Date: Fri, 27 Oct 1995 09:23:50 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 10/27/95 AIDS Daily Summary October 27, 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 ************************************************************ "Nationline: AIDS Bite" "American Home in Deal with Apollon for Vaccines" "Is That a Haunted House You're Buying?" "Australian HIV Woman on Curfew to Curb Casual Sex" "One Million Threatened by AIDS in S. African Province" "RiboGene Awarded Phase II SBIR Grant to Develop Novel Antifungal Drugs" "GMC Revises Guidelines" "At Risk" "Correction" ************************************************************ "Nationline: AIDS Bite" USA Today (10/27/95) P. 3A; Leavitt, Paul; Goodwin, M. David; Rivera, Patricia V.; et al. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have confirmed that a 91-year-old man contracted HIV when he was bitten by a prostitute, according to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.'s Sun-Sentinel. This is the first confirmed instance of blood-to-blood HIV transmission through a human bite. Scientists report that blood, not just saliva, was to blame for the infection because the prostitute had bleeding gums when she bit the man on the hand, arm, and leg. "American Home in Deal with Apollon for Vaccines" Wall Street Journal (10/27/95) P. B3 American Home Products Corp. has announced that it will pay as much as $100 million to Apollon Inc. to develop and test DNA vaccines for AIDS, herpes infections, and human papilloma virus. The deal will bring American Home into direct competition with Merck & Co. and Rhone Poulenc SA, which are also testing experimental versions of such vaccines. Any products resulting from the collaboration will be produced by Apollon--which recently began clinical trials of its gene-based AIDS vaccine--and sold by Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, a Philadelphia division of American Home. "Is That a Haunted House You're Buying?" Wall Street Journal (10/27/95) P. B16; Fatsis, Stefan Earlier this year, New York joined 28 states and the District of Columbia in establishing laws that reduce the onus of disclosure from brokers selling "stigmatized properties." Stigmatized properties are considered ones that have no physical problems but are worth less or are hard to sell for emotional or psychological reasons, including murder, suicide, and other crimes. While not specifically mentioned in the law, haunted houses are generally thought of as stigmatized. Also, federal law prohibits unsolicited disclosures that a resident has or had AIDS. For states that do not offer this protection, the National Association of Realtors counsels brokers to determine whether certain information would affect a sale. "Australian HIV Woman on Curfew to Curb Casual Sex" Reuters (10/26/95) The health department in the state of Western Australia has given a Perth woman a curfew and placed her under round-the-clock supervision because she continued having unprotected sex with men after being diagnosed as HIV-positive one month ago. "It is an unusual step to confine someone but under the state's Health Act this situation is no different to any contagious disease," explained the state's chief health officer Dr. Andrew Penman. The woman's case has been publicized, Penman said, to increase the public's awareness of the increasing problem of AIDS among heterosexuals. "One Million Threatened by AIDS in S. African Province" Reuters (10/26/95) Researchers from the University of Natal said in a study Thursday that nearly 1 million people in KwaZulu-Natal, the most populous province of South Africa, may be infected with HIV by 1996. "The HIV/AIDS epidemic is at a more advanced stage in KwaZulu-Natal than in the rest of South Africa," the survey said. The study was conducted to determine the impact of AIDS on the 8.7-million person province. Project leader Alan Whiteside said that based on the group's projections, 920,000 residents will have HIV by next year. In addition, the researchers predicted a surge in deaths in the under five-year age group and in the 25- to 40-year age group, and that the majority of the infections would be in poorer socio-economic groups, particularly blacks in townships or impoverished rural villages. "RiboGene Awarded Phase II SBIR Grant to Develop Novel Antifungal Drugs" Business Wire (10/25/95) RiboGene, Inc. has been given a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) phase II grant worth up to $750,000 over two years, for the development of novel drugs for fungal infections. The grant will be applied to the discovery and development of antifungal drugs using the company's proprietary approach, which is based on aspects of translation, or protein synthesis, that are singular to fungi. "RiboGene has now received two phase II SBIR grants in rapid succession: this new award for our antifungal program, and an award in August for our HIV program," noted Charles J. Casamento, chairman, president, and CEO. "GMC Revises Guidelines" Lancet (10/21/95) Vol. 346, No. 8982, P. 1092; Clark, Stephanie The General Medical Council (GMC) of the United Kingdom has revised its guidelines, primarily clarifying existing ones. "Duties of a Doctor" states that doctors must continually update their knowledge and skills throughout their careers, acknowledge the limits of their competence, recognize patients' rights to take part in decisions related to their care, and offer treatment on the basis of clinical need. In terms of HIV and AIDS, the council notes that it is unethical for a registered medical professional to deny treatment because the doctor might be exposed. It is also unethical for HIV-infected physicians to endanger patients by not getting counseling and following the given advice. In addition, the GMC said, doctors have a responsibility to inform on colleagues who have not reported their HIV infection. Finally, if a patient denies permission for disclosure of HIV status and the physician considers a member of the health-care team to be at risk without such information, the doctor may impart the data so long as he or she can justify that action. "At Risk" Advocate (10/31/95) No. 693, P. 22; Moss, J. Jennings Medicaid reform proposals put forth by the Republicans will have a profound and difficult effect on people with AIDS and HIV infection if they become law. About 36 million people are covered by medicaid this year, including half of all people with AIDS or HIV infection. Republicans are trying to reduce federal medicaid spending by $182 billion over a seven-year period by giving block grants to the states based on population and allowing the states to decide who is eligible. Clinton, who favors a $54-million savings over a seven-year period, has said he will veto the package because it is too extreme. Sen. John Chafee (R-R.I.) tacked on an amendment in the Senate requiring states to cover low-income pregnant women, children under 12, and people with disabilities. However, the definition of disabilities was not clarified, which could mean that some HIV-positive people would not qualify for benefits. Jeffrey Crowley, senior policy associate at the National Association of People With AIDS, said, "Can you imagine what would happen to our health care system if medicaid wasn't providing coverage to roughly half the people with AIDS? The epidemic could get much worse." "Correction" The Oct. 17th AIDS Daily News contained an error. An abstract of a Sept. 12 Village Voice article entitled "Not Our Job" incorrectly stated that John Killen, director of NIAID's division of AIDS, said that "NIH has neglected a potentially effective vaccine strategy which uses whole killed virus." That statement is an editorial comment on the part of the author, Mark Schoofs. Killen said that "one can make a compelling case that whole-killed virus ought to be developed, that we ought to pursue it very, very aggressively."