Date: Thu, 9 May 1996 11:48:58 -0400 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 05/09/96 AIDS Daily Summary May 9, 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 ************************************************************ "Tetanus Shots Found to Boost HIV Levels" "N.J. Extends Time Period for Lawsuits on Plasma" "Voluntary H.I.V. Test Is a Victory for Babies" "Phila. Official Hopes to Mediate Dispute Involving AIDS Groups" "Homes for AIDS Patients Caught in Crunch, Turf Wars" "New Sensitivity Program Sought for AIDS Agencies" "How Was Baby Stuck With HIV-Tainted Needle?" "UN Bodies Launch Program Against AIDS in Bangladesh" "Growth Hormone and AIDS-Related Wasting" "Protease Inhibited" ************************************************************ "Tetanus Shots Found to Boost HIV Levels" Philadelphia Inquirer (05/09/96) P. A7 Researchers report in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine that tetanus shots can cause the amount of HIV produced in the body to increase dramatically. Dr. Sharilyn K. Stanley and colleagues at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases gave tetanus shots to 13 people with HIV and 10 people without the virus and found that the infected participants' viral levels produced two to 36 times more copies of HIV. The uninfected volunteers' blood samples became easier to infect with HIV after the injection. Stanley said the benefit of immunization is greater than the risk of the short-term virus increase it causes. The study found that HIV production increases to combat an invader but that the increase was only temporary, lasting about six weeks. Related Stories: Washington Times (05/09) P. A11, USA Today (05/09) P. 3D "N.J. Extends Time Period for Lawsuits on Plasma" Philadelphia Inquirer (05/09/96) P. A1; Shaw, Donna After past opposition to a similar measure, New Jersey Gov. Whitman signed into law Wednesday legislation to allow people who received HIV-tainted plasma products more time to sue the company that provided the product. The law, a first in the United States, gives the state's 500 hemophiliacs and others infected with HIV from the blood products until July 13, 1997 to sue. Previously, they had been restricted to a two-year statute of limitations. The cut-off date is two years after the National Institutes of Health reported that the government and industry's reluctance to ensure the safety of blood products was to blame for the AIDS epidemic among hemophiliacs. "Voluntary H.I.V. Test Is a Victory for Babies" New York Times (05/09/96) P. A26; Fleischman, Alan R. The New York Academy of Medicine applauds two recent public health decisions made by the New York State Department of Health and congressional leaders, writes Dr. Alan R. Fleischman, senior vice president of the academy in a letter to the editor of the New York Times. The department of health made universal counseling of pregnant women mandatory in order to encourage voluntary HIV testing, while a Senate-House panel voted on voluntary testing of pregnant women, rather than mandatory testing of newborns. Fleischman claims that HIV testing of mothers is preferable to testing of infants because a positive test of a newborn does not necessarily mean the child is infected. Women who test positive for HIV, however, can be treated to reduce the chance of perinatal transmission. Fleischman points out that states will need to be monitor their progress in implementing HIV counseling and testing to make sure such measures become routine. "Phila. Official Hopes to Mediate Dispute Involving AIDS Groups" Philadelphia Inquirer (05/09/96) P. B2; Collins, Huntly Philadelphia Health Commissioner Estelle Richman said she will try to mediate a dispute between minority and white AIDS organizations over how money raised from a planned Philadelphia-to-Washington, D.C. bike ride fundraiser will be distributed. The minority groups, which charge that they are being cut out of the proceeds, have formed a coalition that will likely boycott the event. Richman became involved when All Walks of Life, one of the four groups to benefit from the fundraiser, said it would not participate because the event had created so much controversy. "Homes for AIDS Patients Caught in Crunch, Turf Wars" Los Angeles Times-Washington Edition (05/09/96) P. B1; Shuit, Douglas P. Support for state-licensed residential care homes in California for people with AIDS is threatened by limited government AIDS funding. The lack of government assistance may close the low-cost homes, which take in prostitutes and drug addicts who have no other place to live. A relatively small number of AIDS patients receive care in such homes, but they are considered essential because of their low cost when compared to hospices that provide more advanced medical care. "New Sensitivity Program Sought for AIDS Agencies" Houston Chronicle (05/08/96) P. 34A; Zuniga, Jo Ann Concern about mainstream AIDS agencies' lack of awareness on how to educate and treat minorities has led Houston's Ryan White Planning Council to consider requiring federally funded AIDS agencies to implement a 12-hour cultural sensitivity training program. The program for the 480 staff members who interact with patients would devote time to African-Americans, Hispanics, gays and lesbians, the deaf, and substance abusers. The program would also allow social workers, case managers, doctors, and other personnel to discuss issues relating to how different cultures perceive and deal with AIDS. "How Was Baby Stuck With HIV-Tainted Needle?" Chicago Tribune (05/08/96) P. 1-1 An explanation of how an infant girl was stuck with an HIV-tainted needle at Chicago's Wyler Children's Hospital is still unclear, even following a complaint to police Tuesday, the filing of a lawsuit Monday, and an internal investigation by the hospital. One hospital official suggested that the virus found on the needle was the baby's own, though the baby and her parents have tested HIV negative. Hospital officials describe the incident as accidental, but caution the parents to have the child retested because the test on the needle could not be confirmed. "UN Bodies Launch Program Against AIDS in Bangladesh" Xinhua News Agency (05/09/96) Six United Nations organizations have begun a campaign in Bangladesh to help stop the spread of HIV. About 20,000 people in the country are reportedly infected with the virus. The World Health Organization, one of the cooperating partners in the program, has been working with the Bangladeshi government and the non-governmental organizations to solve the problem. "Growth Hormone and AIDS-Related Wasting" Nature Medicine (04/96) Vol. 2, No. 4, P. 369; Steele, Fintan R. In March, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee decided against approval of Serostim, a human growth hormone made by Serono Laboratories for treating AIDS-related wasting. AIDS wasting syndrome, defined as a loss of at least 10 percent of body weight for unknown reasons, is common and often fatal to AIDS patients. The two FDA-approved drugs for wasting, both appetite stimulants, increase a patient's body fat rather than lean body mass. While human growth hormone made by other companies is approved by the FDA, Serostim is the first application for AIDS-related wasting. Both Serono and the AIDS community still believe that Serostim is beneficial and should be approved. Members of the AIDS community, however, agree with the FDA in their conclusion that Serono did not have enough data to merit full approval for the hormone. Community members were angered with the company's seeming refusal to accept less than full approval, arguing that they should have first sought some form of accelerated approval. Serono has attributed the denial of approval to inconsistencies and confusion in its dealings with the agency. Frustrated with Sereno, AIDS activists are encouraging other makers of growth hormones to seek approval for their products for the treatment of wasting. "Protease Inhibited" POZ (04/96) No. 13, P. 64; Horn, Tim Although the approval of the protease inhibitor saquinavir was good news for people infected with HIV, many were left wondering if they should wait for a better drug. In 1994, as Hoffmann-La Roche was preparing to file for accelerated Food and Drug Administration approval of the new drug, the Treatment Action Group surprised the AIDS community by asking the firm and the FDA to wait for results from a larger, longer-term study for which it also wanted Roche's cooperation. Roche did not conduct the larger trial, but it did wait a year to file its application, and its form of saquinavir, Invirase, was approved in a record 90 days. Roche and Merck, meanwhile, had agreed to conduct joint trials to determine whether saquinavir would create cross-resistance against other protease inhibitors used later. Such studies have yet to be conducted, and the dose of saquinavir approved was later found to be sub-optimal. Roche noted that it had conducted low-dose studies so as to make the drug available as soon as possible. Merck also faced problems when its drug Crixivan (indinavir) was found to generate resistance to other protease inhibitors. Moreover, the company sparked controversy when it suggested that saquinavir, when used first, might similarly cause such resistance.