The Arsenal Files 6/The Arsenal Files 6 (Arsenal Computer).ISO/health/ad960320.zip/AD960320.TXT

Text File | 1996-03-23 | 11KB | 201 lines

                     AIDS Daily Summary
                      March 20, 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 Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction
of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"Senate Votes to Repeal Requirement That GIs With AIDS Virus Be
Released"
"'Philadelphia' Makers Settle Suit Over Source"
"Survival of the Nastiest"
"Vital Statistics: AIDS Orphans"
"Living with AIDS"
"Tuberculosis Rise Adds to Vietnam's AIDS Problem"
"Family Role Increasing as Deaths of HIV-Positive Mothers
Increase"
"HIV-1 Langerhans' Cell Tropism Associated with Heterosexual
Transmission of HIV"
"National Academy of Sciences Endorses Syringe Exchange as an HIV
Prevention Strategy"
"HIV Rate in CA Prisons Higher Than in Community"
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"Senate Votes to Repeal Requirement That GIs With AIDS Virus Be
Released"
Washington Post (03/20/96) P. A12;  Pianin, Eric
     The Senate voted Tuesday to repeal the new law that requires
HIV-positive members of the military to be discharged.  The
repeal was part of a spending bill passed to keep the government
funded through the remainder of the year.  To eliminate the
measure, however, the House would also have to agree to the
repeal when the spending bill is considered in a conference
committee later this week.  The new law was part of the defense
authorization bill that President Clinton signed last month, even
though he opposed the HIV provision.  Clinton and several AIDS
groups sought the repeal, which 56 Democrats and Republican
senators co-sponsored.  Related Stories: New York Times (03/20)
P. D22; Baltimore Sun (03/20) P. 9A

"'Philadelphia' Makers Settle Suit Over Source"
New York Times (03/20/96) P. B5;  Pristin, Terry
     The makers of the movie "Philadelphia" admitted Tuesday that the
film "was inspired in part" by the experiences of a New York
lawyer who was fired when his employer discovered he had AIDS.
Tristar Pictures announced an undisclosed settlement after five
days of testimony in the lawsuit brought by the family of the
lawyer, Geoffrey Bowers, who died in 1987.  The company had
previously said the movie was a fictional work drawn from various
sources including personal experiences of the screenwriter and
director, who were named as defendants in the case.  Bowers'
family had argued that by refusing to pay them, Tristar had
violated an agreement with a producer who told them he wanted to
use the discrimination case in a movie.  The family cited more
than 40 similarities between the movie and Geoffrey Bowers' life,
and said the film makers had based scenes on what they were told
by the family.

"Survival of the Nastiest"
New York Times (03/20/96) P. B1;  Johnson, Kirk
     A collection of more than 4,500 samples of drug-resistant
tuberculosis (TB) bacteria is kept in New York at the TB Center
at the Public Health Research Institute, marking the city as a
research clearinghouse for the disease.  Dr. Barry N. Kreiswirth
heads the center, which has been involved in tracking down the
origin of resistant TB strains that emerged during the outbreak
in 1991 and 1992.  The disease is especially prevalent among the
poor, immigrants, people with AIDS, and intravenous drug users.
Kreiswirth's researchers test pharmaceutical companies' drugs
against the collected pathogens--thus far, six firms have sent
their anti-TB drugs for testing, including two compounds from
Pathogenesis in Seattle.

"Vital Statistics: AIDS Orphans"
Washington Post--Health (03/19/96) P. 5
     A growing number of children are being orphaned by AIDS, which
has become the leading cause of death among women of childbearing
age in the United States, according to a new study in the Journal
of the American Medical Association.  Experts project that about
144,000 children and young adults will have lost their mothers to
AIDS by the year 2000, unless the current trend shifts dramatically.

"Living with AIDS"
Miami Herald (03/19/96) P. 1B;  Rogers, Peggy
     A new study has found that, for AIDS patients, having a primary
physician with a lot of experience treating AIDS, may mean a
longer life.  The study, which is reported in the New England
Journal of Medicine, was conducted by researchers at the
University of Washington and a regional health maintenance
organization.  Medical experts say the conclusion makes sense,
but that it is rare for doctor experience alone to make a
significant difference to the patient.  "Since things change so
quickly with HIV, even the HIV physicians have a hard time
keeping up," said Dr. Corkin R. Steinhard, a Coconut Grove, Fla.
HIV doctor.  In South Florida, an epicenter for AIDS, many
patients do not have access to the most experienced doctors, who
do not always take Medicaid patients.  More experienced doctors
are more likely to order more expensive drugs and tests, an
editorial accompanying the study suggests.  Many AIDS patients do
not get to the experts until the disease has progressed too far.
Other patients fight to get treated by the best doctors, thereby
becoming experts in their own care.

"Tuberculosis Rise Adds to Vietnam's AIDS Problem"
Reuters (03/20/96)
     About 25,000 people in Vietnam are dying from tuberculosis (TB)
each year, with the highest death rate among people with AIDS, a
senior doctor with the Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung
Diseases said.  He estimated that 130,000 people are infected
with TB every year.  The doctor said the disease is difficult to
control because people who are not aware that they are infected
can easily infect others.  He said that the rate of infection was
as high as 50 percent among AIDS patients, although the National
AIDS Protection Committee said the figure was only 30 percent to
35 percent.

"Family Role Increasing as Deaths of HIV-Positive Mothers
Increase"
Reuters (03/19/96)
     The importance of family involvement in caring for children who
lose their mothers to AIDS has increased along with the AIDS
epidemic, French researchers report in the American Journal of
Public Health.  Dr. Stephanie Blanche at the Hopital Necker in
Paris and colleagues followed nearly 1,500 HIV-positive mothers
and their children for eight years.  Between 2 percent and 3
percent of the total group of children were separated from their
mothers each year by the mother's death from AIDS.  Blanche found
the cumulative risk of long-term separation was 37 percent at 60
months, and higher when the mother used drugs.  In 57 percent of
the cases, the child was placed by welfare services.  The role of
the family tended to increase with the age of the child.

"HIV-1 Langerhans' Cell Tropism Associated with Heterosexual
Transmission of HIV"
Science (03/01/96) Vol. 271, No. 5253, P. 1291;  Soto-Ramirez,
Luis E.;  Renjifo, Boris;  McLane, Mary F.; et al.
     Soto-Ramirez and colleagues suggest that some strains of HIV-1
have more potential for heterosexual transmission than others.
Vaginal intercourse is the most common route of HIV-1
transmission in Thailand, sub-Saharan Africa, and India, where
HIV-1 subtype E is the predominant strain.  Most transmissions in
the United States and Europe are associated with anal intercourse
among homosexual men or injection drug use, and HIV-1 subtype B
is the most common strain.  Epithelial Langerhans' cells (LCs),
found on oral and genital mucosa, but not in rectal mucosa, are a
possible source of contact for heterosexual transmission.  The
researchers inoculated LC samples with HIV from 15 U.S.
homosexuals and 18 Thai heterosexuals.  All the viruses from the
Thai group, which were subtype E, grew more efficiently in the
LCs than any of the viruses from the U.S. group, which were
subtype B.  The authors say their results suggest that LCs are
primary targets for heterosexual infection and could explain the
differences in the epidemics in Asia and Africa, compared to
those in the United States and Europe.  They say that, if
introduced in the West, subtype E could be a greater threat than
subtype B.

"National Academy of Sciences Endorses Syringe Exchange as an HIV
Prevention Strategy"
The U.S. Conference of Mayors: HIV Capsule Report (02/96) No. 1,
P. 4
     A National Academy of Sciences study, conducted by 15 experts at
Congress' request, has found that syringe exchange programs can
reduce the spread of HIV among drug users without encouraging
drug use.  The panel reviewed all available research and released
its report, recommending in Sept. 1995 that the ban on the use of
federal funds for exchange programs be lifted.  The report also
called for states to rescind laws that restrict the sale and
possession of syringes.  According to the report, injection drug
use accounts for a major proportion of the new HIV infections in
the United States, and sharing of injection equipment is the main
mode of transmission among addicts.  The authors of the report
also recommend that the Surgeon General should make the requisite
determination to lift the current ban on using any federal funds
for needle exchange programs.

"HIV Rate in CA Prisons Higher Than in Community"
AIDS Alert (02/96) Vol. 11, No. 2, P. 23
     Health officials in California have found that the HIV rate among
the state's prison population has remained relatively stable
since 1988.  The most recent figures, which were gathered during
a massive communicable disease screening of 118,000 inmates and
employees of the state correctional system, indicate that 2.5
percent of male inmates and 3.2 percent of female inmates are HIV
positive.  The health care workers were particularly concerned
because both hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV)
are at significant levels in the prison population.  HBV was
found in 47 percent of the women and 32 percent of the men, while
HCV was in 54 percent of the women and 39 percent of the men.
Because both hepatitis and HIV are spread through sex and
needles, the high hepatitis infection rate may indicate a future
increase in the rate of HIV infection and AIDS cases, concluded
Susan Steinberg, chief medical officer for the California
Department of Corrections.