Reverend Mickey Fuentes--who came up with the idea of visiting wards after a close friend became infected with HIV more than 10 years ago--explains, "Anybody can walk in there with a Bible, but how many out there are willing to go in and change a soiled sheet?" Despite a shortage of funds, the group is expanding rapidly and hopes to reach other regions of the country ravaged by AIDS, such as Puerto Rico and Miami.