Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 17:24:45 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 02/15/96 AIDS Daily Summary February 15, 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 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 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "New York to Screen Boxers for H.I.V." "Military HIV Ban Defended by Gingrich" "Today's Debate: Mandatory AIDS Testing" "Women-Friendly AIDS Protection" "HIV Deadly Weapon?" "Lawyer Gets Virulent in Case of HIV Cop" "Voices: Should Professional Athletes Be Required to Be Tested for the AIDS Virus?" "IV Drug Use Compromises Integrity of Cell Membranes Prior to HIV Infection" "Modified Microbe May Boost TB Vaccine" "The Challenge of Maternal-Infant Transmission of HIV" ************************************************************ "New York to Screen Boxers for H.I.V." New York Times (02/15/96) P. B17; Sandomir, Richard The New York State Athletic Commission announced Wednesday that boxers would be screened annually for HIV before fighting. Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona are the only other states to currently require testing. The commission said it is implementing the test as a result of the finding that heavyweight Tommy Morrison has HIV. Floyd Patterson, the commission chairman, said, "because of the very nature of boxing, the risk of HIV transmission from blood-to-blood contact is there. We must do everything we can to protect the health and well-being of those who compete in New York." Past chairman Randy Gordon said he pushed for the mandate for seven years and was told that it would require new legislation. The new policy may be the result of broader interpretation of existing law under New York Gov. George E. Pataki. The American Civil Liberties Union has argued that the policy must be supported by medical evidence that boxers are at risk for HIV transmission, something which is currently being debated among experts. Related Stories: Washington Post (02/15/96) P. D4; USA Today (02/15/96) P. 1C "Military HIV Ban Defended by Gingrich" Washington Post (02/15/96) P. A7; Yang, John E. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) found fault with President Clinton and basketball player Earvin "Magic" Johnson for supporting a repeal of a new policy that would force the discharge of all HIV-positive military members. Gingrich charged on Wednesday that Clinton and Johnson do not understand combat, although Gingrich obtained deferments from military service himself. Gingrich said that "no one who has ever studied seriously how bad combat can get wants to have a person in your unit who's HIV-positive because you have a real danger of transferring blood." Current military policy, however, already prevents people with HIV from serving in combat. Gingrich made the comments in response to a letter from Johnson, who asked for support for Clinton's attempts to repeal the provision. "Today's Debate: Mandatory AIDS Testing" USA Today (02/15/96) P. 10A A USA Today editorial, followed by a response from Bill Eastman of the California Athletic Commission, addresses the issue of mandatory HIV testing for athletes. The editorial calls the demands for mandatory testing "irrational." The editors claim that the risk of HIV transmission in the ring is trivial compared to the risk of brain damage and that boxing officials should focus more on the HIV risks boxers face outside the ring, such as unsafe sex and shared needles. In opposition, Eastman notes that HIV testing is a safety issue, that mucous and blood are commonly commingled between boxers in the ring. Even though the risk is low, he says, testing would offer protection. He says each sport should be considered individually. In California, a law to require the test for boxers has failed before but will now find support, Eastman predicts. "Women-Friendly AIDS Protection" USA Today (2/14/96) P. 9D; Painter, Kim Scientists attempting to develop microbicides--vaginal creams or gels that women can use to protect themselves from AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases--have several promising leads. Research is ongoing for products that might directly eliminate bacteria and viruses as well as others that might make the vaginal environment more able to resist infection. According to Sharon Hillier of the University of Pittsburgh, the aim is to discover "low-tech, user-friendly" compounds that are inexpensive and can be used without a partner's knowledge. Hillier is examining a vaginal suppository containing lactobacilli--bacteria that are found naturally in the vagina and are related to strains found in yogurt--while other researchers are working on products that would alter the acid balance of the vagina or coat cells to prevent infection. Related Story: Boston Globe (02/14) P. 56 "HIV Deadly Weapon?" Houston Chronicle (02/14/96) P. 24A In a rape trial in Austin, Texas, prosecutors in an aggravated sexual assault trial are trying to show that Jose Fonseca Najera's HIV-positive status constitutes a "deadly weapon." Police say the 16-year-old girl who Najera is accused of raping died of exposure three days after Najera forced her and a 15-year-old boy to spray each other with a hose and then locked them outside overnight in near-freezing conditions. "Lawyer Gets Virulent in Case of HIV Cop" Miami Herald (02/14/96) P. B1; Balmaseda, Liz Miami Beach lawyer Joel Hirschhorn is threatening to sue the city for exposing Wyn Morris to HIV by allowing an HIV-positive police officer to serve. Ambrose Sims arrested Hirschhorn's client on Dec. 20 for battery on a police officer and resisting arrest, after Morris became angry when her car was towed from a drive-through teller lane at a bank. Thus far, Hirschhorn has attempted to damage Sim's record through allegations and reports to his personnel file. He has also charged that Sim's mind has been affected by HIV drugs. "Voices: Should Professional Athletes Be Required to Be Tested for the AIDS Virus?" USA Today (02/14/96) P. 12A USA Today conducted a poll of its readers regarding the HIV testing of professional athletes in response to the news that boxer Tommy Morrison tested positive for the virus. Milt Richards of Albany, N.Y. said the tests should not be required, unless the "medical community can document the need for such testing for medical reasons." Eleven-year-old Kim Judd of Vernon, Wis. thinks the test should be mandatory as a matter of responsibility. Meanwhile, Ken Rice of Dellwood, Mo. said the test should not be required because athletes should be given the same rights as the rest of the public. Wanda Molina of Arecibo, P.R. said for sports where a lot of blood is shed, like boxing, the test is needed, but not in other sports. R. Scott Van Dyke of Tulsa, Okla. said the test should be required for all sports. "IV Drug Use Compromises Integrity of Cell Membranes Prior to HIV Infection" Reuters (02/14/96) Researchers in Switzerland have reported that intravenous drug use "compromises the biochemical and structural integrity of the membrane surface" of blood cells even before HIV infection. The researchers studied the blood cells of 101 injection drug users, including 91 who were HIV-positive, as well as the blood of a control group HIV-negative IV drug users. The scientists found that both groups had abnormal surface enzyme kinetics in their peripheral blood mononuclear cells. "Modified Microbe May Boost TB Vaccine" Science (01/26/96) Vol.271, No.5248, P. 447; Roush, Wade A relatively harmless mycobacterium, bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), has been widely used as a vaccine against the tuberculosis (TB) organism because the similarity between their proteins appears to arm the body's immune system against a TB attack. BCG does not always remain protective, and now intercellular messengers called cytokines may be used to bolster the immune system. Researchers at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have engineered BCG to express several mouse cytokines that stimulate immune cells to attack an invader. They report that giving mice the engineered bacterium greatly improved their cells' immune responses to TB. Other researchers are praising the achievement, which raises the hopes for an improved TB vaccine, and could lead to better cancer therapies as well. While the procedure has been proven to work, Kenneth Stover, a molecular microbiologist at the Seattle firm PathoGenesis, says that "it's potentially exciting. There is definitely room for an improved BCG vaccine, and this may be a much cheaper, safer way to do it than adding cytokines as drugs." "The Challenge of Maternal-Infant Transmission of HIV" Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (01/96-02/96) Vol.7, No.1, P. 47; Gallagher, Maureen A.; Klima, Carrie The AIDS Clinical Trials Group has published results of a study showing that women and infants taking AZT had a significantly lower rate of HIV transmission from mother to infant. However, nurses Maureen A. Gallagher and Carrie Klima contend that the weaknesses of the study must be considered when applying these results. When first tested, 8.3 percent of the infants born to women who received AZT were infected with HIV, compared to 25.5 percent in the placebo group. Due to this preliminary finding, an independent safety board recommended that no additional women be enrolled and that AZT be offered to all those in the study who were eligible for the drug. Some aspects of the study, including the long-term effects of the drug, are still unknown. Dr. Ronald Bayer has voiced concern about the lack of information about the long-term use of AZT among the 70 percent to 80 percent of children who were exposed to AZT but would not have been born with HIV. The results of the study also generate ethical questions about the womens' and infants' rights, mandatory HIV testing, and equal access to health care. HIV-infected pregnant women should be properly counseled on transmission of HIV to the infant, and the use of AZT to control transmission, the authors conclude.