Date: Fri, 6 Jan 1995 12:25:53 +0500 From: awilson@smtpinet.aspensys.com (Wilson, Anne) X-Lines: 221 AIDS Daily Summary January 6, 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 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "Study Finds HIV Infection Can Be Highly Contagious" "FDA Clears Expanded Study of AIDS Blood Treatment" "Crucial Advance Made in Blood Cell Research" "Across the USA: Mississippi" "Examining Gay Issues in Racial Settings" "Philadelphia Area Construction Workers' AIDS Insurance Coverage Improved" "Help Ahead for HIV Families" "The Effects of HIV/AIDS Intervention Groups for High-Risk Women in Urban Clinics" "Visceral Leishmaniasis and AIDS" "Orphans of the Epidemic" ************************************************************ "Study Finds HIV Infection Can Be Highly Contagious" Baltimore Sun (01/06/95) P. 3A Scientists at the University of Michigan have discovered that people are extremely contagious in the first 60 days after becoming infected with HIV--the same period in which they cannot possibly realize that they have acquired the virus. The study found that in the first 60 days after being infected, a person could transmit HIV to another person in as many as one-third of his or her sexual encounters. HIV enters a long, less active phase after two months, during which the chance of infecting someone else is reduced to three in 1,000 sexual encounters, explained John Jacquez, senior author of the study published in the November Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. A person's contagiousness increases again when the disease progresses to full-blown AIDS. "The main impact of our work is that there is a very narrow period of high contagiousness, less than two months, and that's before you can usually know you have HIV," said Dr. Carl Simon, a Univeristy of Michigan professor. The researchers said that the findings raise important public health questions. AIDS vaccine studies, for example, may want to include studies of contagiousness of vaccinated people who subsequently contract the infection. "FDA Clears Expanded Study of AIDS Blood Treatment" Wall Street Journal (01/06/95) P. A14 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an expanded study of a treatment for AIDS patients by Biocontrol Technology Inc.'s subsidiary, IDT Inc., and HemoCleanse Inc. The treatment artificially induces a fever by heating the patient's blood. Biocontrol said that HIV is known to be sensitive to heat. While patients were only treated once in the first study, which took place in July, patients will be treated twice in the new study. If the expanded study is successful, IDT plans on submitting an application for FDA approval to market the procedure. Related Story: USA Today (01/06) P. 1D "Crucial Advance Made in Blood Cell Research" New York Times (01/06/95) P. A16; Kolata, Gina Researchers have discovered a simple way to isolate human stem cells that could replace current cumbersome methods and facilitate studies of the important cells, which are needed for gene therapy and bone marrow transplants. Dr. David Scadden and his colleagues at New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston took advantage of that fact that stem cells are quiescent and do not grow in circumstances when other marrow cells do. The team forced the other cells to grow and then forced them to commit suicide as soon as they began to divide, leaving behind mostly stem cells. Under the new method, about one in five cells was a stem cell, while other methods often produced only one stem cell out of 50 or 100 cells. The stem cells are of great interest because they form a pool of immortal cells that develop when needed into red or white blood cells. Scadden and others want to add genes to stem cells that would render them resistant to HIV. Theoretically, an HIV-infected person could then grow a new immune system that was impervious to the virus. Scadden said that Deaconess Hospital has filed for a patent on his method. "Across the USA: Mississippi" USA Today (01/06/95) P. 9A Officials from the city of Vicksburg, Miss., and from the state's Warren County are intervening to help HIV Services Inc. after the clinic lost $52,000 in federal aid on Dec. 31. The city board has approved $26,000 and the county is expected to match the grant. "Examining Gay Issues in Racial Settings" New York Times (01/06/95) P. C6 "The Darker Side of Black," a film written and directed by Isaac Julien, attempts to uncover the roots of the sexism and anti-gay sentiment that permeate a significant segment of black popular culture. The film focuses on issues raised about two years ago by the release of rapper Buju Banton's record "Boom Bye Bye," which advocated shooting homosexuals. An interview with Banton appears in the film, as well as several thoughtful interviews with theologians, academicians, and civil rights advocates. The film suggests that the vicious intolerance is a legacy of slavery itself. "Fast Trip, Long Drop" is Gregg Bordowitz's part autobiographical and part fanciful collage in which he explores his gay and Jewish identities and angrily spoofs the hushed, sanctimonious way that AIDS patients are treated by mainstream television interviewers. Bordowitz tested HIV-positive almost five years ago and has since developed AIDS. The film also includes clips from ACT UP demonstrations that show the group's fiery optimism draining away. "Philadelphia Area Construction Workers' AIDS Insurance Coverage Improved" Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News (01/05/95); Collins, Huntly A health and welfare fund in Philadelphia has agreed to eliminate its $10,000 cap on health benefits for AIDS-related illnesses. The joint union-management fund for the Laborers' District Council, which grants up to $100,000 for other catastrophic illnesses, will no longer single out AIDS for limited coverage. All illnesses will now carry a $100,000 lifetime cap for individuals. The shift stemmed from a discrimination complaint filed in 1992 by an HIV-infected union member. The man, identified only as "John Doe," is a member of Local 332 of the Laborers' District Council who was forced to quit his job two years ago because of his illness. Doe's lawyers said that the consent decree struck a significant blow to widespread insurance-related discrimination against HIV-infected people. Nan Feyler, executive director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, which helped represent Doe, said the $10,000 cap violated the Americans with Disabilities Act--which prohibits discrimination against those with disabling diseases. The fund covers more than 6,000 construction workers in the Philadelphia area. Under the decree, Doe will receive $42,500 in compensation; the estate of another union member, who died of an AIDS-related illness, is to receive an undisclosed sum. "Help Ahead for HIV Families" Boston Globe (01/05/95) P. 22; Ferdinand, Pamela The city of Cambridge, Mass., which has the fourth highest number of residents with AIDS in the state, has received a $441,700 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide housing subsidies to low-income families living with the disease. Eight families, each of whom will contribute 30 percent of its income to rent, will be eligible for rental certificates for a five-year period. The rent subsidies will be managed by the Cambridge Housing Authority, while Cambridge Cares About AIDS will coordinate support services. While more than 200 cases of AIDS have been reported in the city, the number of HIV-infected residents is estimated to exceed 1,000. "The Effects of HIV/AIDS Intervention Groups for High-Risk Women in Urban Clinics" American Journal of Public Health (12/94) Vol. 84, No. 12, P. 1918; Kelly, Jeffrey A.; Murphy, Debra A.; Washington, Carla D. et al To determine the effects of a behavior change intervention, researchers studied 197 women at high risk for HIV infection. The women, seen at an urban primary health care clinic in Milwaukee, Wisc., were randomly divided into either an HIV/AIDS risk reduction group or a comparison group. The women in the intervention group attended five group sessions focusing on risk education. Topics covered included skills training in condom use, sexual assertiveness, and problem solving. Members of the comparison group attended sessions on health subjects unrelated to AIDS. Three months after the study, women in the intervention group were found to have increased sexual communication and negotiation skills. Unprotected sex had significantly decreased and condom use had increased from 26 percent to 56 percent. There was no change detected among women in the comparison group. The researchers concluded that socially disadvantaged women can be helped in reducing their risk of contracting HIV. Risk reduction behavior change interventions should be provided at primary health care clinics serving low-income and high-risk patients. "Visceral Leishmaniasis and AIDS" Nature (12/22/94-12/29/94) Vol. 372, No. 6508, P. 734; de Gorgolas, Miguel; Miles, Michael A. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a protozoan infection transmitted by sandflies, is primarily rural and urban but has become urbanized. HIV was primarily established in urban centers, from which it spread into suburban and rural areas, write de Gorgolas and Miles in a letter to the editor published in Nature magazine. Both VL--which has a world-wide distribution that includes the Mediterranean basin, East Africa, the Middle East, and South America--and HIV predominate in males. The recent shift in the Mediterranean region in the age group prevalence of VL from infants to adults is seen only where HIV is present and is partially associated with activation of disease in previously undetected asymptomatic carriers who are also HIV-infected. There have been significant increases in the number of cases of VL associated with HIV. VL/HIV co-infections present numerous problems such as the frequent failure of indirect methods of diagnosis and the high rates of relapse and persistent chronic infections. The comparisons indicate the need to be alert to the increasing sympatry between VL and HIV and the predictable rise in VL/HIV co-infections, and the need for a sense of urgency to the more effective management of VL outbreaks, conclude de Gorgolas and Miles. "Orphans of the Epidemic" Focus (12/94) Vol. 10, No. 1, P. 7; Tufel, Robert An outgrowth of a conference sponsored by the Orphan Project and the United Hospital Fund, "A Death in the Family: Orphans of the HIV Epidemic," explains the needs of surviving children and adolescents, their families, and new guardians. The issues raised by the increasing numbers of "AIDS orphans" are described from several perspectives including law, mental health, program development, and advocacy. The book, edited by Carol Levine, features writings by providers working with HIV-affected families as well as personal essays by HIV-infected parents and affected family members. One of the first books to systematically document the complex issues facing HIV-affected families, "A Death in the Family" represents--according to Levine--the "first steps in a long journey" in acknowledging the problem of HIV-affected orphans.