Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 03:54:52 -0400 From: aidsinfo@aspensys.com (CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse) AIDS Daily Summary May 17, 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 ************************************************************ "Growing Fast as a Factor in AIDS: Drugs" "Aide Indicates Negligence Caused AIDS Cases in Japan" "HIV Prevention Programs in Prisons on the Decline" "Measles Vaccination in HIV-Positive Children: Support for Current Recommendations" "Project Launched to Prevent HIV/AIDS Among Chinese" "Hepatitis B and C Prevalent Among Injection Drug Users" "Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpes like Virus: Linked to KS in HIV-Infected Patients" "Virus-Cell Fusion Targeted for Drug Development" "Effect of Comprehensive Intervention Program on Survival of Patients With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection" "U.N. Warns of AIDS in South Pacific" ************************************************************ "Growing Fast as a Factor in AIDS: Drugs" New York Times (05/17/96) P. A18 Most cases of AIDS in women and heterosexual men are linked to intravenous drug use, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. The agency said that 85 percent of the 17,686 AIDS cases documented last year among heterosexual men and 66 percent of the 10,777 cases among women were either directly transmitted by intravenous drug use or were transmitted sexually from a drug user. The incidence of AIDS among drug users is increasing about 4 percent each year, the CDC said. AIDS cases among heterosexual partners of drug users increased 9 percent among women and 17 percent among men between 1994 and 1995. Some 50 percent of the AIDS cases linked to intravenous drug use last year were among blacks, while 25 percent were among whites and 24 percent were in Hispanics. The CDC attributed 184,359 of the total 513,486 AIDS cases reported since the beginning of the epidemic through year-end 1995 to injection drug use. "Aide Indicates Negligence Caused AIDS Cases in Japan" Baltimore Sun (05/17/96) P. 14A An aide to Atsuaki Gunji, the Japanese health official in charge of AIDS policies in the early 1980s, testified Thursday that Gunji was aware in 1983 that HIV infections could be prevented by using heat-treated blood products but did nothing to facilitate their use in Japan. Gunji had testified to the contrary in 1993. Japan's delayed approval of the safer blood products resulted in the infection of thousands of hemophiliacs and their relatives, many of whom recently won settlements for compensation. "HIV Prevention Programs in Prisons on the Decline" Reuters (05/16/96) While more inmates in state and federal prisons are HIV-positive, the number of effective HIV prevention programs in these facilities is declining, according to a study published in the May 3 issue of AIDS Policy & Law. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in 1990, 96 percent of all state and federal prisons had AIDS education programs in at least one facility. By 1994, however, that rate had dropped to 75 percent. Some 48 percent had instructor-led programs and only 7 percent had peer-led programs. Programs that provided written materials were more common than those that offered face-to-face counseling. The death rate from AIDS among inmates increased 83 percent between 1990 and 1994. The CDC has recommended "comprehensive and credible" HIV-prevention programs and has called for the distribution of condoms and bleach in jails. "Measles Vaccination in HIV-Positive Children: Support for Current Recommendations" Reuters (05/16/96) A study in this month's issue of Pediatrics confirmed a recommendation for HIV-infected children to be immunized against measles. The study, conducted by Stephen M. Arpadi of St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York, found that a smaller percentage of vaccinated HIV-infected children had detectable measles antibody than vaccinated healthy children. The researchers also reported that HIV-infected children may have a better antibody response if vaccinated before their first birthday. "Project Launched to Prevent HIV/AIDS Among Chinese" Xinhua News Agency (05/16/96) With a $10 million loan from the World Bank, the Chinese Ministry of Health will implement a five-year program to control the spread of non-infectious chronic diseases and HIV. A pilot project will be launched in China's Yunnan province and seven cities. Non-infectious chronic diseases are on the rise in China, as the population ages and lifestyles are changing. Sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, are also increasing in China, with more than 2,500 cases of HIV infection reported. "Hepatitis B and C Prevalent Among Injection Drug Users" Reuters (05/16/96) Injection drug users are at high-risk for contracting hepatitis B and C, and many are infected within the first year of drug use, researchers at Johns Hopkins University say. In the May issue of the American Journal of Public Health, David Vlahov and colleagues report that 77 percent of 716 injection drug users were infected with hepatitis C and 65.7 percent were infected with hepatitis B. About 20 percent were HIV-positive. Hepatitis C was more prevalent among those who had been injecting drugs for less than four months than among those who had been using the drugs for nine to 12 months. "Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpes like Virus: Linked to KS in HIV-Infected Patients" Reuters (05/16/96) A link between Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and the recently discovered Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes like virus (KSHV) is reported by Yale researcher George Miller and colleagues in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers found that more than two-thirds of 48 HIV-positive KS patients had KSHV, compared to 13 percent of HIV-infected non-KS patients. Miller said that evidence of antibodies to KSHV antigenic peptide was not associated with the development of KS in individuals in high-risk groups. "Virus-Cell Fusion Targeted for Drug Development" Chemical & and Engineering News (05/13/96) Vol. 74, No. 20, P. 45; Baum, Rudy Trimeris, a small drug company in North Carolina, is developing compounds to prevent viruses from entering cells, rather than battling viral infection. M. Ross Johnson, Trimeris president and CEO, recently presented preclinical results for the company's anti-HIV agent, Pentafuside, at the American Chemical Society's meeting in New Orleans. Pentafuside, made from a part of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein, is designed to inhibit the fusion of HIV to the cell membrane. It prevents the formation of a complex on the virus needs to attack the cell membrane. According to Johnson, the compound has been shown to be non-toxic to a variety of cells and highly specific for HIV-1. The preclinical results warrant Phase I/II clinical trials in patients with HIV, which may go forward later this year. "Effect of Comprehensive Intervention Program on Survival of Patients With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection" Journal of the American Medical Association (05/08/96) Vol. 275, No. 18, P. 1383 Ronald Altman, of the New Jersey Health Department's AIDS Division, and colleagues, report in the Archives of Internal Medicine the results of a study of the effects of an early intervention program (EIP) on the survival of HIV-infected persons. An EIP was started in New Jersey in October 1989 to provide medical care and social services to people with HIV. Of the 938 patients enrolled in the program, the majority had T-cell subsets determined within three months: 641 were active participants and 126 were inactive. The inactive patients had a lower median CD4 T-cell count and were more likely to be symptomatic than active patients. Among the patients whose survival was analyzed, 22.5 percent of the active patients died, compared to 38.4 percent of the inactive patients. Multiple analyses showed that active patients survived longer than inactive patients. Only active and inactive patients with both low CD4 T-cell levels and symptoms of HIV or AIDS had similar survival rates. The researchers therefore concluded that EIP participation resulted in extended survival for individuals infected with HIV. "U.N. Warns of AIDS in South Pacific" American Medical News (05/06/96) Vol. 39, No. 17, P. 14 Unless culturally conservative and devoutly Christian residents change their conservative attitude about safe-sex education, a serious AIDS threat looms for the 22 island countries and territories in the South Pacific, warns a United Nations report. The South Pacific had only 234 reported AIDS cases as of June 1995, but the report suggests that the number of HIV infections is actually much higher. The region's medical facilities and doctors are not equipped to treat AIDS, and the countries lack the money to handle an epidemic, the report said. Most residents are not aware of the serious threat of AIDS, said one of the authors, calling for an end to taboos regarding public discussion and sex education.