Date: Fri, 3 Nov 1995 14:50:48 +0500 From: "Martha Vander Kolk" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 11/03/95 AIDS Daily Summary November 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 ************************************************************ "Nation's Blood Supply Faces New Dangers, CDC Chief Says" "The Economics of Disease" "1 in 3 Blacks Believes in AIDS Conspiracy, Survey Finds" "In the Loop: GOP Invokes Free Speech for Minister's Invocation" "Supreme Court Doesn't Slight AIDS Cases" "Across the USA: Vermont" "Heterosexuals Polled on HIV-Related Risks" "Medical Discoveries Wins Permanent Injunction..." "Nef Vaccination Against HIV Disease" "Health Hotlines: Cancer and AIDS Pain" ************************************************************ "Nation's Blood Supply Faces New Dangers, CDC Chief Says" Baltimore Sun (11/03/95) P. 9A The United States must continue to protect itself against new threats to the safety of the blood supply, cautioned Dr. David Satcher, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on Thursday. "We are faced increasingly with new and re-emerging infectious-disease challenges," he noted. Though Satcher said the CDC was increasing its surveillance system to guard against new contaminants, he admitted that hemophiliacs are still the best early warning system because they use substantial amounts of blood-clotting products made from human plasma. Satcher's statements came during a hearing by a congressional subcommittee investigating how to prevent another epidemic such as HIV. "The Economics of Disease" Investor's Business Daily (11/03/95) P. B1 A recent study by economists David Bloom of Columbia University and Barnard College's Ajay Mahal concludes that there is no significant connection between the increased number of AIDS cases and slower economic growth. The proposed link between the two was due to the fact that many African nations have both large numbers of AIDS patients and slow economies. That, however, does not necessarily mean that one causes the other. The National Bureau of Economic Research study factored out the connections between economic growth and such factors as schooling and literacy, foreign trade, tourism, religion, and urbanization. The researchers said that eliminating the effects of these elements leaves AIDS with little influence on economic growth. Reasons why AIDS does not damage economies as much as expected include the large pool of unemployed workers in developing countries who continue where sick workers left off, the fact that AIDS tends to affect the poor more than others, and that over time, health care adjusts to AIDS. A final reason is that people also modify their behavior, slowing the growth of AIDS below estimates so that any influence on the economy will be less than predicted. "1 in 3 Blacks Believes in AIDS Conspiracy, Survey Finds" Miami Herald (11/02/95) P. 9A More than one-third of 1,000 black church members believe that HIV was developed in a germ warfare laboratory and has since been used to commit genocide against their race, a new survey has found. Another 33 percent report being "unsure" as to whether AIDS was designed to kill black people. Although the survey cohort was not necessarily representative of the U.S. black population and the findings cannot be applied to blacks overall, the researchers say they were surprised by the pervasive nature of these beliefs. "They don't trust our public health data," said Sandra Crouse Quinn, an author of the 1990 survey and an educator at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina. Quinn added that "if they believe AIDS is a form of genocide they are less likely to get tested, less likely to use condoms, and less likely to participate in clinical trials. The findings were reported this week at a meeting of the American Public Health Association. Related Story: Boston Globe (11/02) P. 21 "In the Loop: GOP Invokes Free Speech for Minister's Invocation" Washington Post (11/03/95) P. A21; Kamen, Al Democrats in the House of Representatives say they are "outraged" that Thursday morning's invocation was given by Rev. Louis Sheldon, a Presbyterian minister and chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition. According to Rep. Lynn C. Woolsey (D-Calif.) and 21 others, Sheldon "has made a career out of vilifying lesbians, gays, and persons with AIDS" and has called for people "with HIV/AIDS [to] be confined in concentration camp-like establishments known as 'cities of refuge.'" In a letter to House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), the Democratic representatives said that the Speaker should not "provide bigots like Rev. Sheldon with an official platform" which "encourages...displays of hate." The House Speaker's press secretary said, however, that the invocation--which was deemed nonpartisan and general by the Chaplain's office--was "perfectly appropriate." "Supreme Court Doesn't Slight AIDS Cases" New York Times (11/03/95) P. A28; Meyer, Jeffrey A. Regarding a recent commentary by Prof. Michael L. Closen on the Supreme Court's failure to address certain AIDS-related cases, assistant U.S. attorney Jeffrey A. Meyer observes in a letter to the editors of the New York Times that by Closen's standard, the Court has also not ruled on many other medical conditions. Cancer, for example, is the cause of death for more than 500,000 people a year. But only last spring, the Justices rejected a case in which the lower courts dismissed a mother's claim against a health maintenance organization that refused to cover an experimental treatment for a rare cancer that had attacked her son. The Supreme Court is not the Surgeon General, argues Meyer, and it is not licensed to teach the public about the "myths and prejudices about HIV and AIDS," as Closen believes. According to Meyer, the duty of the Court, which receives some 6,000 petitions for review every year, is to rule on the legally difficult cases, which have either run into conflict in the lower courts or may conflict on hard legal principles. Furthermore, even if the Court were to warn the public about the dangers of AIDS, the epidemic--like the abortion issue--would not disappear, he concludes. "Across the USA: Vermont" USA Today (11/03/95) P. 6A The Human Rights Commission of Vermont has approved a policy which protects in a complaint the identities of parties who may have privacy issues, such as people with AIDS or abused women. "Heterosexuals Polled on HIV-Related Risks" Boston Globe (11/02/95) P. 3 A survey completed in 1990 and repeated two years later indicates that heterosexual adults are not significantly changing their sexual behavior in response to HIV risk. In fact, the survey--which involved more than 9,000 people from 23 high-risk cities and other U.S. locations--found that the number of people reporting multiple sexual partners increased by 4 percent. Additionally, there was no greater likelihood in 1992 than in 1990 that people would seek HIV testing or consistently use condoms with their principal sex partner. But there was an increase in condom use with secondary sex partners, and basketball legend Magic Johnson's appeals for people to use the prophylactics have also been particularly effective among blacks, the survey found. The study was reported in the current issue of the American Journal of Public Health. "Medical Discoveries Wins Permanent Injunction..." Business Wire (11/02/95) Medical Discoveries Inc. reported on Thursday that it has been granted a permanent injunction against former company president Robert E. Morrow. The injunction prohibits Morrow from competing with the company in treating AIDS and other patients with MDI-P, Medical Discoveries' patent-pending anti-viral agent. Under the terms of the settlement, Morrow, who discovered MDI-P, will receive reduced royalties and fees on the drug and will pay Medical Discoveries $150,000 in cash. The company plans to file an Investigational New Drug application for use of MDI-P on U.S. HIV-infected or AIDS patients. "Nef Vaccination Against HIV Disease" Lancet (10/28/95) Vol. 346, No. 8983, P. 1170; Montagnier, Luc In a letter to the editors of the Lancet, Luc Montagnier of the Pasteur Institute suggests hyperimmunization against the nef gene to reduce and ultimately suppress HIV's pathogenicity in humans. Although people vaccinated against nef would not be safeguarded against HIV, Montagnier notes, they might have an initial virus load low enough to be controlled by their immune system. Additionally, nef-vaccinated individuals would be less infectious to their sexual partners and unborn children. In the long term, such vaccination--which would be safe and could be given to children before the age of sexual activity--would reduce the level of HIV infection, Montagnier concludes. "Health Hotlines: Cancer and AIDS Pain" Men's Health (11/95) Vol. 10, No. 9, P. 34 Access Roxane Laboratories' Internet site provides information on how to deal with the often inevitable pain that accompanies cancer and AIDS. Users can go to "http://www.Roxane.com" to obtain newsletters, clinical articles, and treatment guidelines on cancer and AIDS pain management, as well as a schedule of pain-management seminars.