Date: Thu, 12 Oct 1995 09:34:53 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 10/12/95 AIDS Daily Summary October 12, 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 ************************************************************ "Study Says Society Fails 19 Million Youths" "Kansas Virologist Makes New AIDS Virus" "Digest: Johnson & Johnson" "Blood Safety Record Bad in Canada, Study Says" "Finding a Place of Peace" "Medical Discoveries to Receive Its First Research Grant to Target AIDS, Hepatitis from Dental Drills" "India Refining Simple HIV Test" "Detection of Kaposi Sarcoma Associated Herpesvirus in Peripheral Blood of HIV-Infected Individuals and Progression to Kaposi's Sarcoma" "Marquee Values" ************************************************************ "Study Says Society Fails 19 Million Youths" New York Times (10/12/95) P. A14; Applebome, Peter A newly released report from the Carnegie Corporation indicates that 19 million young adolescents do not have society's support. The study, entitled "Great Transitions: Preparing Adolescents for a New Century," found that youths face crucial decisions about their health, education, and safety at increasingly younger ages. In addition, society has not helped these adolescents avoid such dangers as AIDS, suicide, and teenage pregnancy, the report said. To help solve these problems, the Carnegie Corp. called for changes in schools, community services, and family involvement. David A. Hamburg, president of the organization, noted that the main objective of the report was to bring attention to what he called the least researched and least understood level of human development. Related Story: Washington Post (10/12) P. A1 "Kansas Virologist Makes New AIDS Virus" Washington Times (10/12/95) P. A16 A new form of HIV-1, called KU SHIV, causes AIDS in non-human primates. This new virus was developed by Bill Narayan, a virologist at the University of Kansas Medical Center and a Marion Merrell Dow distinguished professor. Narayan comments, "The previous inability of HIV to cause disease in non-human species has been a major impediment in determining the effectiveness of anti-HIV drugs and vaccines." "Digest: Johnson & Johnson" Washington Post (10/12/95) P. D12 Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has said it will stop misrepresenting statistics and making unjustified claims about its K-Y Plus Nonoxynol-9 Spermicidal Lubricant. The company's announcement comes in response to a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission, which said that J&J misstated the failure rate of condoms and promoted the lubricant as "condom insurance" against undesired pregnancy, HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases. "Blood Safety Record Bad in Canada, Study Says" Toronto Globe and Mail (10/11/95) P. A6 Canada has the fifth-worst record among 12 industrialized nations in dealing with the spread of HIV into its blood supply, says a new study submitted to the federal inquiry into Canada's contaminated blood scandal. In terms of efficacy in protecting its blood supply, Canada came in eighth--behind the United States, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Canada, however, fared better than Australia, France, Belgium, and Germany. According to the study, the rate of AIDS among Canadians who have received blood was 1.8 percent as of March. With a figure of nearly 5 percent, the worst rate was found in Belgium, while the best was in Spain, which came in at the 0.9-percent mark. Robert Remis, the Montreal epidemiologist who conducted the study, also found that there are about 170 Canadians who have received tainted transfusions of whom the Canadian Red Cross is not aware. "Finding a Place of Peace" Los Angeles Times (10/11/95) P. E1; Noriyuki, Duane Volunteers at the Carl Bean AIDS Care Center in Los Angeles focus on providing comfort for the dying. Cassandra Christenson founded Project Nightlight, which provides these volunteers, four years ago so that people would not have to die alone. Most of the 25 residents at the hospice have been diagnosed as "actively dying"--that is, doctors have determined they have fewer than six months to live. The volunteers work in shifts--holding patients' hands, playing soft music, meditating, or praying. They have not been trained following a step-by-step process of what to do. Instead, each volunteer is told to approach each patient and encounter as an empty vessel, not imposing their own agendas or belief systems, but honoring the clients'. "In general," says Christenson, "we cannot be effective unless we totally honor the people we serve, where they're at, and only respond to life up to the moment of death and never address what goes on afterward." "Medical Discoveries to Receive Its First Research Grant to Target AIDS, Hepatitis from Dental Drills" Business Wire (10/11/95) Steril-Med, Inc. of Houston has awarded a $30,000 grant to Medical Discoveries, Inc. of Salt Lake City to evaluate its patented anti-viral compound, called MDI-P, for the sterilization of dental drills. The American Academy of Microbiology has indicated that HIV and hepatitis may be contracted from incorrectly cleaned handpieces. In exchange for funding the trials, Steril-Med will have the option of first refusal to negotiate an exclusive license from Medical Discoveries to manufacture and sell the compound for such sterilization purposes, as long as it is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Medical Discoveries has filed a number of applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office regarding use of MDI-P for such human disease as AIDS. "India Refining Simple HIV Test" Nature Medicine (10/95) Vol. 1, No. 10, P. 984; Jayaraman, K.S. Delhi University researchers have designed a simple, inexpensive whole blood test which they claim will detect HIV antibodies within five to 10 seconds. The problem, however, is that the scientists--who are currently refining the test--do not intend to market the test until it reliably detects both HIV-1 and HIV-2, a process which could take six months. The one-step test requires mixing a drop of a reagent prepared through recombinant DNA technology with a drop of blood on a slide. If the red blood cells clump together, the test is positive for HIV. The test was developed by Vijay K. Chaudhary in collaboration with Shobha Sehgal of the Postgraduate Institution for Medical Education and Research. Chaudhary says it failed only once in a limited trial of 1,000 samples. Meanwhile, though he has received numerous offers to commercialize the test, Chaudhary wants to wait until his researchers can develop a "cocktail" of fusion proteins carrying all the remaining antigens of HIV-1 and HIV-2. The Indian government has already spent $150,000 on the research, and has pledged another $100,000 for the development of other fusion proteins. Chaudhary expects to have a commercially available test out in 1996. "Detection of Kaposi Sarcoma Associated Herpesvirus in Peripheral Blood of HIV-Infected Individuals and Progression to Kaposi's Sarcoma" Lancet (09/23/95) Vol. 346, No. 8978, P. 799; Whitby, D.; Howard, M.R.; Tenant-Flowers, M.; et al. Whitby et al. report that Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) was identified in more than half of KS patients, but not at all in blood donors or HIV-negative controls. Detection of KSHV increased with immunosuppression, and its presence in peripheral blood cells of HIV-positive persons without KS forecast the ensuing KS lesions. Out of 143 patients who did not have KS at the time of the initial blood sample, six of the 11 who were KSHV-positive developed KS during more than two years of follow up. Meanwhile, only 12 of the 132-member KSHV-negative group developed the cancer. According to the researchers, the study's results agree with KSHV's causitive role in KS. On reason for KSHV's limited spread could be related to the fact that it was seldom detected in sputum and throat swabs of HIV-positive individuals. "Marquee Values" POZ (10/95-11/95) No. 10, P. 40; Northrop, Ann The current attitude towards HIV in the theater community is mixed, with both positive and negative incidents taking place. AIDS experts often divide AIDS-related issues into prevention of new infections, research for a treatment and a cure, and care, but the theater world has clearly selected the third area as its focus. Compassionate stories abound, including those of actors kept on contract for many months until their deaths, even though they were unable to work, and tireless fundraising. In 1987, Actors' Equity created Equity Fights AIDS (EFA) to raise funds for the care of its members, and the establishment producers started Broadway Cares (BC). The two groups, which formally merged in 1992, have raised more than $7.3 million for the Actors' Fund since 1987. BC/EFA also distributes millions to AIDS service organizations around the country. However, in addition to the fundraising and caretaking are the sentiments of fear and loathing. One musical director, for example, is rumored to have been forced out just before a big opening, while an infected actor's contract was simply not renewed. "AIDS is whispered about, and those who have it are seen as the bad luck people, as opposed to the chosen ones who don't," says actor, writer, and agent Dick Scanlan. Overall, it can be said that Broadway does and does not care--the fundraising and care given are in many ways extraordinary, but it is still very difficult for a member to disclose his or her illness.