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1995-03-29
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AIDS Daily Summary
March 29, 1995
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 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
************************************************************
"Mandatory Federal AIDS Classes Cited as Promoting Gay Agenda"
"Spending Recisions Get Another Look"
"Infected Blood Donors Being Traced"
"AIDS Death Jars Rap World"
"How to Fight AIDS"
"Kids Who Shun Veggies Risk Ill Health Later"
"Response to Treatment, Mortality, and CD4 Lymphocyte Counts in
HIV-Infected Persons with Tuberculosis in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire"
"Pursuing HIV Alone as a Therapeutic Target Has Been a Faulty
AIDS Research Strategy"
"HIV and the Pathogenesis of AIDS"
"Quick Uptakes: Lessons From Cat Virus"
************************************************************
"Mandatory Federal AIDS Classes Cited as Promoting Gay Agenda"
Washington Times (03/29/95) P. A1; Scarborough, Rowan
A federal employee who recently underwent mandatory AIDS training
said she was offended when the instructor began talking about her
grandmother's possible sex practices. She said she was stunned
and angered "when the instructor personalized anal sex for each
person in the room by saying our grandmothers probably practiced
birth control by participating in anal sex." Administration
rules for AIDS instruction tell trainers to avoid certain terms,
such as "husband and wife" in favor of "sex partners"; deflect
"homophobic comments," and be aware of troublemakers among the
pupils. Jim Woodall, a vice president of the conservative group
Concerned Women of America, said that President Clinton should
stop the training because the goals could be reached by giving
workers a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention brochure on
AIDS prevention. "We have been suspecting for a long time that
AIDS education is being used as a facade to promote the
homosexual lifestyle," Woodall said. White House spokesman on
AIDS policy Richard Sorian disagreed, saying, "The effort has
been a very successful effort to supply people with information
that allows them to protect themselves" and their families.
"Spending Recisions Get Another Look"
Washington Post (03/29/95) P. A21; Morgan, Dan
The Senate today will take up its version of a House-approved
recisions measure. The bill cancels government agencies'
spending authority granted in previous Congresses. Although the
Senate's cuts are less severe than those in the House, it still
removes more than $13 billion worth of spending
commitments--about $4 billion less than the House cut. One
function of the bill reported out of the Senate Appropriations
Committee is to restore $186 million cut by the House for housing
programs for people with AIDS.
"Infected Blood Donors Being Traced"
Toronto Globe and Mail (03/28/95) P. A9
The Canadian Red Cross (CRC) has begun searching its records for
blood donors who may have infected other Canadians with hepatitis
C. The agency wants to pinpoint infected donors who may have
given blood before they tested positive. Because of a six-month
"window period," when the virus is present but cannot be
identified, it is possible that people infected with hepatitis C
donated blood, yet tested negative for the virus, according to
Carlos Izaguirre, assistant national director of quality and
standards. Thousands of citizens have received blood tainted
with hepatitis C, and hundreds more may not be aware that they
are infected. Izaguirre says the CRC decided to look for
infected donors after the public outrage it faced over its
response to HIV. The CRC has been charged with not responding
fast enough to protect the blood supply from HIV. A federal
investigation is examining why more than 1,000 Canadians were
infected with HIV from tainted blood.
"AIDS Death Jars Rap World"
Boston Globe (03/28/95) P. 53; Graham, Renee
Just 10 days after announcing that he had full-blown AIDS, Eric
(Eazy-E) Wright became the first major rap star to die from the
disease. Wright's disclosure and subsequent death last Sunday
have shocked the rap community, which has been practically silent
about AIDS. Opinions, however, are mixed on what long-term
effects Wright's death will have on the rap world and on those
activities that may put its members and fans at risk. Wright
"sent out a message that hopefully will make people aware, and he
told people they need to be more responsible," said Adario
Strange, a senior editor of The Source, a hip-hop music and
culture magazine. Despite the rapid increase of AIDS cases in
the inner city--the heart of the rap audience--many male rappers
will not discuss the disease because of its early stigmatization
as a gay disease. The majority of big-name rappers who have
spoken about the disease have been women, such as Salt-N-Pepa,
Queen Latifah, and MC Lyte.
"How to Fight AIDS"
Boston Globe (03/28/95) P. 14
Contribution for AIDS research and prevention decreased 15
percent last year, perhaps because the persistence of the disease
has reduced perceptions of its urgency, write the editors of the
Boston Globe. AIDS continues to be a significant threat, they
contend, and the Massachusetts AIDS Fund deserves support from
the state's taxpayers. The fund has raised more than $1.3
million dollars, which is directed toward experimental treatments
that are not being followed by private drug companies or
governmental agencies. In past years, much of the money raised
by the fund has gone to educating teenagers. A new effort this
year will focus on intravenous drug users and others who exhibit
high-risk behavior. Other diseases have been eliminated by
vaccines or improved health measures. AIDS can be eradicated as
well, conclude the editors--who say the Massachusetts AIDS fund
can bring that day one step closer.
"Kids Who Shun Veggies Risk Ill Health Later"
USA Today (03/29/95) P. 1D; Friend, Tom
A quarter of American children did not eat fruits or vegetables
yesterday, found a study released on Tuesday. This finding
indicates that these children will face future problems, as 35
percent of all cancer is attributable to diet, explained Dr.
Ernst Wynder of the American Health Foundation. The new survey
of more than 3,000 children grades 2-6 is the first to combine
data on children's knowledge of healthy attitudes and behavior.
The findings presented at the American Cancer Society 37th
Science Writers Seminar include the fact that 12 percent of the
children believe that AIDS can not be passed from person to
person. Wynder said the survey could be given to the students
each year as part of a health education program and used to
monitor progress about teaching them about healthy lifestyles.
"Response to Treatment, Mortality, and CD4 Lymphocyte Counts in
HIV-Infected Persons with Tuberculosis in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire"
Lancet (03/11/95) Vol. 345, No. 8949, P. 607; Ackah, Alain N.;
Coulibaly, Doulhourou; Digbeu, Hippolyte et al.
Ackah et al. examined the severity of immune deficiency in
patients with HIV-related tuberculosis (TB) in Cote d'Ivoire, and
evaluated its effect on mortality and response to treatment. The
researchers performed tests for HIV-1 and HIV-2 on patients who
were being treated for either smear-positive pulmonary or
clinically diagnosed extrapulmonary TB. The subjects received
standard short-term chemotherapy. The 247 HIV-infected patients
were significantly more likely than the 312 HIV-negative patients
to have CD4 cell counts lower than 200 and lower than 500. Among
the 460 patients with pulmonary TB, the overall mortality rate
was significantly higher in those who were infected with HIV.
The death rate increased with the severity of immune deficiency.
The mortality rate of HIV-positive patients with CD4 lymphocyte
counts less than 200 and between 200 and 499 were significantly
higher than that of HIV-negative patients. The cure rates among
both the HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients who completed
treatment were similar, and were not associated with CD4 counts.
The researchers concluded that severity of immune deficiency was
the major factor of mortality in HIV-related TB. Among the
patients completing the treatment, microbiological response was
satisfactory irrespective of serological or immune status.
"Pursuing HIV Alone as a Therapeutic Target Has Been a Faulty
AIDS Research Strategy"
Scientist (03/20/95) Vol. 9, No. 6, P. 13; Gottlieb, A. Arthur
In addition to HIV, there are many other influences affecting the
immune systems of patients, writes A. Arthur Gottlieb in The
Scientist. Gottlieb, of the Tulane University School of
Medicine, bases his views on the fact that although HIV infection
occurred in the United States as early as 1968, the infection did
not result in epidemic pathogenicity until the early 1980s.
According to Gottlieb, pursuing HIV alone as a therapeutic target
is a faulty strategy because it assumes that HIV itself is
responsible for all the manifestations of HIV infection and
ignores the contributions of other cofactors--such as sexually
transmitted diseases and illegal drugs--on the immune system.
HIV will not be controlled until the underlying state of immune
dysfunction becomes a primary focus of treatment, Gottlieb
maintains. What is needed, he concludes, is the aggressive
development of therapeutic agents capable of affecting
cell-mediated immune function, and subsequent testing of these
agents for their ability to change the course of HIV disease.
"HIV and the Pathogenesis of AIDS"
Nature Medicine (03/95) Vol. 1, No. 3, P. 273; Steele, Fintan R.
In his book, "HIV and the Pathogenesis of AIDS," Jay A. Levy--who
with his colleagues was among the first to isolate HIV, calling
it AIDS-associated retrovirus (ARV)--attempts to synthesize
everything known and theorized about HIV and AIDS. Above all,
Levy's book makes it clear that funding is no longer the real
problem in understanding AIDS pathogenesis. Levy records in
great detail the complexity of HIV and its multiple interactions
with its host at all levels of pathogenesis. His thoroughness,
however, also illustrates just how far researchers still have to
go. The book inevitably has gaps, which emphasize the difficulty
of writing about a field that is continually changing. For
example, recent studies revealing the rapid daily turnover of
virus and CD4-positive cells in infected people are not included.
Still, "HIV and the Pathogenesis of AIDS" is valuable as a
reference work, and is ultimately a picture of the moving target
of AIDS research.
"Quick Uptakes: Lessons From Cat Virus"
Journal of the American Medical Association (03/22/95-03/29/95)
Vol. 273, No. 12, P. 910
Max Essex, a leading AIDS researcher and chair of the Harvard
AIDS Institute, says that scientists trying to develop an HIV
vaccine should look more closely at vaccines that are effective
against feline leukemia virus (FeLV). In a commentary in The
Journal of NIH Research, Essex says that some scientists believe
that it may be impossible to develop an effective vaccine against
a virus that targets the immune system, becomes integrated into
it, and destroys it. Such vaccines, however, have been available
for years, writes Essex. "Made from either killed whole
retroviruses or recombinant-expressed envelope subunits, [FeLV]
vaccines have offered millions of cats highly effective and
apparently safe protection from FeLV." Essex also says that new
studies on feline immunodeficiency virus may address HIV envelope
antigen variation, a limitation of the FeLV model.