The Arsenal Files 8/The Arsenal Files Collection #8 (Arsenal Computer) (1996).ISO/health/ad961015.txt

Text File | 1996-10-25 | 10KB | 182 lines

                     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

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"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"
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"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.