Date: Mon, 23 Sep 1996 09:55:08 -0400 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 09/23/96 AIDS Daily Summary September 23, 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 ****************************************************** "D.C. to Use Needles in AIDS Fight" "FDA Guidelines Aimed at Minimizing Risks in Animal-to-Human Transplants" "Dental Worker With AIDS Virus Is Sent Home" "Denial and Taboo Blind India to the Horror of its AIDS Scourge" "AIDS Healthcare Foundation to Close its Oldest Hospice" "Scabies Reported at Johns Hopkins" "Little Room for Recovery" "Catholic U. Ejects 'Angels'" "City Schools Still Screen Illegally for AIDS" "Ritonavir Plus Saquinavir: Two Trials With Different Results" ****************************************************** "D.C. to Use Needles in AIDS Fight" Washington Post (09/23/96) P. B1; Goldstein, Amy The first large-scale needle exchange program in the Washington, D.C. area will begin next month, city officials announced Friday. Under the plan, the KOBA Institute--a nonprofit consortium that includes the Whitman-Walker Clinic--will distribute more than 100,000 sterile syringes over the next year in Washington communities where drug use is rampant and AIDS is on the rise. A short experimental program was attempted four years ago, but it was used by only 33 of the city's estimated 16,000 drug users. Increasing concern over the spread of HIV has overcome resistance to the controversial strategy. A total of 8,700 city residents have been diagnosed with AIDS since the early 1980s, and 5,000 people have died of the disease. As many as 17,000 are infected with HIV, and the virus is spreading rapidly among intravenous drug users and their sexual partners and children. "FDA Guidelines Aimed at Minimizing Risks in Animal-to-Human Transplants" Wall Street Journal (09/23/96) P. B10H; McGinley, Laurie The Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday guidelines for animal-to-human transplants, but scientists are still daunted by the medical problems involved in such procedures. The guidelines are intended to minimize the risks to public health while encouraging more research on the transplants. One well-known example of an animal-to-human transplant, or xenotransplant, took place in 1995 when AIDS patient Jeff Getty received bone marrow from a baboon. Under the new guidelines, researchers are advised to take safety measures to minimize the risk of cross-species transmission of diseases; select experts in infectious disease and animal health; receive approval from local hospital review boards; and monitor patients after the transplants for animal organisms. "Dental Worker With AIDS Virus Is Sent Home" USA Today (09/23/96) P. 8A; Komarow, Steven A U.S. Army dental technician who has treated 1,100 soldiers and family members, including 300 in Bosnia, was sent back to the United States after he tested positive for HIV. An Army representative said sterilization procedures make the risk of infection very small, but patients are being offered counseling and testing if requested. "Denial and Taboo Blind India to the Horror of its AIDS Scourge" New York Times (09/22/96) P. 1; Burns, John F. The threat of AIDS is especially strong in India, where prostitution and unprotected sex are common and prevention programs are mostly ineffective. United Nations AIDS agencies have estimated that one million Indians will have AIDS by 1999, and as many as 10 million will be infected with HIV. Of all projected infections worldwide, 25 percent will be in India. Indian officials have estimated that as many as 20 million, or even 50 million, Indians will be infected by 2000, and that there will be more AIDS patients than hospital beds. The government's AIDS program has been criticized for being unorganized, under-funded, and burdened by bureaucracy in a country where there are now some 970 million people. "AIDS Healthcare Foundation to Close its Oldest Hospice" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (09/23/96) P. B4 Financial difficulties and changes in AIDS care are forcing the AIDS Healthcare Foundation of Los Angeles to close its oldest hospice. The Chris Brownlie House, which opened in 1988, will shut its doors this week. Foundation President Michael Weinstein said the demand for hospice care has decreased due to advances in drug treatment. The rising costs of such treatments have also been cited as reasons for the organization's financial problems. "Scabies Reported at Johns Hopkins" Washington Times (09/23/96) P. C6 Outbreaks of scabies at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore prompted officials to shut down an AIDS outpatient clinic over the weekend and attempt to locate and check 150 patients who visited the HIV ward in the past three months. The skin infection, caused by a burrowing mite, was contracted by at least two dozen hospital workers during two outbreaks. "Little Room for Recovery" Washington Post (09/23/96) P. A1; Goldstein, Amy Publicly funded treatment programs for drug addicts and alcoholics in Washington, D.C., and neighboring Prince George's County, Md., are having to turn people seeking help away because of reduced local funding. In Washington, D.C., local spending on treatment is almost one-third lower than 1992 levels. In Prince George's County, substance abuse appropriations have dropped from $2 million in 1990 to $180,000 this year. Programs in other area counties have also had to make changes. In Anne Arundel County, Md., for example, the only county money used for outpatient treatment funds methadone therapy because heroin use is increasing and contributing to a higher AIDS rate. Still, a few local initiatives are helping the cause, aided in part by a $16.5 million federal grant that has been awarded to area programs to treat low-income women with drug addictions who are pregnant, homeless, or infected with HIV or tuberculosis. "Catholic U. Ejects 'Angels'" Washington Post (09/21/96) P. C1; Swisher, Kara A production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Angels in America," about AIDS and homophobia, is under attack by Catholic University administration. The play was approved earlier this year by the university's drama department, but the administration has banned advertising for the play and ordered that it move to an off-campus venue. The administration noted that it "reserves the right to determine the appropriateness of public presentations to ensure consistency with the university's mission." "City Schools Still Screen Illegally for AIDS" Crain's Chicago Business (09/09/96) Vol. 19, No. 37, P. 3; Hinz, Greg The Chicago Public School system continues to require individuals applying for teaching positions to reveal whether or not they have HIV, despite promising to delete the question from medical forms six months ago. The school system is also asking other potentially illegal, highly personal questions as part of its medical examination form for job applicants. The school system has called the questioning "an oversight" and "improper." However, a spokeswoman for Lambda Legal Defense, a New York-based gay rights law firm, suggests that the schools have a credibility problem, having agreed to remove the question from forms in March but not appearing "to have exerted a lot of energy to follow through on what they promised." Two years ago, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley ordered the city agencies not to question job applicants about their HIV-status after the city had to pay $90,000 in legal costs for testing police applicants for HIV. "Ritonavir Plus Saquinavir: Two Trials With Different Results" AIDS Treatment News (09/06/96) No. 254, P. 5; Mascolini, Mark Two trials testing the combination of the protease inhibitors ritonavir and saquinavir recently came to different conclusions, possibly explained by differences in trial size, drug dosage, and disease stage of the participants. Studies have suggested that ritonavir greatly increases blood levels of saquinavir, making a combination of the two especially attractive. One trial of 63 individuals, led by Dr. William Cameron of the University of Ottawa, found that two different doses of the drugs decreased viral load up to 99 percent and increased CD4 counts by 80 to 100 points. However, a smaller, nine-person study led by Dr. Bernard Hirschel of the University Hospital of Geneva, showed that viral load was reduced by at least 90 percent, though it quickly rebounded in some patients. The trials suggest that resistance to the drugs does not develop immediately, although it could emerge later. Researchers are now attempting to find the proper dosing strategy--one that is strong enough to suppress viral replication and prevent resistance while being mild enough to be tolerated.