Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 15:44:32 -0400 From: "Martha Vander Kolk" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 08/21/96 AIDS Daily Summary August 21, 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 ****************************************************** "Across the USA: Connecticut" "Lifesaving Medical History Coming in a Flash" "District's Drinking Water Tests High for Bacteria for Third Month" "Children Facing AIDS to Attend Special Camp" "Japan Police Raid Firm at Center of AIDS Scandal" "Report Card on Clinton's '92 Campaign Promises Published" "HIV-Infected Infants Respond to Haemophilus Influenzae Type B Conjugate Vaccine" "Tangled Lifeline" "How to Fight AIDS" "J&J's Confide Faces Legal Battle, New Rival" ****************************************************** "Across the USA: Connecticut" USA Today (08/21/96) P. 11A Needle exchange programs in Willimantic, Conn., should be reviewed, say law enforcement officials. More than 350 discarded needles were found on city streets one week, and a 2-year-old girl was pricked by one. "Lifesaving Medical History Coming in a Flash" New York Times (08/21/96) P. C9; Gilbert, Susan While electronic medical identification cards may provide life-saving information for patients who need emergency care, critics caution that the system could allow personal information to be disclosed. Certain medical data--like whether a person has HIV, a history of mental illness, or a genetic predisposition to a disease--could become available to insurance companies or employers and lead to discrimination, they say. At least six legislative proposals are pending that would attempt to protect a patient's privacy and prohibit discrimination based on genetic information. Supporters of electronic medical identification systems defend their security, saying that selected files can be encrypted to restrict access. "District's Drinking Water Tests High for Bacteria for Third Month" Washington Post (08/21/96) P. C3; Cohn, D'Vera For the third month in a row, tests have shown that high bacteria levels in Washington D.C.'s tap water violate federal standards, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday. The officials repeated the recommendations they made in June and July, advising people with weak immune systems--including persons with AIDS, individuals who receive chemotherapy, and the elderly--to consult their doctors about possible alternatives to tap water. The continuing problem stems from long neglect of the city's pipe system. Extra chlorine was added to the water last month, but only limited success was seen. Officials are experimenting with a stronger disinfectant, but that chemical, known as chloramines, will not be fully utilized for at least a year. "Children Facing AIDS to Attend Special Camp" Boston Globe (08/20/96) P. B3 As part of the Safe Haven Project, a camp based in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., will host more than 100 children with HIV and AIDS over the next two weeks. The campers are mostly from the Northeast, and range in age from age six to 18. They will visit several New Hampshire attractions, including the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium, Canobie Lake, and the Anheuser-Busch brewery. "Japan Police Raid Firm at Center of AIDS Scandal" Reuters (08/21/96); Eckert, Paul The offices of Green Cross, a Japanese drug company implicated in the country's tainted blood scandal, was raided by public prosecutors Wednesday. The raid was the first police action against the companies that distributed HIV-infected blood products to hemophiliacs in the mid-1980s, leaving about 2,000 hemophiliacs infected with the virus. The action was in response to a lawsuit charging Renzo Matsushita, a former Green Cross president, with negligence in the AIDS-related death of a patient. Green Cross and four other drug companies reached a settlement with 400 HIV-infected hemophiliacs in March, and took responsibility for failing to prevent the spread of the virus when the risk had been known. "Report Card on Clinton's '92 Campaign Promises Published" Reuters (08/20/96) President Clinton kept several of his 1992 AIDS-related campaign promises, according to the August 19 issue of the American Health Line, which features an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette report on the president's fulfilled and unfilled promises. Included in the promises Clinton kept were: the appointment of a federal AIDS policy coordinator; increased funding for AIDS research, prevention, and treatment; more rapid approval of new AIDS drugs; support of local in-school condom distribution; funding for the Ryan White Care Act; and improved access to experimental treatments. According to the report, unfulfilled promises include the president's pledge to lift the ban on U.S. travel or immigration for people with HIV. "HIV-Infected Infants Respond to Haemophilus Influenzae Type B Conjugate Vaccine" Reuters (08/20/96) In a study of infants exposed to or infected with HIV, Haemophilus influenzae type B conjugate vaccine elicited a positive immune response, researchers from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia report. Richard M. Rutsein and colleagues found that 46 percent of the HIV-infected infants and 79 percent of the HIV-exposed babies, mounted an immune response to the vaccine. After the 15-month booster dose, however, the immune response in the two groups was not significantly different. The study appears in the August issue of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine. "Tangled Lifeline" Washington Post Magazine (08/18/96) P. 10; Cohen, Susan Umbilical cord blood is being touted as a potential lifesaving treatment for various blood and immune system diseases, and companies are urging expectant parents to have their child's cord blood collected and stored as a form of insurance. Cord blood may be used in place of bone marrow transplants to treat diseases when other treatments fail. More than 200 cord blood transplants have been conducted in the United States since 1990, and the National Lung and Blood Institute has allocated $30 million to the creation of cord blood banks and transplant centers. Like gene therapy and genetic screening, however, scientific and ethical questions surround the issue--and answers are not immediately forthcoming. In the meantime, as companies are sending marketing materials to expectant parents, doctors are criticizing the practice, saying that cord blood transplants are only rarely needed. The Food and Drug Administration, concerned about the safety of cord blood from infectious and genetic diseases, has decided to regulate cord blood as a drug, a process considered burdensome to blood banks. "How to Fight AIDS" Newsweek (08/05/96) Vol. 128, No. 6, P. 18; Merson, Michael H. Although political and financial support for HIV prevention programs is decreasing, Michael H. Merson, dean of public health at Yale University, says that this support should be maintained, especially in light of new studies that show such strategies are successful. In a Newsweek magazine commentary, Merson argues that prevention is more humane and cost-effective than treatment, and fears that advances in treatment may lead to complacency in prevention. At the 11th International Conference on AIDS, several reports touted the success of HIV prevention efforts, including needle exchange programs, community-based activities, and the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Merson, however, suggests that political and financial support for such programs has declined because the groups affected most--gay men, drug users, African-Americans, and Latinos--lack political influence. He urges prevention and treatment efforts to be continued to combat the growing AIDS epidemic. "J&J's Confide Faces Legal Battle, New Rival" Advertising Age (08/05/96) Vol. 67, No. 32, P. 3; Wilke, Michael Johnson & Johnson, facing competition from Home Access Health in the home HIV test kit market, has decided to begin national direct mail sales of its test, called Confide, immediately and to increase national retail availability in September. The company will begin national advertising of Confide's 800-number in September. J&J is also facing a legal battle with Elliott Millenson, a former executive who developed the test and was hired by J&J to head its Direct Access Diagnostics division. An arbitrator has ruled that the company return the product rights to Millenson. Home Access Health, meanwhile, has launched a $5 million to $7 million advertising campaign for its test kit. A similar test by ChemTrak is awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration, and SmithKline Beecham will seek approval to market to consumers its saliva-based HIV test, now approved for use by doctors.