AIDS Daily Summary July 13, 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 ************************************************************ "Payments for AIDS Housing to Be Shifted" "FDA Reviews Baboon Cell Experiment" "In Housing Effort, People with HIV Find Homes, Hope" "'Renegade' Doctors Saved Hemophiliacs" "Doctors Examine Weight Loss Caused by AIDS Virus" "Community Lifeline" "Bastille Day, West" "NIAID Launches Microbicide Development Research" "HIV-1 Infection in Commercial Plasma Donors in China" ************************************************************ "Payments for AIDS Housing to Be Shifted" New York Times (07/13/95) P. B8 New York City announced on Wednesday that, effective Sept. 1, there will be a significant reduction in payments to hotels offering emergency shelter to people with AIDS. Instead, the funds will be used to construct permanent housing for AIDS patients. Currently, the Human Resources Administration pays $900 to $1,500 per person each month to operators of 40 single-room-occupancy hotels that provide emergency housing for people with AIDS. The new fees will drop nearly 20 percent, and are expected to save between $3 million and $7 million annually over 4 years, said Deputy Mayor for planning and community relations Fran Reiter. "The city can no longer justify referring sick individuals to decrepit buildings. It makes no sense from a health or fiscal standpoint," she noted. Reiter said the new plan would be an incentive to encourage hotel owners to provide safer and cleaner rooms. Related Story: USA Today (07/13) P. 4A "FDA Reviews Baboon Cell Experiment" Washington Post (07/13/95) P. A15; Schwartz, John The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin hearings today to determine whether an experiment which involves transplanting bone marrow from baboons into humans should proceed. The FDA blocked the treatment earlier this year for safety reasons. Some scientists believe that transplanting specially treated baboon cells into an AIDS patient will produce cells and antibodies to fight HIV. If the infection-fighting cells are successful, the patient's immune system could eventually resume its function again, they hope. Others, however, caution that the risks of such a procedure are unknown and that the advantages are speculative at best because the transplant might have no effect, cause medical complications, or set the stage for the transfer of new disease-causing organisms to humans. The researchers working on the experiment claim that the FDA is being too cautious about approving an experimental treatment for people whose lives are in danger. "In Housing Effort, People with HIV Find Homes, Hope" Boston Globe (07/12/95) P. 22; Anand, Geeta Tuesday marked the opening of a low-cost housing development for people with AIDS, the homeless, or the mentally impaired. The Arch Project is a 75-unit development in Boston's South End. "Having a program like this gives us a second chance," said one new resident, who is drug-dependent and HIV-positive. Boston Mayor Menino used the opening of the $8.8 million facility to attack Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) for his opposition to AIDS funding. "I say to Jesse, come to Boston...[and] see what we're doing for people with AIDS," he said. During the past five years, Boston has amassed federal, state, and private funding to construct housing for people with AIDS or HIV, increasing the number of subsidized housing units for AIDS patients from 31 to 409. Still, the need remains critical, said Gary Sandison, the mayor's AIDS policy advisor. At last count, there were 3,576 HIV-infected individuals in Boston--almost half of whom were homeless or about to lose their homes, he said. "'Renegade' Doctors Saved Hemophiliacs" Toronto Globe and Mail (07/12/95) P. E7 While doctors and Red Cross officials in Canada embraced a new blood clotting product called Factor 8, two "renegade" doctors claim they relied on instinct to save hemophiliacs in Alberta from becoming infected with HIV. Man-Chiu Poon and Andrew Kaegi testified at a hearing on Tuesday into Canada's blood supply that they had doubts about its safety. They said they kept many of their patients on cryoprecipitate--a clotting product that is made from the blood of just one donor, while thousands contribute to the production of Factor 8. Kaegi said he began to have doubts about Factor 8, which in the early 1980s was made primarily from the blood of American donors, after hearing that some U.S. blood banks were located in dangerous areas. Thus far, about 400 Canadian hemophiliacs have died from receiving the contaminated blood. "Doctors Examine Weight Loss Caused by AIDS Virus" Reuters (07/12/95) Researchers trying to discover why HIV-infected persons often lose weight concluded in a report to be published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine that the weight loss does not occur because HIV increases the body's metabolism. Instead, the virus appears to slow the human engine. HIV apparently causes its hosts to eat less or to use the food less effectively, they said. "Reduced energy intake, not elevated energy expenditure, is the prime determinant of weight loss in HIV-associated wasting," said the research team, led by Derek Macallan of St. George's Hospital Medical School in London. "Community Lifeline" Boston Globe (07/12/95) P. 69; Kressy, Jean Community Servings is a Boston-area program that delivers free meals five days a week to people with AIDS, their families, and their caregivers. The project began five years ago as a small initiative to provide hot meals to AIDS patients. Although the cooking was initially contracted out, it soon became clear that the number of AIDS clients was increasing and that they had special nutritional requirements. Community Servings moved into its own kitchen facilities and increased its operations. Now, the program's budget is nearly $1 million a year--60 percent of which consists of state, federal, and city funds. "Bastille Day, West" Washington Post (07/12/95) P. C2; Fabricant, Florence A couple of New York's top French restaurants are gearing up for Bastille Day, July 14. Provence again will be hosting one of the largest of the Big Apple's celebrations. In fact, the street on which the eatery is located will be closed to traffic and turned into a playing field for petanque. Some of New York City's leading chefs will be competing in the all-day tournament. Over at Restaurant Florent, that eatery's owners will be giving its sixth annual all-day Bastille Day benefit party. Proceeds from the festivities will go to benefit the local neighborhood association and Housing Works, a charity that helps homeless people with AIDS. "NIAID Launches Microbicide Development Research" AIDS Alert (07/95) Vol. 10, No. 7, P. 95 The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has announced three new research projects on topical microbicides--chemicals a women can insert in her vagina prior to sexual intercourse to kill several sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). "The development of safe, effective, female-controlled topical microbicides that will block the transmission of HIV and other STD agents is a global priority and a central focus of NIAID's STD research program," said NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci. NIAID has financed $1.5 in first-year grants to researchers in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. Penny Hitchcock, chief of the NIAID's STD branch, noted, "Existing spermicides have not yet been clinically evaluated." The fact that spermicides have not been evaluated adequately to determine their efficacy against HIV is troubling to some public health officials. Hitchcock, however, said the ideal topical microbicide would not be just spermicidal, but would be available with or without spermicide because people's contraceptive choices change. "HIV-1 Infection in Commercial Plasma Donors in China" Lancet (07/01/95) Vol. 346, No. 8966, P. 61; Wu, Zunyou; Liu, Zhiyuan; Detels, Roger In a letter to the editor of the Lancet, Zunyou et al. report that a mother and her two daughters in rural China tested HIV-positive with no risk factor other than the fact that they were all commercial plasma donors. Donating plasma for money has recently become very popular in the Fuyang District. Although physical examinations and testing for hepatitis B and C are required prior to collection, the HIV-1 antibody test is not required and, thus, not performed at any of the local collection centers. Epidemiological data suggests that the women became infected from contaminated equipment used in the collection of plasma and the reinjection of blood cells. Neither the infected women nor their family members were informed of their infection because it was feared they would commit suicide if they learned they were HIV-positive. According to the researchers, the finding of three such infected women in rural China emphasizes four principles for control of HIV-infection: the need for sterilization, the need to screen plasma products and donors, the need for routine HIV-1 notification, and the need for surveillance.