Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 10:46:38 -0400 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 09/12/96 AIDS Daily Summary September 12, 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 ****************************************************** "Canada Reduces Red Cross' Authority" "Seeking Health From the Roots Up" "Rendell, Street Will Open Calcutta House AIDS Home" "Obituary: Mark Wayne Gregory, Subject of AIDS Settlement" "Science & Health Bulletin: Uganda-AIDS Workshop" "Bluebells, Daffodils Could Hold Key to AIDS Drug" "Extent of HIV Transmission via Breast Milk in Ugandan Women Limited" "Science & Health Bulletin: Kenya-HIV Over 1 [Million Infected]" "1996 National Farmworker Health Conference" "HR News: Employer Liable for Firing Worker Whose Partner Had AIDS" ****************************************************** "Canada Reduces Red Cross' Authority" Washington Post (09/12/96) P. A23; Schneider, Howard Canada's Red Cross will no longer have control of the nation's blood supply, Canadian health officials decided this week. The move is an attempt to restore public confidence in the organization, which has been severely criticized for its role in the infection of thousands of transfusion recipients. As a result of tainted blood being used in the 1980s, about 1,200 Canadians contracted HIV, and another 12,000 were infected with hepatitis C. The Red Cross has been blamed for not taking proper precautions to protect the blood supply. Canadian health officials said Tuesday that a new agency will be created to oversee the collection, testing, treatment, and distribution of blood donations. "Seeking Health From the Roots Up" Washington Post (09/12/96) P. A1; Duke, Lynne In many South African communities, traditional health care, using roots, herbs, prophecy, and ancestor worship, is a regular practice. An estimated 60 to 80 percent of all black South Africans consult traditional healers. In Orange Farm, a poor city 25 miles south of Johannesburg, local public health nurses work with the traditional healers. They train them to recognize common but serious illnesses, like tuberculosis and AIDS, and to refer such cases to clinics for orthodox medical treatment. Hundreds of healers are thought to work in the city, which has five public health clinics. "Rendell, Street Will Open Calcutta House AIDS Home" Philadelphia Inquirer (09/12/96) P. B2 Calcutta House, a hospice for persons living with AIDS (PLWAs) in Philadelphia, will officially open today in a ceremony led by Mayor Rendell and City Council President John F. Street. The house, a project of the Sisters of Mercy, contains 12 rooms. Four one-bedroom apartments for PLWAs who can live independently have been created in an adjoining building. Federal, state, and city sources provided the $1.7 million for the project. "Obituary: Mark Wayne Gregory, Subject of AIDS Settlement" Washington Post (09/12/96) P. B4 Mark Wayne Gregory, an HIV-positive Justice Department employee whose firing sparked a congressional hearing in 1988, died of AIDS-related complications on Friday. Gregory was fired several weeks after a new government-wide AIDS policy was implemented to protect HIV-positive workers' jobs. He had taken time off from his job to undergo experimental treatment, but was fired on the grounds that he was considered a probationary employee. After a hearing was held on the issue, Gregory was allowed to return to work part-time. He later resigned, however, citing stress over the legal fight. "Science & Health Bulletin: Uganda-AIDS Workshop" PANA Wire Service (09/11/96) An HIV vaccine will be tested in Ugandans at the Joint Clinical Research Center in the capital of Uganda, an international workshop has decided. The safety of the ALVAC-HIV vaccine has already been confirmed by scientists. During the initial phase of the trial, 50 volunteers will receive four injections of the vaccine. At least 100 people of high risk will be included in the second phase, and the third phase will enroll more than 1,000 people. "Bluebells, Daffodils Could Hold Key to AIDS Drug" Reuters (09/11/96); Fox, Maggie British researchers reported this week that a protein called lectin, isolated from the roots of bluebells and daffodils, could be used in an AIDS drugs. Pierre Rizkallah of the Daresbury Laboratory and colleagues reported at the annual festival of the British Association for the Advancement of Science that lectin could be used to block HIV from attacking cells because the proteins in the flower bulbs are drawn and bind to a sugar called mannose, which is found in the protein envelope that holds HIV together and helps it destroy human cells. The researchers are trying to isolate the most effective form of lectin and describe how it works. Lectin may be used to mimic the CD4 cell, which HIV infects. "Extent of HIV Transmission via Breast Milk in Ugandan Women Limited" Reuters (09/11/96) A study of Ugandan women infected with HIV found that breast feeding does not increase the risk of mothers transmitting the virus to their infants. Dr. Laura A. Guay at University Hospital of Cleveland reported in the journal Pediatrics this month that there was no link between the detection of HIV-1 in breast milk or the duration of breastfeeding and HIV transmission. The researchers caution that the finding holds only for women who were infected with HIV before delivery. For women who are infected after giving birth, the risk of infection is well-known. "Science & Health Bulletin: Kenya-HIV Over 1 [Million Infected]" PANA Wire Service (09/11/96) During an AIDS folk media festival in Eldoret, Kenya, Dr. Isaiah Tanui urged his fellow citizens to avoid casual sex to help curb the spread of HIV in the area. He said that one in 10 people in the town of Eldoret were infected with the virus, compared to one in 20 outside the urban area. He attributed the high rate to the fact that Eldoret is a transit point to neighboring countries and residents face high risks of contracting the disease from truck drivers. "1996 National Farmworker Health Conference" Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (08/96) Vol. 2, No. 8, P. 12; Dougherty, Shawn Health care providers who serve farmworkers are challenged by the geographical distribution of their clients, language differences, and opposition from Congress. At the 1996 National Farmworker Health Conference, clinicians and researchers considered how to deal with these challenges. The number of U.S. migrant and seasonal farmworkers, including their dependents, is estimated at 4.2 million. Ethnic and racial minorities, mostly Latinos and blacks, make up 85 percent of this population. Farmworkers' health is generally poor, and 44 percent have tested positive for tuberculosis. Poverty is the key barrier to health care that farmworkers face, and living conditions are often unsanitary and overcrowded, further worsening medical problems. Between 1987 and 1992, the rate of HIV seroprevalence in the farmworker population increased 10 fold, from 0.5 percent to 5 percent. Dr. Stephen Raffanti, of Vanderbilt Medical Center, treats HIV patients in Tennessee. He noted that while some patients travel long distances for treatment, most HIV-positive farmworkers lack access to doctors experienced in AIDS care. Legislation being considered by Congress would limit the health care access of both legal and undocumented immigrants and hinder efforts to control infectious diseases. "HR News: Employer Liable for Firing Worker Whose Partner Had AIDS" Human Resource Executive (08/96) Vol. 10, No. 9, P. 16; Baran, Frank The owner of an Oklahoma restaurant has been ordered to pay damages to an employee he fired because the employee's domestic partner had AIDS. In the first ruling of its kind, Terry Turner was ordered, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, to pay Paul Saladin $6,548 in back pay and compensatory damages. Evidence in the trial showed that Turner knew Saladin was gay and that his life partner, Ed Gaudin, had developed AIDS. Turner suspended Saladin for 30 days and then later, would not allow him to return to work. Testimony indicated that Turner feared that Saladin's association with someone who had AIDS would hurt his business. This was the first time an employer was found liable under the ADA provision that prohibits discrimination against a qualified individual due to that person's association with a person with a disability.