Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 09:46:58 -0400 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 07/29/96 AIDS Daily Summary July 29, 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 ****************************************************** "Israel Gets New Guidelines on Ethiopian Blood Donations" "Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Give Up HIV Test Business" "Medical Workers Sue Latex-Glove Makers" "Across the USA: California, West Virginia" "In Age of AIDS, Love and Hope Can Lead to Risk" "Uganda to Test AIDS Vaccine" "Cambodia-Health: AIDS May Prove as Devastating As [the Reign of the Khmer Rouge]" "Unimed Drug for Cryptosporidium Available on Limited Basis" "Global Burden of the HIV Pandemic" "The Profits and Losses of AIDS" ****************************************************** "Israel Gets New Guidelines on Ethiopian Blood Donations" Washington Post (07/29/96) P. A20 Israeli blood banks have been ordered to stop the practice of wholesale dumping of blood donated by Ethiopian Jews and were given new guidelines to screen all blood donors. A state commission proposed that blood banks reject donations from anyone who lived in areas where AIDS was "endemic" for at least six months of the last 10 years. Ethiopian Jews rioted in Jerusalem in January when it was revealed that blood banks were discarding their donations. Community leaders called the new recommendations superficial, saying that they are still wrongly stigmatized. The commission reported, however, that of the 1,400 reported AIDS patients in Israel, 550 are Ethiopian-born. "Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Give Up HIV Test Business" Wall Street Journal (07/29/96) P. A3; McGinley, Laurie Johnson & Johnson was ordered Friday to turn over its division that makes home HIV test kits to Elliott Millenson, the division head fired by the company. Arbitrator John J. Gibbons made the order based on an employment contract between the company and Millenson, who developed the kits and sold the business to Johnson & Johnson in 1993. A provision said that if Millenson were fired without cause, he had the right to demand that the test kit be returned to him and his wife. Gibbons said that all assets, including patents, laboratory equipment, and the kits themselves, must be returned to Millenson. Johnson & Johnson filed suit on Friday to challenge the arbitrator's ruling. "Medical Workers Sue Latex-Glove Makers" Wall Street Journal (07/29/96) P. B2; Ceballos, Arnold With the increased use of latex gloves by medical workers trying to protect themselves from HIV, the makers of the gloves are facing lawsuits by those who claim the companies should be held liable for allergic reactions. Some people have severe allergic reactions to proteins in latex products, and the Food and Drug Administration issued a medical alert in 1991, recommending that manufacturers reduce protein levels. Glove makers note that people with allergic reactions can use gloves made from other materials, such as vinyl. Companies being sued include Baxter International, Johnson & Johnson, Ansell, and Safeskin. Plaintiffs argue that the companies were negligent in failing to reduce protein levels in the gloves and failing to warn users about possible allergic reactions. "Across the USA: California, West Virginia" USA Today (07/29/96) P. 12A Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan promised to donate $1,000 for each of the city's 32 department heads who participate in the city's AIDS Walk, to be held Sept. 29. In West Virginia, meanwhile, state epidemiologist Loretta Haddy said the government will emphasize abstinence and condom use and will call on residents to avoid injection drug use to reduce the spread of HIV. "In Age of AIDS, Love and Hope Can Lead to Risk" New York Times (07/27/96) P. 7; Dunlap, David W. Unprotected sex between gay men, especially those in romantic relationships, is continuing despite the risk of HIV infection. Forgoing protection is seen as an act of trust between two committed men, and one recent study suggested that unprotected sex between gay men increased from 1990 to 1991. The number of reported AIDS cases in men who have sex with men decreased from 1994 to 1995 but still represented the largest category of risk. Advances in AIDS treatments may give people a false sense of security, and lead to increases in unprotected sex. "Uganda to Test AIDS Vaccine" Xinhua News Agency (07/26/96) Testing of an AIDS vaccine will begin soon in Uganda among three groups of HIV-negative volunteers. The tests will be sponsored by the Uganda government, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, the Joint Clinical Research Center of Uganda, Makerere University in Uganda, and the Uganda Virus Research Institute. The vaccine, provided by a French pharmaceutical company, uses the Canarypox virus to carry HIV envelope and genetic material. The three groups will help to evaluate the vaccine's safety and effectiveness. "Cambodia-Health: AIDS May Prove as Devastating As [the Reign of the Khmer Rouge]" IPS Wire (07/26/96) HIV has spread rapidly in Cambodia since it was first screened for in 1991, and experts say the epidemic could be one of the most serious in Asia. The World Health Organization estimates that there may now be between 100,000 and 150,000 HIV infections in the country, up from a November estimate of 50,000 to 90,000. The group says there are about 2,000 AIDS cases in Cambodia and predicts that there will be 40,000 cases by the year 2000. The disease is spreading faster in Cambodia than in any other Asian nation, except Burma and India. "Unimed Drug for Cryptosporidium Available on Limited Basis" Reuters (07/26/96) Unimed Pharmaceuticals is providing nitazoxanide, a promising treatment for cryptosporidium infection, through a compassionate access program in the United States. The company has been distributing nitazoxanide, which is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration, on a limited basis to patients who cannot afford it. "Global Burden of the HIV Pandemic" Lancet (07/13/96) Vol. 348, No. 9020, P. 99; Quinn, Thomas C. In the British medical journal The Lancet, Thomas C. Quinn, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Johns Hopkins University, highlights some of the global HIV pandemic's epidemiological features. Quinn notes that the World Health Organization estimates that by the year 2000, 26 million people will be infected with HIV--more than 90 percent of whom will live in developing countries. Moreover, because AIDS affects people in their most productive years, it is a serious threat to the economic strength of both households and countries. Numerous epidemics make up the AIDS pandemic, reflecting the diversity in HIV strains. These include two major groups of HIV-1: group M and group O, which have been subdivided into strains, and several subtypes of HIV-2. HIV is spread by sexual, perinatal, and parenteral transmission. Sexual transmission is most common, with heterosexual transmission increasing in industrialized countries. AIDS is also increasingly affecting women, who accounted for 45 percent of all HIV-infected adults in 1995. By 2000, the number of new infections in women is expected to equal those in men. To control the spread of AIDS, Quinn argues that countries must promote changes in individual behavior and address such social issues as unemployment, rapid urbanization, migration, and women's status. "The Profits and Losses of AIDS" Economist (07/13/96) Vol. 340, No. 7974, P. 85 Although no viral epidemic has been halted by drug therapies, the powerful AIDS research engine has produced drugs that have the potential to make the disease more manageable.