Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 11:02:34 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary March 3, 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 ************************************************************ "TB Infection Reported on Airline Flight" "Baltimore Needle Exchange Surpasses Projected Service" "Republicans Agree to Back Restoration of Some Cuts" "Second FDA-Approved AIDS Treatment Study Begins" "In Final Plan, Pataki Sticks to Theme of Cuts" "Across the USA: Florida" "Second International Conference on Engineered Vaccines for Cancer and AIDS" "The Use of Unconventional Remedies among HIV-Positive Men Living in California" "Labor Women Pledge to Work Together in HIV/AIDS Battle" "'Male Cancer'--a Female Cure?" ************************************************************ "TB Infection Reported on Airline Flight" Washington Post (03/03/95) P. A3 Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday reported the first instance of tuberculosis (TB) transmission between airline passengers. The agency cautioned that people who have infectious TB should not be allowed on commercial flights. Four people contracted TB while seated near an infectious passenger on a domestic flight last year. Alan Hinman, a senior adviser to the CDC director, said that if people with infectious TB "need to travel, they should travel by private auto or air ambulance...or postpone travel until they have been treated to the extent that they are no longer infectious." He added that none of the passengers who were infected as the result of exposure have developed disease. The passengers were advised to receive preventive therapy to reduce the risk that they would ever develop the disease. Most people with active tuberculosis are infectious when diagnosed, but become noninfectious within weeks of treatment. Related Stories: New York Times (03/03) P. B7; Baltimore Sun (03/03) P. 12A; Philadelphia Inquirer (03/03) P. A7 "Baltimore Needle Exchange Surpasses Projected Service" Baltimore Sun (03/03/95) P. 4B; Morris, John A. Last year, in an attempt to slow the spread of AIDS, the Maryland legislature approved a three-year pilot needle exchange program for Baltimore. The program has already served four times the number of people anticipated, but because HIV takes about six months to incubate, it is too early to know whether the program will halt the spread of AIDS, said Dr. Peter L. Beilinson, Baltimore's health commissioner, on Thursday. Since it began at two locations in Baltimore last August, the program has served 2,000 drug users. Beilinson said he believes the program will serve more than 3,500 addicts in its first year. "We're at the point where we could expand to other sites," he said, noting that there are more than 35,000 injection drug users in Baltimore. Related Story: USA Today (03/03) P. 6A "Republicans Agree to Back Restoration of Some Cuts" New York Times (03/03/95) P. A19; Gray, Jerry The Republican majority on the House Appropriations Committee decided on Thursday to reinstate millions of dollars cut from social programs such as AIDS prevention. The committee approved an amendment proposed by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) to restore $36 million for AIDS care and prevention programs--$13 million for the Ryan White Care Act and $23 million for an HIV prevention program by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "You do not want to go home to explain a no vote on this matter," Pelosi warned the panel. "Second FDA-Approved AIDS Treatment Study Begins" PR Newswire (03/02/95) Biocontrol Technology, Inc. announced on Thursday that its IDI, Inc. subsidiary had commenced its second clinical trial of a hyperthermia treatment for AIDS patients. The study, which began at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lafayette, Ind., on Feb. 15, will be conducted with the help of HemoCleanse, Inc. Whole-body extracorporeal hyperthermia treatment combats HIV, which is heat sensitive, by artificially inducing fever. Biocontrol CEO Fred E. Cooper said, "Although there can be no guarantees, because of the excellent results achieved in our July study, we expect equal or better results from this study." "In Final Plan, Pataki Sticks to Theme of Cuts" New York Times (03/03/95) P. B6; Dao, James On Thursday, New York Governor George E. Pataki released the final version of his state budget. The final amendments to his proposal came after a month of protests against large cuts in the spending plan for transportation, education, health, and social service programs. Even on Thursday, 15 people calling for increased state spending on AIDS were arrested for disrupting a speech by Gov. Pataki to journalists and business leaders in Manhattan. "Today's proposals build upon my commitment to cut taxes and spending by instituting sweeping fundamental reforms of government," said Gov. Pataki in a statement. "Across the USA: Florida" USA Today (03/03/95) P. 6A The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that a man wrongly diagnosed as HIV-positive, and a couple given the wrong baby to bury cannot collect damages for mental anguish. The "impact rule" is applicable only when there are physical injuries, the jurists said. "Second International Conference on Engineered Vaccines for Cancer and AIDS" Business Wire (03/02/95) The Second International Conference on Engineered Vaccines for Cancer and AIDS is being held March 3-5 in San Francisco. Topics will include the results of human and primate trials of AIDS vaccines, gene therapy, and a number of strategies for designing AIDS and cancer vaccines. Among the speakers attending the conference is internationally renowned AIDS researcher Dr. Jay A. Levy, a professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, who was one of the first to identify HIV and is a leader in the investigation of methods to boost the immune system cells' ability to fight the virus. "The Use of Unconventional Remedies among HIV-Positive Men Living in California" Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (01/95-02/95) Vol. 6, No. 1, P. 17; Dwyer, Johanna T.; Salvato-Schille, Annette M.; Coulston, Ann et al. Using a multiple-choice questionnaire, Dwyer et al. compared the use of and attitudes toward unconventional remedies among two groups of HIV-positive men in Northern California. The first group was enrolled in clinical trial protocols for various National Institutes of Health-approved treatments for HIV infection at an AIDS Clinical Trials Unit (ACTU), while the comparison group consisted of a self-help group of patients at a community healthcare clinic in San Francisco. Eighty-five percent of the study participants attending the community health center had used unconventional therapies, compared to 58 percent enrolled in the ACTU's clinical trial. Altogether, 70 percent of all participants had used unconventional remedies at least once. While 54 percent of the respondents said that AZT was the most useful treatment for their health problem, other remedies include diet and nutrition counseling, acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and hypnosis. The men enrolled in the clinical trial protocols for investigational drugs used unconventional remedies significantly less than the community health center participants, who were enrolled in an open trial of hypericin, an unproven treatment. "Labor Women Pledge to Work Together in HIV/AIDS Battle" Nation's Health (02/95) Vol. 25, No. 2, P. 24 The National Labor Leaders' Conference on Women and HIV/AIDS, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Coalition of Labor Union Women, concluded with participants pledging to join together to promote compassion and prevention efforts. "We all have learned that we have to get over the ignorance, the fear, the stereotypes, and the apathy," said Gloria Johnson, president of the Coalition of Labor Union Women. At the end of the January conference, participants made plans to form a speakers' bureau to raise the issue of AIDS and HIV at all labor gatherings. Johnson is trying to put together an AIDS information clearinghouse as a resource for labor chapters across the country. Her goal is to help workers develop workplace policies on AIDS and provide more widespread prevention education. "'Male Cancer'--a Female Cure?" Longevity (03/95) Vol. 7, No. 4, P. 98; Pfeiffer, Naomi Men who are infected with HIV often develop Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), a cancer characterized by dark blotches on the skin. HIV-positive women, however, rarely develop KS. Scientists theorize that the protection may be due to female hormones, including human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). To determine whether the hormone also protects men, Dr. Parkash Gill of the University of Southern California is holding the first human trial of HCG in the United States. If the trials are successful, HCG will probably be used immediately to fight KS.