Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 10:19:48 +0500 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 04/23/96 AIDS Daily Summary April 23, 1996 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 National AIDS Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information. Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "Court Upholds Laws Requiring AIDS Tests in Sex-Assault Cases" "What's News--World Wide:Blood Safety" "Doctor Reunited With the Child She Saved" "Quake Expert, AIDS Researcher Are Honored" "800 Houstonians Sweat for AIDS Research Funds" "The Truth Is: Many Won't Give for AIDS Research" "Maternal Antibodies not Protective Against HIV-1 Fetal Transmission" "Zimbabwe--Health: AIDS Discrimination in Health System" "Treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection With Saquinavir, Zidovudine, and Zalcitabine" "New TB Cases Drop in Most--But Not All--States" ************************************************************ "Court Upholds Laws Requiring AIDS Tests in Sex-Assault Cases" New York Times (04/23/96) P. B5; Stout, David A New Jersey court of appeals has upheld two state statutes requiring defendants in sexual-assault cases to be screened for HIV if the victim wants the test performed. The court overturned a lower court's ruling in the case of three juveniles who assaulted a 10-year-old girl. The lower court ruled that the juveniles did not have to take a HIV test on the grounds that the tests would violate the defendants' Constitutional protection from unreasonable search and seizure. The appellate court observed that "the physical intrusion of a needle to obtain a blood sample is slight." Moreover, the court said, the tests do not put the defendants at risk, the results are confidential, and the defendants "have a reduced expectation of privacy" because they pleaded guilty. The decision is expected to be appealed to the New Jersey Supreme Court, according to the New Jersey branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. New York Gov. George Pataki has sought passage of a law to require similar testing of defendants in a variety of crimes. "What's News--World Wide: Blood Safety" Wall Street Journal (04/23/96) P. A1 The Food and Drug Administration said it has reached an agreement with Blood Systems, one of the largest blood banks in the nation, to improve blood safety. CBS Television reported that a federal investigation of the company found hundreds of violations, including allowing HIV-infected individuals to donate blood. "Doctor Reunited With the Child She Saved" Philadelphia Inquirer (04/23/96) P. B1; Collins, Huntly When Susan E. Hall, a doctor at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, discovered that the cause of her five-month-old patient's mysterious illness was HIV, she worried that despite her initial successful treatment, the girl would not survive more than a few years. Stephanie was infected by her mother, now deceased, who did not know she was infected until her daughter was diagnosed. That was 10 years ago, but on Monday, Hall met with Stephanie Ray, who was in York, Pa., speaking with other HIV-positive children at a school assembly as part of a national tour to promote AIDS awareness. When Stephanie was found to have HIV, infected infants were not expected to live more than about five years. Now the life expectancy for HIV-infected children is 8 years to 10 years, or longer. "Quake Expert, AIDS Researcher Are Honored" Baltimore Sun (04/23/96) P. 4B A Silver Spring, Md., AIDS researcher and a Gaithersburg, Md., expert on earthquake engineering have been chosen as Maryland's Outstanding Young Scientist and Outstanding Young Engineer for 1996. Robert A. Craigie, 40, a visiting scientist at the National Institutes of Health, was recognized for his work revealing how retroviruses like HIV integrate themselves into the chromosomes of infected cells, research that is expected to open avenues for the development of new anti-viral drugs. Techniques Craigie developed have led to assay systems used by scientists around the world to study viral integration. Both scientists, who were honored at the "Celebrate Science!" event Monday, received a $2,500 cash award. "800 Houstonians Sweat for AIDS Research Funds" Houston Chronicle (04/22/96) P. 13A; Milling, T.J. About 800 Houston residents helped raise money for AIDS research by participating in the Workout for Hope on Sunday. The event, held in more than 70 cities nationwide, is expected to raise more than $1 million for the City of Hope National Medical Center and the Beckman Research Institute. The Houston Workout raised $92,000 last year, more than any other city. The Workout for Hope was launched eight years ago in Los Angeles. "The Truth Is: Many Won't Give for AIDS Research" Richmond Times-Dispatch (04/22/96) P. A6; Rice, D.W. In a letter to the editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, D.W. Rice, a hemophiliac who was infected with HIV through contaminated blood products, takes issue with the paper's publication of two editorials that he claims implied that people with HIV are infected because they deserve it and that money is wasted on AIDS research. Rice notes that while the private sector and the public are willing to support research for other diseases, many do not fund AIDS research because of the unfair stigma furthered by such articles. "Maternal Antibodies Not Protective Against HIV-1 Fetal Transmission" Reuters (04/22/96) Yale University researchers report in the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal that using vaccines or immunoglobulin to increase certain types of antibodies in mothers who are already infected with HIV-1 may not significantly alter mother-to-infant HIV transmission. Warren A. Andiman and colleagues measured the amount of two types of functional antibodies in 22 HIV-1-positive women at or near the time of delivery and compared these measurements with HIV infection in the children. Less than 50 percent of the women transmitted the virus to their infants. The researchers say they found no significant difference in the prevalence or level of the antibodies in the mothers who did transmit the virus compared to those who did not. "Zimbabwe--Health: AIDS Discrimination in Health System" IPS News Service (04/23/96) Auxillia Chimuso, recently released from a hospital in Zimbabwe, claims she was discriminated against because she has HIV. As Zimbabwe's government cuts back health care spending and the number of AIDS cases increases, the standard of care has suffered. AIDS patients are often seen as undeserving and receive poor treatment as a result. A public official said the allegations are unfounded, however, adding that sick patients are admitted and treated as necessary. But Lyn Francis, a counselor for People Living With AIDS, says the government has ignored calls for health personnel to be more sensitive to AIDS patients. She advocates community-based programs to treat AIDS, since neither the hospitals or the families can care for patients effectively. "Treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection With Saquinavir, Zidovudine, and Zalcitabine" New England Journal of Medicine (04/18/96) Vol. 334, No. 16, P. 1011; Collier, Ann C.; Coombs, Robert W.; Schoenfeld, David A.; et al. Dr. Ann Collier, of the University of Washington School of Medicine, and colleagues tested the three-drug combination of saquinavir, zidovudine, and zalcitabine against the combinations of zidovudine and saquinavir and zidovudine with zalcitabine. The study enrolled more than 300 patients and lasted for at least 24 weeks. In all three treatment groups, CD4 cell counts rose at first and then fell gradually. Moreover, significantly greater reductions in HIV were seen with the three-drug combination than with the other combinations. There was no difference in toxic effects among the three groups. The authors suggest that further research is needed to determine the impact of the three-drug treatment on morbidity and mortality. "New TB Cases Drop in Most--But Not All--States" American Medical News (04/15/96) Vol. 39, No. 15, P. 15 New cases of tuberculosis (TB) decreased 6.4 percent in the United States last year, the third year of decline after an eight-year increase, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported. Twenty states saw no change in the number of cases. In New Mexico, however, the rate of new cases increased 4 percent among the general population, and jumped 67 percent among American Indians. Among the states with the largest increases were: Arizona, up 28 percent; Minnesota, 11 percent; Iowa, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, all up 9 percent; and Wisconsin, which saw a 7 percent rise. TB among Americans increased 20 percent between 1985 and 1992, at which point the government declared the disease a public health emergency. Last year, it spent $145 million to screen its citizens and to make sure those with TB took the six months of treatment needed to cure them. According to the World Health Organization, TB remains the world's leading infectious killer. Moreover, the CDC has warned that, despite declining infection rates in the United States, Americans are not safe from the disease. The agency has urged states and Congress to keep up efforts to combat TB.