Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 09:51:41 -0400 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 10/15/96 AIDS Daily Summary October 15, 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 ****************************************************** "At-Home Kits Test Medical Policies" "Shoo Flu, Don't Bother Me" "Condoms a Safer Sell in South Korea" "South Africa Slow to Battle Spread of Tuberculosis" "Judge Finds D.C. Medicaid in Violation" "Culture, et cetera: Sex Club Mission" "Animal Research Key to Progress" "China Sounds Alarm on AIDS" "The Changing Epidemiology of Acquired Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in San Francisco, USA" "HIV Blocked by Chemokine Antagonist" ****************************************************** "At-Home Kits Test Medical Policies" Richmond Times-Dispatch (10/15/96) P. A1 As the number of Americans using home health test kits increases, questions are being raised about the lack of government guidelines for such tests. Americans spent more than $1 billion on home tests in 1995, a 13 percent increase over the previous year. The Food and Drug Administration only approved the first home HIV test this year after six years of debate and only after phone counseling was added as a requirement. Although the agency regulates such tests for effectiveness, it has not established a policy on how to determine whether a test is appropriate for society. The FDA has recently been forced to deal with the question again after an Atlanta mother developed and marketed a home drug-use detection kit to other parents. The FDA said she violated federal law, but the product has been allowed to stay on the market while the case is under further consideration. "Shoo Flu, Don't Bother Me" Washington Post--Health (10/15/96) P. 7; Squires, Sally The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicts that this year's influenza season is likely to be a bad one, with the advent of at least one strain of flu virus that has been linked to severe symptoms. The CDC therefore recommends that people in high-risk groups--including the elderly; people infected with HIV; those receiving cancer therapy; and children and adults with chronic health conditions--become vaccinated against the virus. This year's flu vaccine contains three strains of killed virus, as have vaccines in past years, but researchers are also working on several ways to improve the vaccine, including using live influenza virus administered by a nasal spray, and developing new ways of streamlining production of vaccines so the protection can be more widely distributed. High-risk people who cannot be vaccinated, such as those with allergies to eggs, may be protected against influenza A varieties with antiviral drugs such as amantadine and rimantadine. "Condoms a Safer Sell in South Korea" Chicago Tribune (10/14/96) P. 4-5 Since talking about sex in public is taboo in South Korea, stores are therefore reluctant to display condoms and consumers are embarrassed to be seen buying them. As an alternative, entrepreneur Paek Myong-ju has packaged condoms in trinkets including cigar boxes, compact discs, wedding bouquets, and walnuts. The camouflaged condoms are sold in convenience stores, department stores, and through mail order. Paek, who sold 100,000 walnut condoms alone in January, reports that most of his customers are female. "South Africa Slow to Battle Spread of Tuberculosis" New York Times (10/13/96) P. 12; McNeil, Donald Jr. Although the World Health Organization has called South Africa's tuberculosis (TB) problem the worst in the world, the country's government has been slow to respond to the emergency. South Africa has the highest reported infection rate--about 350 cases per 100,000 people--and an increasing rate of drug-resistant TB, which kills 54 percent of patients it infects. The problem is partly attributed to a rise in drug use and the spread of HIV, which can increase susceptibility to TB. Moreover, a government plan to train nurses in the latest treatment methods, establish a case register, and build 200 mini-laboratories to facilitate rapid diagnosis is facing bureaucratic barriers. "Judge Finds D.C. Medicaid in Violation" Washington Post (10/12/96) P. A1; Locy, Toni A federal judge has ruled that Washington, D.C.'s Medicaid program is failing to reach thousands of poor residents--and is threatening their health and violating their constitutional rights. U. S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said the program's problems range from failing to process Medicaid applications on time to inefficiently assigning doctors to recipients. Kessler pointed to examples of patients who are suffering as a result, including Karl Von Faust, who has AIDS and had to enroll in drug trials to pay for his medicine. The judge set a hearing date in November at which time she will decide how to remedy the program's problems. "Culture, et cetera: Sex Club Mission" Washington Times (10/15/96) P. A2 A safe-sex club has opened in San Francisco, according to an article in the October 7 issue of U.S. News & World Report. Eros, the Center for Safe Sex, provides free condoms and other safe-sex supplies, offers a massage studio and sauna, as well as safe-sex lessons. Gay sex clubs have returned, and city officials and AIDS activists cannot decide if they are a public health threat or benefit. Some activists say the clubs will contribute to the increased spread of HIV in the gay community, but others hope they will offer HIV education for those most at-risk. "Animal Research Key to Progress" USA Today (10/15/96) P. 14A; Paris, Susan E. The award of the Nobel Prize in medicine for work in immunology serves as a reminder that animals are vital to medical progress, notes Susan E. Paris, president of Americans for Medical Progress, in a letter to the editor in USA Today. Paris points out that the research that won the prize involved the study of laboratory mice and resulted in the knowledge of how the immune system targets viruses. She argues that animal rights activists would have liked to derail such research 20 years ago, and that continued efforts by activists could deny progress against AIDS, cancer, and other diseases. "China Sounds Alarm on AIDS" United Press International (10/15/96) Chinese health officials report that AIDS is spreading rapidly throughout the country, adding that government AIDS campaigns were not effective. The State AIDS Supervision Station said AIDS awareness was low among members of high-risk groups and that most HIV infections are attributed to intravenous drug use. By the end of 1995, China had 3,341 documented HIV cases. In that year, 1,567 cases were added, compared to 502 new cases in 1994. The Ministry of Health estimates that close to 10,000 people are infected with HIV, and independent activists and experts say the number is closer to 100,000. The government has appropriated $1.8 billion for national AIDS work this year. "The Changing Epidemiology of Acquired Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in San Francisco, USA" Lancet (10/05/96) Vol. 348, No. 9032, P. 928; Bradford, Williamson Z.; Martin, Jeffrey N.; Reingold, Arthur L. The emergence of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in recent years has created a serious global health threat. To effectively control tuberculosis (TB) and determine what the best treatment options are, the factors that contribute to drug-resistance must be defined. Dr. Peter M. Small, of Stanford Medical School, and colleagues studied the trend of drug-resistance in San Francisco, a city that has had an effective TB control program. The researchers considered all reported TB cases in San Francisco between 1985 and 1994. They found evidence that 14 patients who were infected with susceptible M. tuberculosis later developed drug-resistance. Among these cases, two occurred between 1985 and 1989, and the remainder were reported between 1990 and 1994. Acquired drug- resistance was associated with AIDS, non-compliance with therapy, and gastrointestinal symptoms. The authors conclude that the increasing prevalence of HIV/TB co-infection can be attributed to the increase in acquired drug resistance in San Francisco. They also suggest that conventional TB control measures may not be adequate in communities with high rates of HIV infection. "HIV Blocked by Chemokine Antagonist" Nature (10/03/96) Vol. 383, No. 6599, P. 400; Arenzana-Seisdedos, Fernando; Virelizier, Jean-Louis; Rousset, Dominique; et al. Recent research has shown that HIV-1 depends on chemokine receptors to act as cell surface co-receptors to enter and infect cells. Scientists from the Pasteur Institute, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Bern report that a modified version of the chemokine RANTES can block HIV-1 without prompting the adverse effects the original compound causes. The findings suggest that "receptor signaling and cell activation is probably not required for the anti-HIV effect of chemokines," and that therapeutic agents could be developed as a result, the authors conclude.