Date: Mon, 14 Nov 1994 10:41:07 -0500 (EST) From: "JOHN FANNING, CDC NAC" AIDS Daily Summary November 14, 1994 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 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "Lifeline: AIDS Activist Dies" "Flu Shot May Backfire on People with AIDS" "New AIDS Czar Claims Power to Achieve Results" "Russia Plans to Impose HIV Tests on Foreign Visitors" "Antibody Advances AIDS Research" "Some Blood Tests Miss Rare HIV Strain, Experts Say" "Lower Socioeconomic Status and Shorter Survival Following HIV Infection" "Random Samples: Beefing Up HIV Antibodies" "Thai Women Can Be Educated to Reject Prostitution" "Not Your Ordinary Driving Test" *********************************************************** "Lifeline: AIDS Activist Dies" USA Today (11/14/94) P. 1D; Vigoda, Arlene AIDS activist Pedro Zamora died of the disease on Friday at age 22. Zamora became infected with HIV through unprotected sex when he was 17. He testified at a congressional hearing and appeared in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention television commercial about AIDS. "Knowing that I could die has been scary," he said in the ad. "But what's even worse is knowing that my friends didn't learn a thing from all this. They're still doing what I did that got me infected." Zamora was also featured on MTV's "The Real World". Related Stories: Richmond Times-Dispatch (11/12) P. B2; Baltimore Sun (11/12) P. 1D "Flu Shot May Backfire on People with AIDS" Baltimore Sun (11/12/94) P. 3A Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco's (UCSF) Medical Center have found that flu shots may backfire on AIDS patients. The shots may raise the level of HIV in their blood without protecting them from the flu. Most participants in the UCSF study had three times the normal amount of HIV in their blood for a short time after getting vaccinated. The researchers said that the flu vaccine activates the same immune-system cells that contain HIV, causing it to multiply as the cells divide. "We don't know what happens when a person gets infected with the flu. The infection may cause an even higher viral load," said Dr. Bruce Walker, an AIDS immunologist at Harvard University. Dr. James Kahn of the UCSF Medical Center suggested that the study may lead to improved methods of vaccination, such as patients taking anti-AIDS drugs when getting vaccinations. "New AIDS Czar Claims Power to Achieve Results" Washington Times (11/11/94) P. A4; Price, Joyce Patsy Fleming has been appointed as the new director of AIDS Policy. She replaces Kristine M. Gebbie, who was forced out in August by AIDS advocacy groups who claimed that she was ineffective and lacked power. In appointing Fleming, President Clinton requested a detailed report on the rapid increase of AIDS among adolescents. When asked how she plans to slow the rate of adolescent HIV infection, Fleming told reporters that prevention was the area that needs the most work. She believes that teens should "delay having sex as long as possible to protect themselves" from HIV. While Fleming pledged to be an activist director, groups such as ACT-UP Washington were disappointed. "For the first two years of the Clinton presidency, AIDS has been on the back burner. Now it's in the deep freeze," said Wayne Turner, spokesman for that organization. Many AIDS activists have urged that the "AIDS czar" position be made a Cabinet-level position, which will not be the case. Related Story: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (11/11) P. 4A "Russia Plans to Impose HIV Tests on Foreign Visitors" Financial Times (11/11/94) P. 1; Freeland, Chrystia Under new legislation expected to be adopted soon in Moscow, all foreigners entering Russia will be required to either take HIV tests at the border or produce medical certification showing that they have not been exposed to HIV. This would be the strictest law of its kind to be adopted by a large and influential country, and could potentially discourage business travelers and tourists. A western diplomat said Thursday that the European Union, the United States, Canada, and Japan were considering a joint appeal to Russian President Boris Yeltsin to urge him to veto the legislation. The legislation, which is scheduled for a third reading in the State Duma, is expected to be passed in the lower house. It would then have to be endorsed by the Federation Council, the upper house, and signed by President Yeltsin. "Antibody Advances AIDS Research" Washington Times (11/11/94) P. A3 Researchers announced Thursday that they have cloned an AIDS antibody that may prove useful in the search for a vaccine and may lead to a way of preventing maternal-infant HIV transmission. The monoclonal antibody, which is derived from the bone marrow of an AIDS patient, neutralized HIV-1 more than 70 percent of the time in a series of tests on samples from both adult and infant AIDS patients. It is hoped that this antibody can be combined with other antibodies or drugs to combat all forms of HIV. "Some Blood Tests Miss Rare HIV Strain, Experts Say" Reuters (11/10/94) Dr. Gerald Schochetman, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in 10 different tests to screen blood, several did not detect the rare strains of HIV that infected nine participants. The implication, then, is that infected blood could enter public blood banks. "Infections by highly divergent strains of HIV-1, first detected in central Africa and grouped provisionally as group O, have not been reliably detected by certain European HIV screening tests," wrote Schochetman in the Lancet medical journal. He noted that experts should be careful that, in changing the tests to screen for the rare group O, the efficacy to screen for other strains is not reduced. "Lower Socioeconomic Status and Shorter Survival Following HIV Infection" Lancet (10/22/94) Vol. 344, No. 8930, P. 1120; Hogg, Robert S.; Strathdee, Steffanie A.; Craib, Kevin J. P. et al The relationship between socioeconomic status and survival were studied to determine why some HIV-infected individuals live longer than others. A total of 394 homosexual men diagnosed with HIV during 1982-1984 participated in the study. The men were divided into two groups according to annual income--those who made more or less than Canadian $10,000. The participants were followed for an average of 9.5 years after the estimated date of infection. A significantly higher mortality rate was found in low-income men than in those with high-income, which is consistent with observations of larger populations and other diseases. "Random Samples: Beefing Up HIV Antibodies" Science (10/21/94) Vol. 266, No. 5184, P. 366 Two recent studies suggest that passive immune therapy could help patients diagnosed with AIDS. In the therapy, plasma from people with high levels of anti-HIV antibodies--but no symptoms of AIDS--is transfused to AIDS patients. The first study, conducted by Levy and colleagues at HemaCare Corp., administered varying doses of plasma pooled from HIV-positive donors. During the year-long study, only one of the 21 patients who received full-dose plasma died, whereas three of 21 on the half-dose and six of the 30 controls--who received injections of serum albumin--died. Transfusionist Jean-Jacques Lefrere of Saint Antoine Hospital in Paris conducted the second study with 82 advanced AIDS patients. One half of the participants were given plasma from HIV-infected individuals every two weeks for a year, while the other half was given seronegative plasma. Sixty-six percent of the control group developed AIDS-related illnesses, but only 39 percent of the treated group developed them. It is not clear why the transfusions seem to work, but both teams emphasize that further trials are necessary. "Thai Women Can Be Educated to Reject Prostitution" Asian Wall Street Journal (10/31/94) Vol. 16, No. 44, P. 14; Wongburanavart, Chakrapand Despite the fact that AIDS is a serious problem in Thailand, parents continue to sell their daughters into prostitution. Statistics show that over half of the 600,000 reported cases of AIDS and HIV in Thailand are found in prostitutes and common laborers. One way to stop the prostitution is to find other opportunities for women to make money. Thai Woman of Tomorrow has awarded 1,000 scholarships of $120 to the high-risk group of sixth grade girls in the Pha Yao and Chiang Rai provinces. Surveys show that almost 90 percent of the prostitutes had only a sixth-grade education or lower when they began. This year, the program has trained 500 girls as dressmakers, health care assistants, jewelry makers, or secretaries. Over 200 have graduated and many have found work in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. The program attempts to educate parents about the conditions their daughters face when they are sold into prostitution. Also, both parents and daughters are shown videotapes about the dangers of HIV and AIDS. "Not Your Ordinary Driving Test" Advocate (11/01/94) No. 667, P. 22 On Sept. 30, Lee County, Fla., became the first county in the state to offer voluntary HIV testing as part of its driver's license application procedure. "It's our belief the only way to combat this disease in an effective prevention program is to get out to the population," said Mark Geisler, executive director of the Lee County AIDS task force.