Date: Thu, 9 Feb 1995 09:35:55 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary February 9, 1995 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 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "New HIV Cases Growing Fastest Among Women" "PG Mother Fears for Her Girls' Lives" "New Strain of AIDS Virus Identified in Cyprus" "Procept Begins Human AIDS Drug Trial in United Kingdom; Company Developing Novel Approach to Treat HIV-1 Infection" "Alberta: Patients of HIV Doctor Alerted" "Across the USA: Delaware" "TV: New Drug for AIDS; Justice for All; Women for Women" "AIDS Ensemble Plans a Chamber Concert" "Needlesticks Down at VA Hospitals; Cause Not Clear" "Boundaries and HIV-Related Case Management" ************************************************************ "New HIV Cases Growing Fastest Among Women" Washington Post (02/09/95) P. A15 The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that women, especially young girls and adolescents, have become the fastest growing group of new HIV cases. While few women were infected with HIV one decade ago, they now represent 50 percent of all new HIV infections, officials said at a WHO conference on women and AIDS in Geneva. "Every minute of the day, every day of the year, two women become infected by HIV, and every two minutes a woman dies of AIDS," said Nafsiah Mboi, a member of Indonesia's parliament and chairwoman of the conference. Mboi blamed increasing infections among women on their inferior position in sexual and economic matters. There are more than 8 million HIV-infected women worldwide, and 5 million more are expected to develop infections by the year 2000, said WHO. Conservative estimates hold that 16 million adults and 1 million children are HIV-positive, and that 4.5 million have developed AIDS. WHO estimates that 60 percent of new HIV infections in many countries are among 15- to 24-year-olds. Related Story: Baltimore Sun (02/09) P. 3A "PG Mother Fears for Her Girls' Lives" Washington Times (02/09/95) P. C4; Seigle, Greg In a Prince George's County, Md., courtroom on Wednesday, Katheryn Dionne North accused her former husband, an HIV-infected former Baptist minister, of endangering their three young girls. As part of the child custody battle, North said that her ex-husband, David Kevin North, could expose the girls to HIV during their biweekly visits. She also condemned his homosexual lifestyle, saying that he should not be allowed overnight visits with the girls because his "marriage" to David York contradicts religious teachings the girls were raised to believe. North has been trying to keep her former husband from seeing his daughters since June 1992. David North tested HIV-positive in April 1991, and informed his wife in June 1991. Initially, he said he contracted the virus through a heterosexual affair, but in June 1992 he admitted becoming infected during random sex with men in Washington, D.C.'s gay bathhouses. The couple divorced in 1991. "New Strain of AIDS Virus Identified in Cyprus" Reuters (02/08/95) Evis Pagdatis, a member of a research team directed by U.S.-based molecular biochemist Leontios Costrikis, said on Wednesday that a new strain of HIV has been identified in Cyprus. "This will eventually be helpful in the development of specific vaccines and drugs for each subtype," he explained. Laboratory tests that pinpointed the new strain were conducted at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York. Pagdatis said, "There is a worldwide attempt to geographically map the origins of the disease in the hope that it will help the development of vaccines and drugs." "Procept Begins Human AIDS Drug Trial in United Kingdom; Company Developing Novel Approach to Treat HIV-1 Infection" Business Wire (02/08/95) Procept Inc. announced on Wednesday that it has begun Phase I trials of PRO 2000 for the treatment of HIV-1. President and Chief Executive Officer Stanley C. Erck said, "PRO 2000 has shown great promise in in vitro studies," adding that Procept would begin human studies in the United States and Europe if U.K. trials were successful. PRO 2000 is designed to attach itself to the T-cell receptor used by the virus for access to the immune system. Procept hopes that this approach will be less likely to lead to drug resistance. "Alberta: Patients of HIV Doctor Alerted" Toronto Globe and Mail (02/07/95) P. A4 Medical officials in Alberta, Canada, have notified 170 patients that they should be tested for HIV because their doctor has tested HIV-positive. "We want to stress the risk is very, very minor," said Dr. Bryce Lark, medical director of the provincial AIDS program. Still, his office and representatives of the hospital in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta--where the doctor worked--decided to inform the public in part because of the legal implications of a recent federal inquiry into why thousands of Canadians were infected with HIV through blood transfusions during the early 1980s. The doctor is a family practitioner who performed surgeries including tonsillectomies and skin excisions, and assisted in more major surgery such as delivering babies. "Across the USA: Delaware" USA Today (02/09/95) P. 6A A survey has found that 29 percent of Delaware residents between the ages of 18 and 64 believe condoms are very effective in preventing HIV infection. A total of 53 percent said they had no chance of becoming infected. The survey shows that more education is needed, said the state epidemiologist. "TV: New Drug for AIDS; Justice for All; Women for Women" Wall Street Journal (02/09/95) P. A12; Rabinowitz, Dorothy Tonight's broadcast of "48 Hours" on CBS is devoted to a new drug trial involving gene therapy for the treatment of HIV and AIDS. The treatment's premise is that the injection of pieces of genetically engineered virus will stimulate the immune system and create T-cells that will attack the disease. The program, however, focuses more on the volunteers for the trial than the treatment. One compelling aspect is that the show offers a portrait of the doctor running the drug trial. The doctor was afflicted with polio just one year before a preventive vaccine was developed and is clearly driven by this memory in his search for an AIDS cure. Related Story: Washington Post (02/09) P. C4 "AIDS Ensemble Plans a Chamber Concert" New York Times (02/09/95) P. C14 On Feb. 22, Positive Music will open it's second season of Fourth Wednesday concerts with a performance at the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center in Greenwich Village. Positive Music is a chamber ensemble devoted to AIDS education and awareness. The program features two Metropolitan Opera singers--Heidi Skok and Peter Van Derick--in "Six Songs," by Martin Hennessy, as well as works by Frank Martin, Michael Seyfrit, and Alberto Ginastera. "Needlesticks Down at VA Hospitals; Cause Not Clear" American Medical News (02/06/95) Vol. 38, No. 5, P. 20 A new General Accounting Office (GAO) study has found that needlestick injuries to nurses and other staff at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals have decreased 19 percent. It is not clear whether the drop is due to universal precautions, safer devices, underreporting of injuries, or a combination of factors. In fiscal year (FY) 1993, 90 of the 158 VA centers spent $1.1 million to buy safer needles and other blood-gathering devices. Many of the centers that did not purchase safer devices are in areas with large numbers of HIV-positive patients. In FY 1993, VA medical centers treated 16,749 patients with HIV or AIDS. The GAO estimates that 71 of the 4,791 needlesticks to VA workers involved HIV-infected blood. No VA worker, however, has ever reported getting HIV or AIDS from a needlestick. The risk of HIV-infection from a needlestick is three-tenths of 1 percent. The GAO estimates that one VA worker every five years is likely to become infected from a needlestick. VA Secretary Jesse Brown said the report was "based on data that might have been relevant a year ago or longer, but are outdated and misleading today." "Boundaries and HIV-Related Case Management" Focus (01/95) Vol. 10, No. 2, P. 5; Curtis, Laurie C.; Hodge, Martha Frequently, HIV-related mental health services include a case-management aspect, which often requires that staff have contact with community groups, family members, employers, and others. Because such tasks draw counselors into the daily lives of their clients to a far greater degree than occurs in traditional psychotherapy, effective providers must face the complex ethical dilemmas that impact day-to-day support and treatment of HIV-infected people. Boundaries are the extremely personal translations of moral codes in an individual's relationships with others. Relationship boundary issues raised by staff in community support services focus on professional distance, multi-dimensional relationships, self-disclosure, and reciprocity in relationships. Providers need sufficient tools and support to create empowering relationships with clients, which must be done within a context of integrity, respect, safety, and advocacy.