Date: Fri, 8 Sep 1995 09:34:58 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 09/08/95 AIDS Daily Summary September 8, 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 ************************************************************ "Disability Claims May Be Roadblock for ADA Suits" "Wind-Up Radio Puts Africans in the Know" "The TV Column: For the Second Year in a Row" "Doctors Revise Views on Anti-Tuberculosis Drug" "Interferon Sciences Completes $14.4 Million Public Offering and Announces Clinical Status" "U.S. Guidelines on Fungal Infections and HIV Infection" "AZT and Cardiomyopathy" "Risk and Depression in Black Women" ************************************************************ "Disability Claims May Be Roadblock for ADA Suits" Wall Street Journal (09/08/95) P. B2; McMorris, Frances A. Some courts believe that dismissed employees who apply for disability benefits should be prohibited from suing their employers for discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In the most recent decision, a federal judge rejected a lawsuit filed by Leonard McNemar--an assistant store manager in Cherry Hill, N.J., who has AIDS--because after being fired, he applied for Social Security disability benefits. Essentially, the court ruled that McNemar could not have it all. However, a judge ruled in a similar case last year that a loan-collections manager with AIDS who was fired by his mortgage firm and then received Social Security benefits was allowed to pursue his case. The judge held that his claim was not inconsistent with his application for benefits. Critics of the McNemar ruling say that if more courts adopt that kind of reasoning, employers could have a powerful way to fight discrimination claims. Having a case dismissed before it even reaches a jury would defeat a key goal of the ADA, they claim. "Wind-Up Radio Puts Africans in the Know" Reuters (09/08/95); Bosch, Marius A new wind-up radio, whose power is based on the principle used in the gramophone years ago, is bringing news and music to many powerless Africans. The radio, powered by a wind-up spring which activates an internal generator, is ideal for rural parts of the continent where there are no power lines or batteries are too expensive. Aid organizations view the gadget as a useful way to spread health information, especially about AIDS and other diseases, to remote regions. Inventor Trevor Baylis developed the idea for the radio while watching a documentary on AIDS in Africa, where poor communications have hampered prevention and education efforts. "The TV Column: For the Second Year in a Row" Washington Post (09/08/95) P. F6; Carmody, John For the second consecutive year, Washington, D.C.'s local NBC affiliate Channel 4 has joined the Whitman-Walker Clinic in promoting AIDSWALK Washington, which will be held Sept. 23 on the Mall. The clinic hopes to increase the $1.3 million raised in 1994's AIDSWALK to $1.7 million this year. "We're especially needful this year," said spokeswoman Marcia Levy," since the District government is more than 45 days late with about $750,000 we'd been promised." Levy estimated that the Whitman-Walker Clinic cares for about two out of three AIDS patients in the metropolitan region. Channel 4 has provided more than $50,000 worth of services, air time, and support, Levy said. "Doctors Revise Views on Anti-Tuberculosis Drug" Reuters (09/07/95) Thiacetazone, an important tuberculosis-fighting drug whose use has been limited by reports of extreme adverse reactions, may have fewer harmful effects than previously thought, physicians report. According to the medical journal The Lancet, which published the research, the finding is particularly useful for developing countries because the drug is one of the most cost-effective available. In a year-long study in Tanzania, the number of deaths caused by adverse skin reactions to thiacetazone was much lower than earlier reported in Africa. Hans Rieder, the Swiss physician who led the research, said it was not likely that under-reporting of harmful effects would account for the results. "Interferon Sciences Completes $14.4 Million Public Offering and Announces Clinical Status" Business Wire (09/07/95) Interferon Sciences, Inc. has completed the sale of 12 million shares of common stock for a total of $14.4 million, excluding fees and expenses. The transactions followed a best efforts public offering of between 6.5 million and 12 million common stock shares at a public offering price of $1.20 per share. The biopharmaceutical company is currently developing an injectable version of its Natural Alpha Interferon for potential use in such disorders as HIV and hepatitis C. One of the company's three Phase II, multi-center randomized trials is investigating the use of injectable Natural Alpha Interferon for the treatment of AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma. "U.S. Guidelines on Fungal Infections and HIV Infection" Lancet (09/02/95) Vol. 346, No. 8975, P. 630; McCarthy, Michael Although most HIV-infected individuals experience oral candidosis at some point during infection, disseminated candidosis with candidaemia is unusual. In its new guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of fungal infections, the American Thoracic Society explains that the reason for this may be that these individuals' relatively intact polymorphonuclear and humorally mediated immunity are able to stave off disseminated disease. In addition, the society advises that orapharyngeal candidosis be treated with clotrimazole lozenges, ketoconazole or fluconazole, despite the fact that the benefit of oral systemic therapy over local therapy has not yet been proven. Esophageal candidosis should be treated with systemic therapy, particularly fluconazole. According to the report, amphotericin B (AMB) should be given to those patients not responding to fluconazole. For cryptococcosis, the most common systemic fungal disease in HIV-infected persons, aggressive antifungal therapy must be given at the beginning to control the infection, and life-long suppressive treatment may be required to prevent relapse. The report recommends AMB as the primary therapy for most patients. Fluconazole is an alternative, but the report cautions that this therapy does not sterilize the cerebrospinal fluid rapidly, and thus, AMB should be considered for those at high risk of death. "AZT and Cardiomyopathy" AIDS Clinical Care (09/95) Vol. 7, No. 9, P. 77 To determine whether AZT corrupts cardiac mitochondria as it does in mitochondria found in skeletal muscle, researchers from the National Cancer Institute studied the serial echocardiograms of more than 130 HIV-infected children. Blinded observers reviewed the echocardiograms for left-ventricular (LV) dysfunction, and then calculated a shortening fraction or a qualitative impression of LV function on 2D echo. Fifty-two of the children, who ranged from four months to seven years old, were initially receiving AZT, while 13 took ddI and another took both. The use of AZT was strongly associated with reduced LV function, though no such association was determined for ddI. These results support the theory that AZT, not HIV or other factors of the disease, caused the cardiac dysfunction. The scientists advise clinicians to be aware of LV impairment in children receiving AZT, and to stop treatment if any symptoms develop. "Risk and Depression in Black Women" Focus (08/95) Vol. 10, No. 9, P. 7 An analysis of women's health centers in Baltimore shows that women with symptoms of depression were much more likely than women without these symptoms to engage in HIV-associated risk behaviors. In the study, which was published in AIDS Education and Prevention, more than 170 primarily African-American women responded to a survey which determined risk factors and depressive symptoms. The researchers used the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), which rates scores higher than 16 as indicative of significant depressive symptoms. About half of the participants received scores of at least 16. These women reported greater risk exposure through their sex partners than women who scored under 16.