Date: Mon, 5 Jun 1995 09:36:57 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary June 5, 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 ************************************************************ "Epidemiology: AIDS Vaccine Hope Raises Fear" "Mother Theresa Visiting AIDS Hospice" "FDA Can Improve Safety of Blood with Better Data" "Celgene Gets FDA Orphan Drug Status for Mouth Ulcer Drug" "Top Zaire AIDS Researcher Dies, State Radio Says" "First AIDS Patient in Sri Lanka Rebel Stronghold" "Across the USA: Montana" "Reports Cite Deadly Parasite, Urge Tougher U.S. Water Standards" "Counseling about Sex" "$15.7 Million Awarded for AIDS Health Care Training" ************************************************************ "Epidemiology: AIDS Vaccine Hope Raises Fear" Washington Post (06/05/95) P. A2; Brown, David A new study by N. Almond and colleagues at the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control has found that a "live attenuated" virus vaccine may generate similar results in AIDS patients as it has in polio victims. However, many scientists believe that this "defective" strain of simian immunodeficiency virus could mutate into a deadly strain and damage certain cells, especially those in the brain. Also, by disrupting the DNA, this vaccination may cause other diseases. In addition to these problems, the person would always test positive for HIV and the hazards of intentionally infecting people with HIV are enormous. "Mother Theresa Visiting AIDS Hospice" Baltimore Sun (06/05/95) P. 2A On June 12, Mother Theresa will attend a blessing of an AIDS hospice her charity established in Atlanta last year for impoverished women, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic archdiocese announced on Saturday. "The blessing will be a private event," Monsignor Peter Dora said. Related Story: Washington Post (06/05) P. C3 "FDA Can Improve Safety of Blood with Better Data" Wall Street Journal (06/05/95) P. B3; Zachary, G. Pascal According to a government report, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can increase the safety of the country's blood supply by doing a better job of collecting information on errors made by hospitals and blood banks. The audit, which was conducted by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, found that the FDA is not requiring hospitals and blood banks to submit error reports in a timely manner and that it has not received such reports at all from facilities that handle about 10 percent of the country's blood. Although the inspector general, June Gibbs Brown, did not blame the agency's practices for increasing the odds that a patient would receive tainted blood, the report urged the FDA to issue regulations that would provide more timely data on accidents in handling blood products. The FDA has significantly increased its regulations over the processing and collection of blood since the early 1980s, when the spread of AIDS led to concerns about the safety of blood products. Health officials said that the new changes should close a major loophole in blood safety procedures. "Celgene Gets FDA Orphan Drug Status for Mouth Ulcer Drug" Wall Street Journal (06/05/95) P. B3 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Celgene Corp.'s orphan-drug application for the use of thalidomide in treating mouth ulcers in people with AIDS or cancer. According to the biotechnology company, orphan status is given for particular uses of experimental drugs that have not yet been approved for sale. If the FDA approves the sale, Celgene could now have the exclusive right to sell the drug as a remedy for ulcers. The company is also sponsoring clinical trials of thalidomide for the treatment of AIDS-related cachexia, or weight-loss. "Top Zaire AIDS Researcher Dies, State Radio Says" Reuters (06/02/95) Luruhuma Zirimwabagabo--Zaire's leading AIDS researcher, who claimed to have discovered a cure for the disease--has died, the state radio announced on Friday. The cause of death was not mentioned. In 1988, Luruhuma said that he had discovered a treatment for AIDS called MM1, a controversial treatment which was said to stem the replication of HIV. Tests, however, found the supposed cure ineffective. "First AIDS Patient in Sri Lanka Rebel Stronghold" Reuters (06/05/95) The first case of AIDS in Sri Lanka's northern Tamil Tiger guerrilla stronghold of Jaffna was recently diagnosed, residents said. A 38-year-old migrant worker, who had recently returned home to Jaffna on vacation after eight years in Mexico, was found to have the disease after he became ill and was admitted to a hospital one week ago. The detection of the first AIDS case was reported by the "Voice of Tigers," the clandestine radio station operated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels, who are fighting for an independent homeland for minority Tamils in north and east Sri Lanka. "Across the USA: Montana" USA Today (06/05/95) P. 9A Officials in Butte, Mont., are attempting to locate people who stopped to assist HIV-infected motorcyclist David Rutan, who died in a bloody accident on Friday. These people should contact their physicians to discuss possible exposure to HIV. "Reports Cite Deadly Parasite, Urge Tougher U.S. Water Standards" Knight-Ridder (06/02/95); Vogel, Nancy Environmentalists warned on Thursday that cryptosporidium has been detected before and after treatment in the country's water supply. Because some cities do not test or filter their drinking water, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group published reports that urge the United States to invest in better filtration and to start testing for the microscopic parasite. The reports' authors called for a national standard for cryptosporidium, which was blamed for sickening more than 400,000 people and killing 100 more--mostly people with AIDS--in Milwaukee two years ago. Currently, the parasite is not regulated, in part because there is no reliable way to monitor it. The parasite, which may cause flu-like symptoms in healthy people, is most dangerous to people with weakened immune systems--such as AIDS patients--as well as the elderly and the very young. "Counseling about Sex" Focus (05/95) Vol. 10, No. 6, P. 5; Young, Rebecca There are significant challenges related to counseling about sex within the HIV environment, writes Rebecca Young in Focus. Most people do not receive clear and comprehensive sexuality information, which makes effective counseling difficult and increases the discomfort related to sex. For patients, such discomfort has many origins--such as the fear that talking about sex will be accompanied by punishment and that counselors will find their sexual practices deviant, boring, or titillating. There also may be issues of personal responsibility, particularly for HIV-infected persons. For counselors, the discomfort stems from concerns about the unknown, such as a lack of experience that seems relevant to their clients' sexual realities. Counselors may discover that they share societal disapproval of sexual activity and reproduction among HIV-infected people. In the end, however, a counselor must provide the same support to HIV-infected clients as they offer to other clients. Ethically and practically, the development of HIV requires that counselors develop skills for counseling about sex, the author notes. Good counseling about sex is an opportunity to exploit the urgency of the HIV epidemic to help clients develop safe and satisfying relationships, Young concludes. "$15.7 Million Awarded for AIDS Health Care Training" Nation's Health (05/95-06/95) Vol. 25, No. 5, P. 16 Fifteen AIDS Education and Training Centers in the United States will receive $15.7 million in federal funds this year to train health care workers to help prevent HIV transmission, and to counsel, diagnose, treat, and manage the care of individuals with HIV or AIDS. The grants will also help finance HIV/AIDS information dissemination activities at the centers. In addition, the awards fund the National HIV Telephone Consultation Service and the Clinical Conference Call Series, which provide recent HIV-related information to primary care physicians who treat people with AIDS. The 15 regional centers--which serve the 50 states, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico--are located in cities and suburban areas with high numbers of AIDS patients.