Date: Thu, 13 Jun 1996 21:35:32 -0400 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 06/13/96 AIDS Daily Summary June 13, 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 ****************************************************** "The Tragic Hypocrisy of 'Animal Rights'" "HIV-Infected Man Indicted in Alleged Attack on Boy" "Federal Court Pulls Plug on Internet Decency Law" "UNAIDS Sees Hopeful Trends in AIDS Control" "Bearing the Torch for a Better World" "Stavudine/Didanosine Tolerated in Children" "Science & Health Bulletin: Zambia-AIDS Zambia..." "Science & Health Bulletin: Zaire-Foundation [Created in Memory of Late Professor]" "Oral Ganciclovir for the Prevention of Cytomegalovirus Disease in Persons With AIDS" "North Carolina's Black Churches to Join in AIDS Fight" ****************************************************** "The Tragic Hypocrisy of 'Animal Rights'" Wall Street Journal (06/13/96) P. A14; Getty, Jeff In a commentary in the Wall Street Journal, AIDS patient and activist Jeff Getty defends animal research and criticizes efforts by the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for opposing the use of animals to seek an AIDS cure. Getty, who received a baboon bone marrow transplant in December, says that PETA's opposition to any AIDS cure that would involve animal research has delayed AIDS research in several instances. As examples, he cites how some researchers have been forced to conduct studies underground to avoid violent attacks, as well as strict animal rights laws that have delayed research and objections by animal rights groups that delayed his own transplant. Getty objects to people who say they support both animal rights and AIDS research, noting that without animal research, many other diseases would never have been cured. "HIV-Infected Man Indicted in Alleged Attack on Boy" Washington Post (06/13/96) P. B6 An HIV-positive man in Prince George's County, Md., has been indicted on a charge of attempted second-degree murder for allegedly trying to sodomize a boy last summer. Prosecutors claim that Charles Hayhoe, 35, tried to sodomize an 11-year-old boy three times in August 1995. Hayhoe, a friend of the boy's family, told officials when he was arrested that he is HIV-positive. The accused was also indicted on assault with intent to murder, battery, and three sex offense charges. "Federal Court Pulls Plug on Internet Decency Law" Washington Times (06/13/96) P. A1; Abrahms, Doug A panel of three federal judges in Philadelphia struck down parts of the Communications Decency Act Wednesday, rejecting efforts to restrict speech on the Internet as unconstitutional. The judges sided with more than 50 groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and online groups, which had filed two lawsuits to block the law. Opponents of the law said a provision including criminal penalties threatened to imprison people for posting information about sex education, AIDS, abortion, and breast cancer. "UNAIDS Sees Hopeful Trends in AIDS Control" Xinhua News Agency (06/12/96) While the number of new HIV infections has declined in many countries due to safer sex practices, the rate of infection worldwide continues to grow rapidly, the U.N. program on AIDS (UNAIDS) said Wednesday. The agency said an estimated 7,500 people become infected each day. In the United States, new HIV infections have decreased 60 percent from an annual 100,000 a few years ago to 40,000. Other countries that have reported successful slowing of the AIDS epidemic include Australia, New Zealand, northern European countries, and parts of sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS said the trend was partly due to changes in behavior, including increased condom use. Between 1994 and 1995, however, there was an increase of more than 25 percent in the global number of AIDS cases reported. "Bearing the Torch for a Better World" Washington Post--Maryland Weekly (06/13/96) P. 1; Aguilar, Louis Among the 181 Marylanders and former Olympians that will carry the Olympic torch through the state next week are 106 individuals who have been deemed "community heroes" for their service to the community. College Park's Kyla Liggett Herod, for example, grew up in Washington, D.C., and began working with AIDS patients at the age of 14. Now, as a 20-year-old junior at the University of Maryland, she is studying family and women's studies and African American studies. Herod conducted AIDS education programs for prostitutes in Cambodia and now volunteers at a sexual assault center and interprets for the deaf at her church. "Stavudine/Didanosine Tolerated in Children" Reuters (06/12/96) The combination therapy of stavudine and didanosine is well tolerated and safe in children with advanced HIV infection, researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston report in the journal Pediatrics. Mark W. Kline and colleagues also say that the results of their preliminary trial suggest that the therapy had a favorable impact on viral burden. Stavudine is not approved for use in children, but a trial has found the drug to be safe and well tolerated. "Science & Health Bulletin: Zambia-AIDS Zambia..." PANA Wire Service (06/12/96) Traditional healers in Zambia will soon collaborate with the health ministry to combat AIDS. Under a new policy being developed by the Zambian government, herbal medicines used by healers would be subjected to clinical tests to determine their efficacy and safety, Health Minister Katele Kalumba said Wednesday. He said an estimated 11 percent of the country's rural population and between 18 percent and 25 percent of the urban population is infected with HIV. Kalumba noted that the people's confidence in the healers would have a positive impact on AIDS patients. "Science & Health Bulletin: Zaire-Foundation [Created in Memory of Late Professor]" PANA Wire Service (06/12/96); Lapess, Rigobert Munkeni A foundation for AIDS research has been created in Zaire in memory of Andre Lurhuma, the immunologist who co-invented MM1, a controversial vaccine for HIV which eventually proved to be ineffective. The foundation has been created by friends of Lurhuma, who died in May 1995, as a way to continue his work and enhance the fight against major epidemics including AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. It is also intended to create a framework for researchers and medical practitioners, and provide courses for prospective immunologists, virologists, and other specialists. "Oral Ganciclovir for the Prevention of Cytomegalovirus Disease in Persons With AIDS" New England Journal of Medicine (06/06/96) Vol. 334, No. 23; P. 1491; Spector, Stephen A.; McKinley, George F.; Lalezari, Jacob P.; et al. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is common among people with AIDS, and causes CMV retinitis in 25 percent to 40 percent of all AIDS patients. To evaluate how effectively ganciclovir, taken orally, can prevent CMV disease in patients with advanced AIDS, researchers at the University of California at San Diego tested the therapy in 486 patients for about one year. Stephen Spector and colleagues found that 26 percent of the patients who had received no treatment were diagnosed with CMV disease, compared to only 14 percent of the patients who received ganciclovir. This represents an overall reduction in risk of 49 percent. CMV retinitis was the most frequent event, and also the form of CMV disease most affected by ganciclovir. Thirteen percent of the study participants discontinued the treatment because they developed CMV disease, and 19 percent stopped due to side effects. The authors concluded that, while prophylaxis with ganciclovir was not associated with improved overall survival, the treatment significantly prolonged survival without CMV disease in people with advanced AIDS. "North Carolina's Black Churches to Join in AIDS Fight" American Medical News (06/10/96) Vol. 39, No. 22; P. 35 After having distanced themselves from the AIDS epidemic for years, predominantly black churches across North Carolina are now recognizing that the disease is impacting their own community. AIDS is the leading killer of the state's black men between the ages of 15 and 44, and the second-leading killer of black women in that age group. The General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, representing more than 1,800 historically black churches, is hiring a health and human services coordinator to promote AIDS education and prevention. Furthermore, the state will host the national Black Church Education and Leadership Conference on AIDS next year. Some churches have also invited public health experts to lead AIDS programs for their congregations.