NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #16/NN_1992_16.iso/spool/sci/med/aids/1566

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Subject: CDC Summary 7/31/92
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                         AIDS Daily Summary
                           July 31, 1992
 The Centers for Disease Control (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
Clearinghouse, or any other organization.  Reproduction of this text is
encouraged; however, copies may not be sold.  Copyright 1992,
Information, Inc., Washington, DC
************************************************************************
 "Panel Opposes Forced AIDS Disclosure" Washington Post (07/31/92), P.
A5
     HIV-positive health-care workers should not be required to reveal
their status to their patients, the National Commission on AIDS  said
yesterday.  Health-care workers and patients should both be  protected
from discrimination caused by fear of the disease, the  commission said
in a report.  The report said a patient's chance  of becoming infected
with HIV from a health-care worker is  practically nonexistent.  "The
commission believes that a blanket  policy of disclosure of health-care
providers' HIV status to  patients would not only fail to make the
health care workplace  any safer, it would also have a deleterious
impact on access to  health care," stated the report.  Proposals for
mandatory HIV  testing and restrictions on practice, according to the
report,  "may be counterproductive, in that they may ultimately cause
greater morbidity and mortality than they prevent,"  placing more
attention on something of slight risk rather than on prevention  of
risky behavior.  Forcing HIV-positive workers to leave the  health care
field would be a great loss to society--there are 360 surgeons, 5,000
other doctors, 1,200 dentists, and 35,000 other  health-care workers who
are infected in the U.S., according to  the Centers for Disease Control.
Related Stories: New York Times (07/31) P. A11; Los Angeles Times--
Washington Edition (07/31) P. A1; Baltimore Sun (07/31) P. 1A;
Philadelphia Inquirer (07/31) P. A3

"Meeting Called on AIDS-Like Illness" Washington Post (07/31/92), P. A5
     The Centers for Disease Control will hold a meeting next month of
the country's leading AIDS experts to address the discovery of  the
syndrome that resembles AIDS but shows no sign of HIV  infection,
announced officials yesterday.  Though the CDC has  known about five
cases since 1989, it did not investigate them  because officials did not
consider the syndrome prevalent or a  threat, said James Curran, CDC's
deputy director for AIDS.  A  total of 21 more cases were revealed at
the 8th International  AIDS Conference held in Amsterdam last week.  "It
is important to determine whether some or all of these cases might be
caused by  an infectious agent and, if so, determine how that agent is
transmitted and prevented," Curran said.  There has been no date  set by
the CDC for the meeting.  Curran stressed that it is too  early to label
the disease as a type of AIDS, even though it  depletes the immune
system in much the same way that AIDS does.   The 26 patients known to
have the condition all have very low  numbers of CD4 cells.  Yet they
have all tested HIV-negative, and 16 have no known risk factors for HIV
infection.  Blood  transfusions had been received by five and another
five were  homosexual men.

"U.S. Agency Publishes Its First Report on Five AIDS-Like,  Negative-HIV
Cases" Wall Street Journal (07/31/92), P. B3  (Chase, Marilyn)
     The Centers for Disease Control published its first formal report
of five cases of people with an AIDS-like syndrome but show no
detectable sign of HIV infection.  The CDC had promised the  report
after Jeffrey Laurence of Cornell Medical School revealed  five such
cases at the international AIDS conference in Amsterdam last week.  The
CDC's report describes five different cases of  people with weakened
immune systems, including a 70-year-old  married man with no risk
factors for HIV who developed pneumonia, and a 58-year-old woman who had
several blood transfusions and  developed pneumonia and gynecological
infections.  The woman  tested positive for HIV, which is now believed
to be false  positive, though she and other patients subsequently tested
HIV-negative by many more definitive methods, said the CDC.  The  agency
has requested that doctors submit any similar case-reports and
dispatched surveillance teams to New York City for follow-up.  Dr.
Laurence has indicated that now he knows of about 40 such  cases.  In
tomorrow's issue of the Lancet, the report of the five AIDS-like cases
by Dr. Laurence will be published.  It will also  mention that two of
them showed signs of reverse transcriptase,  which is vital to the
replication of HIV.

"New Companies are Forming to Buy Insurance Policies of AIDS Patients"
Wall Street Journal (07/31/92), P. B8B  (Steinmetz, Greg)
     So many companies are beginning to buy life insurance policies
from AIDS patients that regulation may become necessary.  These  types
of companies buy life insurance policies at a discount,  usually 33
percent of their face value.  This practice requires  the company to
make all additional premium payments and, when the person dies, it
collects the death benefit as the only  beneficiary. The 24 such
companies that have formed since 1988  will buy a total of about $100
million of policies this year,  said John Darragh, a retired financial
planner who tracks the  industry.  Although most insurers won't insure
those who test  HIV-positive or are diagnosed with AIDS, payments made
to  beneficiaries of insured people who have died of AIDS-related
illnesses have continued to grow.  Traditional insurers paid $648
million in AIDS-related death benefits in 1990, said the American
Council of Life Insurance.  Several traditional life insurance
companies give customers who are dying of AIDS the chance to  acquire
their death benefits while they are still living.   However, in most of
those cases, the diagnosis must be that they  have only a year or less
to live.

"On Stage and Off: Pleas for Funds to Fight AIDS" New York Times
(07/31/92), P. C2  (Witchel, Alex)
     Curtain speeches this summer are being given in New York City's
plays to raise money through Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS  for AIDS
causes.  Currently, "Sight Unseen" at the Orpheum  Theater holds the
record with $18,500.  Pleas for AIDS money are  also given at "Jelly's
Last Jam," which raised $3,510, and  "Marvin's Room," which raised
$5,235 and was helped by a benefit  sign language performance.  "Jake's
Women" has sold $8,050 in  autographed posters and "Miss Saigon" has
totalled $2,110 in  autographed posters, backstage tours, and a cabaret
show.  The  painting in "Sight Unseen" is going for $2,500 and has not
yet  been bought.

"Court Backs AIDS Tests for Convicted Prostitutes" Baltimore Sun
(07/31/92), P. 6A
     The state of Illinois was granted the right to require convicted
prostitutes to undergo HIV testing in order to safeguard public  health,
the state Supreme Court ruled yesterday, upholding a law  disputed by
two prostitutes.  The contention that the test is an  illegal search and
seizure and infringes upon equal protection  rights by singling out
convicted prostitutes, was rejected by the court.  Chief Justice
Benjamin Miller said the test "represents  only a minimal intrusion on
the person tested, who by reason of  his status as a convicted offender
can claim only a diminished  expectation of privacy."  Under the law,
enacted on Jan. 1 1988,  anyone convicted of one of 13 sex crimes must
be tested for any  sexually transmitted disease, including HIV.
Yesterday's case  only dealt with the section mandating HIV testing for
convicted  prostitutes.

"In the State: Key Center Seeking Patients for AIDS Unit" Baltimore Sun
(07/31/92), P. 2B
     Francis Scott Key Medical Center in Baltimore, Md., is looking  for
AIDS patients to fill its new 16-bed "Post-Acute AIDS Unit"  established
for people who are well enough not to require  hospital care but still
are too ill to care for themselves at  home.  On July 22, the new unit
opened in a former long-term care unit in the Mason F. Lord building.

"Infection of Macaca Nemestrina by Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-1"
Science (07/03/92) Vol. 257, No. 5066, P. 103  (Agy, Michael B.)
     Macaca Nemestrina (pigtail macaques) were susceptible to  infection
by HIV-1, indicating that this animal model may be  useful for defining
the initial events of HIV-1 infection, write  Michael B. Agy et al. of
the University of Washington--Seattle.   Various strains of HIV-1,
including a recent patient isolate,  replicated in vitro in peripheral
blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and in CD4-positive M. nemestrina
lymphocytes in a CD-4 dependent manner.  Eight animals were inoculated
with either  cell-associated or cell-free suspensions of HIV-1.  All
animals  had cocultivation-isolated HIV-1, had HIV-1 DNA in their PBMCs,
suggested by polymerase chain reaction, and experienced sustained
seroconversion to wide range of HIV-1 proteins.  The ability to  isolate
the virus 1 to 24 weeks after inoculation, the presence  for up to 52
weeks of HIV-1-specific DNA in PBMCs, and the  persistent antibody
response to HIV-1 envelope and gag proteins  are similar to those
findings reported for HIV-1-infected  chimpanzees.  Macaca nemestrina,
as an animal model of HIV-1  infections, generates opportunities for
assessing the pathogenesis of acute HIV-1 replication and potential
vaccines and therapies,  the researchers conclude.

"Multipurpose Spermicides" Lancet (07/25/92) Vol. 340, No. 8813, P. 211
     Although the spermicide agent, nonoxynol-9, is effective in-vitro
against pathogens like chlamydia and HIV, its in-vivo use is  still
undetermined, write the editors of the Lancet.  A study  conducted by
Niruthisard et al. recently reported the first  randomized trial of
nonoxynol-9 and condoms in gonococcal and  chlamydial cervicitis.
Though most results were promising for  preventing cervical infection,
there were about 70 percent more  complaints of genital irritation among
nonoxynol-9 users than  among controls.  However, these complaints were
mainly in the  first three weeks of the trial.  The fact that nonoxynol-
9 does  not enter the cervical mucous may account for some contraceptive
failures with spermicides, since sperm can immediately enter  cervical
mucus when the ejaculate is deposited at the cervical  os.  Little data
exists on whether HIV is transmitted to females  through vaginal
ulceration or even via intact epithelium, or  whether the virus passes
to the upper genital tract through the  cervical mucus, either on its
own or carried by sperm.   Therefore, there is no certain way to
determine how well  nonoxynol-9 would prevent transmission of HIV in
vivo, conclude  the editors.

"CDC Backs Away From New AIDS Policies" Advocate (07/30/92) No. 608, P.
23  (Bull, Chris)
     The Centers for Disease Control's reluctance to implement two
long-awaited AIDS policies by late June has elicited criticism  that the
CDC is avoiding conflict from the Bush administration,  Congress, and
AIDS organizations in an election year.  William  Roper, director of the
CDC, said he would indefinitely postpone a broader AIDS definition that
would have encompassed an additional 25 percent of AIDS cases in the
official count.  Roper announced  the delay on June 18, five days after
his agency also dropped its attempts to loosen the federal guidelines
regulating the conduct  of HIV-positive health-care workers.  Kent
Taylor, a CDC  spokesman, said, "It's a mistake to try to make the
decisions out to be political ones.  Dr. Roper made the decisions
because there was not a consensus among AIDS groups to go forward with
the  policies.  At no point were we told by the Administration not to
issue the proposals."  But Benjamin Schatz, director of the  medical
expertise retention program of the American Association  of Physicians
for Human Rights, a gay doctors group, said that  the CDC had received
plenty of feedback from AIDS groups to make  a decision.  He added, "The
Administration simply does not want  to have 50,000 new AIDS cases in an
election year."