Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 12:28:26 -0400 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 06/26/96 AIDS Daily Summary June 26, 1996 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 National AIDS Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information. Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ****************************************************** "Physician Calls for AIDS Test" "In Surprising Study, TB Is Found to Be Rampant in South Africa" "Media a Factor in Teen Sex, Poll Says" "Don't Shackle Scientists" "The Art of Packaging Safe Sex" "HIV Transfusion Risk 2 Per Million" "Chinese Herbal AIDS Drug Performs Well in Tests" "Presidential Proclamation of CDC Day" "HIV-1 Entry Into CD4 Cells Is Mediated by the Chemokine Receptor CC-CKR-5" "Cycle of Success" ****************************************************** "Physician Calls for AIDS Test" Washington Post (06/26/96) P. B6; Knight, Athelia The doctor in charge of boxing for this summer's Olympic Games said Tuesday that Olympic boxers should be tested for HIV, even though AIDS experts say the risk of an athlete contracting HIV in the ring is very small. Dr. Robert Voy, the physician who will head the team of doctors at the Olympics, said that even though no one has ever contracted HIV by boxing an infected opponent, "the first one that happens is a death sentence." However, Jerry Dusenberry, president of USA Boxing, said that HIV testing for any Olympic athlete is unlikely because the 1978 amateur sports act prohibits discrimination. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 1995 that only one example of HIV infection thought to be related to sports had been documented. The infection was found in a recreational soccer player in Italy, but public health officials were not sure how the man, who worked in a drug rehabilitation facility, contracted the virus. "In Surprising Study, TB Is Found to Be Rampant in South Africa" New York Times (06/26/96) P. A8; McNeil, Donald G. Jr. South Africa has the highest rate of tuberculosis (TB) in the world, the World Health Organization reported Tuesday. A new study, one that surprised even the doctors doing it, estimated the rate of TB in South Africa at 311 cases per 100,000 persons. The highest estimate for any other country has been 250 cases per 100,000. South Africa has seen an increase in the rate of HIV infection, which speeds the course of TB, and a rise in drug-resistant strains of the disease. While TB cases are rising in many parts of the world, the new, more accurate estimates in South Africa are surprising because they show a more widespread problem than previous thought. Directly observed therapy, used to treat TB patients elsewhere, has not been implemented in South Africa, and has thus led to the spread of drug-resistance. The rise in HIV cases has also contributed to the TB problem, as well as the fact that some South Africans with the disease avoid doctors because they fear losing their jobs. "Media a Factor in Teen Sex, Poll Says" Washington Times (06/26/96) P. A3 One-third of people aged 12 to 18 say the media influence some teens' decision to have sex, and more than half say they learn about birth control from television or movies. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation's survey found that among sexually active youths, 47 percent said they wanted to know more about preventing HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). More than 33 percent of the girls reported that fashion magazines were a key source of sex, birth control, and STD information. Less than a third said they have had sex and 4 percent said they had at least one child. "Don't Shackle Scientists" USA Today (06/26/96) P. 14A; Eckberg, Dwain L. In a letter to the editor of USA Today, Dr. Daniel L. Eckberg, of Richmond, Va., responds to a letter in which Steven I. Simmons, an AIDS patient, argued that animal research is not needed to find a cure for AIDS. Eckberg notes that while he does not advocate inhumane animal research, Simmons' fellow activists at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals want to stop all animal research, which would put animal health before human health. He points out that polio would not have been cured without animal research, concluding that not allowing such research will restrict scientific progress toward curing AIDS. "The Art of Packaging Safe Sex" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (06/26/96) P. B8; Warrick, Pamela Public Art Works, a Marin, Calif.-based nonprofit group that commissions socially conscious art for public uses, sponsored a statewide contest for teenagers to design condom packages. The goal of the contest was to destigmatize condoms by having them packaged in attractive, artful covers. Winners of the Prophylactic Artifice contest were rewarded with $100 and the exposure brought by having their work mass produced and distributed. While some critics said the contest trivialized the issue of teenage sex, contest sponsors said it "stimulated a healthy awareness of the need for safe sex." "HIV Transfusion Risk 2 Per Million" United Press International (06/26/96); Klinger, Karen The risk of contracting HIV through a blood transfusion in the United States is about two cases per 1 million units transfused, scientists report today in the New England Journal of Medicine. One study estimated the transfusion-linked risk for hepatitis B infection was eight times greater than that for HIV, while another found that the risk of contracting hepatitis C through a transfusion was five times greater than that for HIV. George Schreiber of Westat, in Rockville, Md., said the results show that the American blood supply is "safer than it ever has been and it will get safer" with new tests being developed. Cathy Conry-Cantilena of the National Institutes of Health reports that behaviors among donors that impacted risk for contracting hepatitis C via transfusion included nasal inhalation of cocaine, prior receipt of a blood transfusion, sexual promiscuity, ear piercing in men, and intravenous drug use. "Chinese Herbal AIDS Drug Performs Well in Tests" Reuters (06/25/96) An experimental Chinese herbal AIDS drug may have cleared one patient of HIV, cured paralysis in another, and made some patients well enough to return home, doctors reported Tuesday. The drug, called Saidefu, has only been tested in a small clinical trial for three months. It is made by Lianoning Seadebride Medicine. "Presidential Proclamation of CDC Day" U.S. Newswire (06/24/96); Clinton, William J. In recognition of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 50 years of service, President Clinton declared July 1, 1996 as CDC Day. He asked the American people to "recognize the need for preventive health measures, and to strive throughout the year to realize the CDC's vision: Healthy people in a healthy world--through prevention." The CDC grew from a small organization whose goal was to fight the spread of malaria among U.S. troops during World War II. The agency has been instrumental in combating breast and cervical cancer, lead poisoning, tuberculosis, AIDS, and emerging infectious diseases. "HIV-1 Entry Into CD4 Cells Is Mediated by the Chemokine Receptor CC-CKR-5" Nature (06/20/96) Vol. 381, No. 6584, P. 667; Dragic, Tatjana; Litwin, Virginia; Allaway, Graham P.; et al. Replication of non-syncytium-inducing (NSI) HIV-1 in CD4 T-cells is inhibited by the beta-chemokines macrophage inflammatory protein-1-alpha (MIP-1 alpha), MIP-1 beta, and regulated-upon-activation normal T expressed and secreted (RANTES), but T-cell-line-adapted (TCLA) or syncytium-inducing (SI) primary strains do not respond to these beta-chemokines. Some people exposed to HIV-1 are able to resist infection with NSI strains, but can be infected by TCLA and SI strains. These individuals' lymphocytes secrete high concentrations of beta-chemokines. John P. Moore and researchers at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center established that MIP-1 alpha, MIP-1 beta, and RANTES inhibit HIV-1 infection by interfering with the fusion reaction between the virus and the cell subsequent to CD4 binding. They also demonstrated that the beta-chemokine receptor CC-CKR-5 can serve as a second receptor for entry of some primary NSI strains of HIV-1, and that, when coexpressed with CD4, it allows membrane fusion. Overexpression of CC-CKR-5 inhibits membrane fusion and HIV-1 infection, and is a potential competitive mechanism of inhibition. Downregulating the receptor could also inhibit CC-CKR-5 mediated fusion by beta-chemokines. "Cycle of Success" Advertising Age (06/10/96) Vol. 67, No. 24, P. 40; Fitzgerald, Kate Tanqueray is receiving widespread exposure this summer as the sole sponsor of the Tanqueray American AIDS Rides, five long-distance rides expected to raise $25 million for AIDS organizations. With a total of more than 12,000 riders, the events are covered in live television news updates and in local and national newspapers. Tanqueray was the only company that responded when 200 executives were asked to sponsor the event in 1993. The fundraiser started with a California ride, and expanded last year to include a Boston-to-New York ride. This year rides started from Orlando, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Boston. Tanqueray spent approximately $4 million on this year's promotions, including in-theater ads, print ads, and an Internet Web site.