Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 11:25:56 -0400 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 05/01/96 AIDS Daily Summary May 1, 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 ************************************************************ "Bill Would Order AIDS-Virus Testing to Protect Babies" "AIDS Fight Is Skewed by Federal Campaign Exaggerating Risks" "Scientists Hone Knowledge of How Virus Spreads" "AIDS Acrimony" "Spread of AIDS Alarms Chinese" "Gay Rights Group Lauds AMA Call for Sexual History Queries" "Don't Play Catch-Up With TB" "B.C. to Pay for New AIDS Drug" "Hit Hard Early or Delay? New Drugs Cloud Options" "Homemade Tattoos Transmitting HIV" ************************************************************ "Bill Would Order AIDS-Virus Testing to Protect Babies" New York Times (05/01/96) P. A1; Fisher, Ian Congressional leaders have tentatively agreed on a provision that would make mandatory HIV testing of newborns a stipulation for states to receive federal AIDS funding under the Ryan White CARE Act if health officials cannot reduce the number of infected babies by other means. Under the act, health care providers would be required to advise pregnant women to be tested for HIV. It would call for states to take a series of steps toward mandatory testing of infants, but only of those born to women whose HIV status is not known. Testing would become mandatory for the children of those women if the number of infected children was not reduced by counseling by the year 2000. AIDS activists have opposed the mandatory testing of infants, but are expected to support the overall bill and try to repeal the testing measure later. Mandatory testing of newborns has been controversial, raising fears of discrimination. New York, like other states, has routinely tested newborns anonymously, but new regulations there will allow mothers to learn their infant's test result. Related Story: Baltimore Sun (05/01) P. 4A "AIDS Fight Is Skewed by Federal Campaign Exaggerating Risks" Wall Street Journal (05/01/96) P. A1; Bennett, Amanda; Sharpe, Anita Although the nine-year-old federal America Responds to AIDS campaign warns that anyone can get AIDS, the effort is having a potentially detrimental impact on funding for AIDS prevention. While 83 percent of all reported AIDS cases are among homosexuals and injection drug users, no federal funding is specifically allocated for these groups. Needle exchange programs, seen as effective against the spread of HIV, are denied federal funding. Moreover, much of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's $584 million AIDS-prevention funding is directed at heterosexual women, college students, and others who face a relatively low risk of infection. Experts argue that more money is needed for prevention among high-risk groups. The CDC's Helene Gayle notes that "increasingly, it's important to shift strategies to meet the epidemic," and reports that the agency is giving communities more say in how to spend federal AIDS money. Political and social forces that shaped the policy made in 1987 are still making it difficult for the government to alter its prevention efforts. "Scientists Hone Knowledge of How Virus Spreads" Wall Street Journal (05/01/96) P. A6 While AIDS experts once thought the disease would become an epidemic among non-drug-using heterosexuals, there is now consensus that this is unlikely. Lyle Petersen, former chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's branch that estimates the prevalence of HIV, says that "over 90 percent of the population is heterosexual, and most people at zilcho or very low risk." HIV is not transmitted heterosexually as easily as it is transmitted through anal sex or through shared needles. For both men and women, it is much easier to transmit other serious sexually transmitted diseases than to pass on HIV. People with venereal diseases, however, are more likely to become infected with HIV if exposed. Sexual contact with a large number of people in a short period, as occurred in gay bathhouses early in the epidemic, seems to be necessary for widespread transmission. AIDS has spread more rapidly among the heterosexual population in Africa and Asia, due to more widely practiced prostitution. Some scientists say the United States may be vulnerable to strains of HIV that are more easily spread through heterosexual contact. "AIDS Acrimony" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (05/01/96) P. B1; Boxall, Bettina; Meyer, Josh The gap in federal AIDS funding for San Francisco and Los Angeles has spurred a political debate and lobby to change the formula such funding is based on. The Ryan White Care Act has favored regions hardest hit in the early years of the epidemic, sending more money to San Francisco and New York than to Los Angeles, even though there are now several thousand more people with AIDS in Los Angeles County than in San Francisco. Reauthorization of the funding act may include provisions helpful to Los Angeles. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) organized a formal protest in Congress, but noted "I can't just represent Los Angeles alone. I have to stand for what's fair." "Spread of AIDS Alarms Chinese" Washington Post (05/01/96) P. A21; Mufson, Steven The number of reported HIV infections in China is relatively small, with 2,594 people known to be infected and 80 known AIDS cases. But health experts say the virus is spreading rapidly, and estimate that the actual number of cases is as high as 100,000. Two-thirds of the reported cases are in the southern province of Yunnan, where drug use has brought HIV across the borders from Burma, Laos, and Thailand. China recently committed $60 million to set up six border check-points along the Yunnan border. Reasons for the rapid spread of the virus in China include ignorance, as well as the government's reluctance to talk about sex or promote condom use. Poor blood screening and unhygienic procedures at hospitals are also to blame. China's economic reforms have also contributed to the virus' spread, with foreign trade increasing and prostitution resurging. The government seems to be dealing with AIDS more openly, and last year hosted a major conference on AIDS awareness day. "Gay Rights Group Lauds AMA Call for Sexual History Queries" Washington Times (05/01/96) P. A5 The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association applauded the American Medical Association's recommendation Tuesday that all doctors ask their patients for a detailed sexual history, saying the move would help stop discrimination. The AMA report points out specific health problems experienced by homosexuals, including HIV, adolescent suicide, and ovarian cancer. "Don't Play Catch-Up With TB" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (05/01/96) P. A10 In an editorial in the Los Angeles Times Washington Edition, the authors urge the United States to take action to fight tuberculosis, which was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization three years ago. According to the editors, U.S. public health officials must not be complacent about the disease, which resurged in the mid-1980s. "B.C. to Pay for New AIDS Drug" Toronto Globe and Mail (04/30/96) P. A10; Coutts, Jane British Columbia will be the first Canadian province to pay for the protease inhibitor saquinavir, and will spend up to $5 million in the coming year to buy the drug for about 500 people who have HIV but not AIDS. A U.S. study has questioned the clinical benefits of the drug, the first protease inhibitor to be approved in Canada. "Hit Hard Early or Delay? New Drugs Cloud Options" AIDS Alert (04/96) Vol. 11, No. 4, P. 40 The development of protease inhibitors and new knowledge of the dynamics of HIV infection have prompted the call for early treatment, although researchers say more data is needed. "Now that we know the virus is constantly reproducing itself--unlike what we thought in the old days...it makes sense to hit hard and hit early," said Michael Sheran, an AIDS doctor at Saint Vincent's Hospital in New York. Doctors are concerned, however, that people will develop resistance to the drugs. John Mellors, of the University of Pittsburgh, favors early treatment to delay disease progression. In making treatment decisions, clinicians consider a patient's CD4 cell count, viral load, and quality of life while on the drug. Melanie Thompson, of the AIDS Research Consortium in Atlanta, says more research is needed on protease inhibitors to advocate early or delayed treatment and that cases should be evaluated individually. Patients seem more willing to take protease inhibitors than they were to take nucleoside analogues, though some are waiting for new drugs and more information before starting treatment. "Homemade Tattoos Transmitting HIV" POZ (04/96) No. 13, P. 24 A recent report on deaths in Florida prisons revealed that AIDS is the leading killer among inmates and that AIDS-related deaths rose from 34.7 percent to 52.3 percent between 1987 and 1992. In 1995 the figure was 58 percent. While rape is portrayed in television as the main risky behavior of inmates, a Florida Corrections Department expert said that intravenous drugs and homemade tattoo needles pose the same amount of risk. In Florida, inmates are educated about AIDS, and educational videos are shown in waiting rooms. Those participating in high risk behaviors are encouraged to get tested.