Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 09:51:30 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary March 14, 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 ************************************************************ "N.J. Senate Panel Oks Bill for HIV-Infected Hemophiliacs" "Tuberculosis Cases Decline 2d Year in a Row, City Says" "Obituaries: Robert Hershman, TV Producer, 41" "'Outbreak'" "Across the USA: Massachusetts" "Inner Workings of the AIDS Virus" "Renewing the War Against AIDS" "Italian Surgeon Gets AIDS Virus from Scalpel Cut" "The AIDS Knowledge Base: A Textbook on HIV Disease from the University of California, San Francisco, and the San Francisco General Hospital" "Jockbeat: Jockclips" ************************************************************ "N.J. Senate Panel Oks Bill for HIV-Infected Hemophiliacs" Philadelphia Inquirer (03/14/95) P. B4; Shaw, Donna On Monday, the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of a bill that would give HIV-infected hemophiliacs a year to sue certain drug companies without regard to the statute of limitations. If passed, the bill would be the first such hemophilia law in the country. The one-year time period would go into effect as soon as the bill was signed into law. Hemophilia activists say that many of the hemophiliacs who became infected with HIV during the late 1970s and early 19080s due to tainted blood products, did not sue before the statute of limitations expired because they were told the tragedy was unavoidable. Richard Weinroth, a lobbyist for the American Blood Resources Association, said the bill would make hemophiliacs a privileged group, and would conflict with the state's goal of personal-injury lawsuit reform. The four U.S. drug companies that made the blood-clotting medicines deny any wrongdoing. "Tuberculosis Cases Decline 2d Year in a Row, City Says" New York Times (03/14/95) P. B1; Jones, Charisse Tuberculosis (TB) is on the decline in the five boroughs of New York City, said city officials on Monday. The incidence of the disease has dropped for the second straight year. The number of new cases dropped from 3,235 in 1993 to 2,995 in 1994--a 7.4 percent decline. The decrease represented a 21.4 percent drop from 1992, when 3,811 cases were reported. New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani announced the figures with Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, the City Health Commissioner. Giuliani warned that New York City still has the highest number of TB cases in the country, and that the city cannot slow down its efforts to control the disease. "Obituaries: Robert Hershman, TV Producer, 41" New York Times (03/14/95) P. B8 Robert Hershman, a producer of news documentaries for CBS television, died of AIDS-related complications this past weekend at the age of 41. Highlights of his career as a producer for "West 57th" and "48 Hours" range from interviews with the president of Iran after the overthrow of the Shah and with Prince Charles of England in his first direct American television interview in 10 years, to programs on Germany's WWII anti-Nazi group and on AIDS in Orange County, Calif. Hershman helped change hospital policies for AIDS patients in New York when he sued New York University Hospital in 1990 to alter policies that excluded AIDS patients from sharing semiprivate rooms with other patients. Hershman is survived by his partner, as well as his parents, a sister, and two brothers. Related Story: Boston Globe (03/13) P. 21. "'Outbreak'" Washington Post (Health) (03/14/95) P. 10; Weiss, Rick "Outbreak, starring Academy Award-winning actor Dustin Hoffman, is a biomedicine thriller that opened in movie theaters last week, and is being touted as only barely fictional. While Hoffman uses the latest in biotechnology and molecular medicine to fight a killer virus in the movie, some actual scientists are proposing a different approach. These researchers are reconsidering some old-fashioned treatments--ones that were promising before the advent of antibiotics. Most researchers remain skeptical about the role of such treatments in the future, but with a little fine tuning of some modern technology, approaches that were only partially effective in the past may become very useful remedies, said Robert Tauxe, chief of the foodborne and diarrheal branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One possible approach involves the use of serum, the liquid part of blood that contains antibodies and other disease-fighting components. Scientists have recently begun testing serum therapy in AIDS patients. In at least four studies, researchers have taken serum from HIV-infected people and--after killing any viruses in the blood--infused the serum into weaker patients. For the most part, preliminary results have been positive. "Across the USA: Massachusetts" USA Today (03/14/95) P. 8A A total of 10,000 cases of AIDS have been reported in Massachusetts. Governor Weld said that AIDS awareness efforts help prevent the disease's spread and eliminate the prejudice directed at people with AIDS. "Inner Workings of the AIDS Virus" USA Today (03/14/95) P. 8D; Levy, Doug "Toss-a-Virus" is part of the "AIDS: The War Within" exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science & Industry. Using interactive displays and a computer link to the latest scientific data, museum officials hope to teach adults and children how HIV progressively destroys the human immune system. "The idea is to use comic art to help translate very complex material into pieces of information that people will find easier to understand," says Barry Aprison, project director and senior scientist at the museum. The exhibit also features an animated "voyage" through the immune system, illustrating the life cycle of HIV; a computer that downloads daily information from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National AIDS Clearinghouse; and an interactive computer that helps visitors assess their own personal risk for HIV infection. "Renewing the War Against AIDS" Toronto Globe and Mail (03/13/95) P. A10 In view of the countless AIDS benefits, public education campaigns, and AIDS-related deaths, it seems almost inconceivable that anyone does not know the dangers of having unprotected sex or sharing hypodermic needles, write the editors of the Toronto Globe and Mail. According to the Toronto Health Department, however, AIDS is now the second leading killer in that city. Canada's Health Department said last year that across the country, 30,000 men and women would develop the disease during the next five to seven years--twice the number in the first 14 years of the epidemic. AIDS continues to spread, in part because of the nature of HIV, and also because the disease is spreading beyond the main affected group--gay men--into new groups such as prison inmates and heterosexual women. Health professionals say that a good part of the reason is the failure of Canadians to appreciate the dangers of unprotected sex. Gay men's organizations and public health authorities should redouble their efforts and authorities need to put even more effort into the newer risk groups. Although getting out the message will not be easy, that is no reason to abandon the effort, conclude the editors. "Italian Surgeon Gets AIDS Virus from Scalpel Cut" Reuters (03/10/95); Holmes, Paul While operating on an HIV-infected patient, an Italian surgeon contracted the virus--representing the first documented case of transmission under such circumstances, said researcher Dr. Giuseppe Ippolito on Friday. Ippolito is the head of a team at Spallanzani Hospital in Rome that has conducted one of only two major studies on the occupational risk of AIDS among health care workers. Ippolito said the accident took place in a hospital last year when the scalpel cut through the surgeon's glove. The surgeon was immediately tested for HIV. The results were negative, but a follow-up test was positive. "We excluded all other means of transmission," Ippolito said. In Italy, surgical patients are not routinely tested for HIV, and can only be tested, with their consent, when a risk is suspected. "The AIDS Knowledge Base: A Textbook on HIV Disease from the University of California, San Francisco, and the San Francisco General Hospital" New England Journal of Medicine (03/02/95) Vol. 332, No. 9, P. 617; Klein, Robert S. "The AIDS Knowledge Base," the work of 102 contributing authors, focuses on AIDS as it is presented and managed in the United States. It is intended to be relevant to all geographic regions for a wide range of health care professionals and motivated nonprofessionals. The book's 11 sections address the pathogenesis and management of HIV infection, as well as legal, economic, and ethical issues. Because many of the authors are from San Francisco, however, there is a tendency to base general statements on experience with middle class men. Still, information that is relevant to all persons affected by AIDS is usually included. Some particularly comprehensive chapters are those on the methods of testing for HIV antibody or antigen and on rochalimaea, and the section on the pulmonary aspects of AIDS. "Jockbeat: Jockclips" Village Voice (03/14/95) Vol. 40, No. 11, P. 125 On March 15, Board AID II will take place in Snow Summit, Calif. Pro snowboarders including Jeff Brushie, Shaun Palmer, and Tina Basich will join bands such as Porno for Pyros and Ned's Atomic Dustbin for a day of snow and music. The event, which is produced by WARP magazine and the music industry fundraising organization LifeBEAT, has already raised $120,000 for AIDS education and outreach for teenagers.