From listmgr@aspensys.com Wed May 3 09:03:50 1995 Received: from qrd.rdrop.com (qrd.rdrop.com [199.2.210.245]) by abacus.oxy.edu (8.6.10/8.6.11) with ESMTP id JAA20140 for ; Wed, 3 May 1995 09:03:41 -0700 Received: from casti.com (vector.casti.com [204.91.98.64]) by qrd.rdrop.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) with ESMTP id IAA22429 for ; Wed, 3 May 1995 08:50:25 -0700 Received: from iba.org by casti.com (8.6.9/NX3.0M) id MAA02067; Wed, 3 May 1995 12:03:06 -0400 Received: from aspensys ([198.77.70.104]) by iba.org (8.6.10/8.6.10) with SMTP id JAA01732 for ; Wed, 3 May 1995 09:37:19 -0400 Received: by aspensys (5.0/SMI-SVR4) id AA01192; Wed, 3 May 1995 09:27:00 +0500 Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 09:27:00 +0500 Message-Id: <9505031301.AA27793@aspensys> Errors-To: martha_vander_kolk@smtpinet.aspensys.com Reply-To: aidsnews@aspensys.com Originator: aidsnews@cdcnac.aspensys.com Sender: aidsnews@aspensys.com Precedence: bulk From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com To: qrd@vector.casti.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 05/03/95 X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse Content-Length: 10218 X-Lines: 191 Status: RO AIDS Daily Summary May 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 ************************************************************ "D.C. Fails to Use Millions in Federal Aid" "Plastic Condom Breakage Rate Is Questioned" "Minnesota Legislator Votes Down a Death-Penalty Amendment" "Teen-Ager Sacrifices His Time to Educate Peers on AIDS" "Benetton Wins in Bloody Ad Suit" "Planned Parenthood Begins New TV Birth Control Ads" "Thalidomide and HIV: Several Possible Uses" "Induction of Apoptosis in Uninfected Lymphocytes by HIV-1 Tat Protein" "Photonics Decontaminates Blood" "News in Brief: French Sex" ************************************************************ "D.C. Fails to Use Millions in Federal Aid" Washington Post (05/03/95) P. A1; Goldstein, Amy; Loeb, Vernon Despite the fact that the city is running out of its own funds, the District of Columbia is still not using millions of dollars in federal aid. This problem has not only brought the city's road and bridge projects to a virtual standstill, but has also interrupted subsidies for AIDS services, public housing, foster care, and drug treatment. Reasons why the money has become stuck include a decision to treat federal funds the same as local funds, a cash shortage so extreme that the city cannot make the matching payments that some of the grants require, and delays in contracting with community groups that deliver federally subsidized services. One effect of the stalled subsidies is that Health Care for the Homeless temporarily closed the city's only special medical unit for homeless people with AIDS because the federal grant that pays for it was four months late. The Whitman-Walker Clinic, the area's largest AIDS organization, is still awaiting $228,000 in overdue federal payments. Senior aides to Mayor Marion Barry acknowledge the problem and say they are working to correct it, in several cases with intervention from federal agencies. "Plastic Condom Breakage Rate Is Questioned" USA Today (05/03/95) P. 1D; Painter, Kim Government health authorities are concerned that the Avanti condom might break more frequently than latex brands. Due to conflicting information from manufacturer- and government-funded research, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is unsure about breakage rates for the new plastic condom and has called for a new study. The FDA's Dr. Susan Alpert, however, says the approval of Avanti was not a mistake because as much as 7 percent of the population is allergic to latex. "In the current AIDS crisis, we thought it would be inappropriate for us to withhold a condom...even if it might not be as good," she explained. While about 2 percent of latex condoms break, the plastic condom broke 0.4 percent to 2.1 percent of the time, according to studies by London International U.S. Holdings Inc. Five federally funded studies, however, found breakage rates from 4 percent to 15 percent. For now, says Alpert, Avanti users should beware. A number of other plastic condoms are also under FDA review. "Minnesota Legislator Votes Down a Death-Penalty Amendment" Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News (05/03/95) In a 96-37 vote, the Minnesota Legislature voted against an amendment to a crime bill that would have allowed people convicted of certain aggravated first-degree murders to be put to death by lethal injection. After concluding the death penalty debate, the House unanimously approved an $870 million judiciary finance bill that provides funds for corrections, public safety, and related programs. The bill includes an amendment that would make it a felony to knowingly engage in behavior that could result in the transmission of HIV. The bill would apply to consensual sex acts if one partner does not know that the other is infected with HIV. "Teen-Ager Sacrifices His Time to Educate Peers on AIDS" St. Louis Post-Dispatch (05/02/95) P. 1B; Corrigan, Patricia On Tuesday, John Needem, 17, was awarded the Clara Barton Award by the St. Louis Bi-State Chapter of the American Red Cross for his service as a speaker and a trainer. He is the first teenager to receive the award. Needem is a leader in the Red Cross' Youth Peer Health and Education Program (Y-PHEP), which emphasizes HIV and AIDS prevention programs because teenagers often engage in high-risk activities. Needem and 40 other teens speak to school, church and youth groups, and camps about HIV and AIDS prevention. "I feel like I've helped my peers by giving them answers to questions they wouldn't ask adults," says Needem. In addition to HIV and AIDS, Needem also covers such topics as teen pregnancy, self-esteem, and substance abuse. "Benetton Wins in Bloody Ad Suit" Reuters (05/02/95); Zeitz, Gundula On Tuesday, a German retailer was ordered to pay more than $662,000 for goods from Italian clothing company Benetton, despite his claim that the firm's shock ads had lowered his sales. The shock ads included pictures of a dying AIDS patient, and of the bloody clothes of a dead Croat soldier. The court rejected the man's claims that the value of the goods should be compensation for losses the advertising caused him. The decision marks Benetton's second victory in a series of suits filed against various German retailers who alleged that the company's advertising had offended customers. "Planned Parenthood Begins New TV Birth Control Ads" Reuters (05/02/95); Vinzant, Carol Claiming it would reverse two decades of network television "irresponsibility" toward public service messages on contraception, Planned Parenthood launched five short TV advertisements on Tuesday. The theme of the video segments--which, like most public service announcements, will run late at night--is "Birth Control. Try it. It works." In most parts of the country, birth control ads have not been shown on television since the mid-1970s. By 1987, some stations aired ads for condoms as AIDS prevention, but New York City stations rejected ads featuring a married couple talking about birth control. In 1994, Planned Parenthood was inspired to try again because public service announcements put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promoting condoms for AIDS control were accepted by the all three major networks. "Thalidomide and HIV: Several Possible Uses" AIDS Treatment News (04/21/95) No. 221, P. 1; Smith, Denny Recently, thalidomide has become the object of research for the potential treatment of several AIDS-related conditions, including aphthous ulcers, wasting, and tuberculosis. The word thalidomide, however, provokes alarm in those who remember it as the cause of birth defects in thousands of babies born during the 1950's and 1960's. However, the drug has been found to inhibit tumor necrosis factor (TNF), high levels of which are associated with the development of aphthous ulcers, dementia, fevers, fatigue, and wasting. Thalidomide also inhibits angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels, which has stimulated research interest in diseases such as cancer and Kaposi's sarcoma. Despite apparent interest in the treatment, several investigators have said the current thalidomide trials have been slow to recruit. One reason may be that many people, including physicians, do not believe that the drug is being offered for the treatment of any disease. Another reason could be that the wasting and ulcer trials involve a placebo group, which many people in poor health find unattractive. "Induction of Apoptosis in Uninfected Lymphocytes by HIV-1 Tat Protein" Science (04/21/95) Vol. 268, No. 5209, P. 429; Li, Chiang J.; Freidman, David J.; Wang, Chuanlin et al. In most patients, HIV-1 infection is characterized by the progressive loss of CD4 T lymphocytes and the deterioration of immune function. A key unresolved issue in AIDS pathogenesis, however, is the mechanism behind the T-cell depletion. Li et al. demonstrated how the HIV-1 Tat protein induced cell death by apoptosis in a T-cell line and in cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells from uninfected donors. The Tat-induced apoptosis could be blocked by growth factors and was associated with increased activation of cyclin-dependent kinases. "Photonics Decontaminates Blood" Biophotonics International (03/95-04/95) Vol. 2, No. 2, P. 16 While trying to decontaminate the disease-carrying units of blood that sometimes escape detection, Steritech--a biopharmaceutical company based in California--developed a process that uses light and photoreactive compounds to inactivate blood-borne pathogens while guarding the life-preserving function of blood and blood components. Using this process, called photochemical decontamination (PCD), Steritech says it has inactivated several of the most common and threatening blood-borne pathogens, including HIV. In preclinical tests, the company has shown that PCD-treated platelets have normal recovery and survival when treated under conditions that effectively inactivate viral and bacterial pathogens. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health has awarded Steritech two five-year grants to support the company's research of photochemical inactivation of infectious agents in blood and blood products. "News in Brief: French Sex" Lancet (04/15/95) Vol. 345, No. 8955, P. 979 When studying the sexual behavior of 6,000 15- to 18-year-olds, the French National Agency for Research into AIDS found that 80 percent of the boys and 75 percent of the girls said they used a condom during their most recent sexual encounter. In addition, the teenagers were familiar with the modes of HIV transmission, were tolerant to those affected, and did not support mandatory HIV testing.