AIDS Daily Summary February 26, 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 ************************************************************ "Johnson's Powerful Message Is Delivered Off the Court" "Planned Health Cuts Causing Winces" "Scots Heterosexual HIV Cases Outnumber Homosexual" "Forum on New AIDS Drugs to Link Phila., Other Cities" "Bay State Inmate Shifted to Texas Is Dead of AIDS" "Obituaries: Anti-AIDS Activist George Williams" "Obituaries: Pathologist, author of AIDS Study" "The Experience of Respiratory Isolation for HIV-Infected Persons with Tuberculosis" "Prevalence of HIV Infection Among Israel's Ethiopian Immigrants" "Trials By Fire" ************************************************************ "Johnson's Powerful Message Is Delivered Off the Court" New York Times (02/26/96) P. C5; Araton, Harvey New York Times sports columnist Harvey Araton describes basketball star Magic Johnson as a hero, despite the mistakes he made in talking about HIV and AIDS. Araton writes that Johnson is a hero because he remained committed to basketball despite the criticism he faced. He also points out, however, that Johnson did sometimes send out the wrong message about AIDS, like calling attention to the women he attracted, as if he and other men do not have a choice about who they associate with, and saying he would overcome the disease. Still, the fact that Johnson spoke out at all, Araton says, is commendable. "Planned Health Cuts Causing Winces" Philadelphia Inquirer (02/24/96) P. B1; McCullough, Marie People concerned with welfare rights, AIDS, and health care criticized on Friday Pennsylvania Gov. Ridge's proposed cuts in health and welfare at a public hearing, held by the Departments of Aging, Health, and Public Welfare. The groups said the proposed cuts--to eliminate Medicaid health insurance for about 157,000 residents, cut programs for people with AIDS, handicapped children, and single parents--would cost the state more than they would save. Furthermore, AIDS activists said the plan to cut a special pharmaceutical program for people with HIV would go against the evidence that drug therapy should begin as soon as possible. Cutting programs "represents ignorance or darkness of heart," said ACT UP's Steven Parmer. State officials listened to the arguments, but said that stagnant state revenues, increasing medical costs, decreasing federal aid, and an aging population were forcing the cuts. "Scots Heterosexual HIV Cases Outnumber Homosexual" Reuters (02/23/96) More people in Scotland have now been infected with HIV through heterosexual contact than through homosexual contact, a report by the Scottish Center for Infection says. David Goldberg, the center's deputy director, noted that transmissions among injection drug users has decreased and the rate of infection among gay men remains stable. In addition, an estimated 570 people in Scotland have been infected through heterosexual contact compared with 550 through homosexual contact. Some 2,000 individuals are infected with HIV, nearly half of which are in the Edinburgh area, Goldberg said. AIDS workers said that many cases in the city were among needle-sharing drug-users, and that the increase in heterosexual transmissions could be largely due to female addicts who have turned to prostitution. "Forum on New AIDS Drugs to Link Phila., Other Cities" Philadelphia Inquirer (02/24/96) P. B2 Philadelphia was one of 10 cities to participate in an interactive forum on protease inhibitors, a new class of AIDS drugs. The forum--which linked the cities by satellite communication--was sponsored by Hoffman-La Roche, the maker of one of the new drugs, and local AIDS organizations. "Bay State Inmate Shifted to Texas Is Dead of AIDS" Boston Globe (02/23/96) P. 20 One of 229 prisoners moved from Massachusetts to a Texas prison has died of AIDS. Adell Sullivan was serving a 12-year sentence when he died, 18 days after being admitted to Parkland Memorial Hospital near Dallas. Before being transferred, all the prisoners had been screened for medical problems, but Sullivan's medical records showed no mention of AIDS. Testing for HIV in Massachusetts prisons is not required, and inmates are not required to disclose any medical problems. Sullivan apparently developed symptoms after he and the other prisoners were transferred to the Dallas jail. "Obituaries: Anti-AIDS Activist George Williams" Chicago Tribune (02/23/96) P. 3-11 George Williams, an AIDS-prevention activist who founded the Chicago Recovery Alliance, an HIV-prevention agency for drug users, died Feb. 15 at age 55. Since its launch in 1992, the Chicago Recovery Alliance has expanded to 15 sites and has been involved in the exchange of 30,000 needles. Williams was known for hugging drug users as he tried to encourage them to exchange their needles and use condoms. He started his activist work in the mid-1980s in San Francisco, where he was a community health outreach worker in the first program to educate drug users about AIDS. "Obituaries: Pathologist, author of AIDS Study" Chicago Tribune (02/23/96) P. 3-11; Heise, Kenan Dr. Robin Miller-Catchpole, a pathologist who was the associate director of the microbiology laboratories at Evanston Hospital and an associate professor at Northwestern University Medical School, died Saturday of breast cancer. In the late 1980s, Dr. Miller-Catchpole initiated the "Chicago AIDS Autopsy Study," which analyzed opportunistic infections and their impact on selected organ systems, compared with national data. "The Experience of Respiratory Isolation for HIV-Infected Persons with Tuberculosis" Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (01/96-02/96) Vol.7, No.1, P. 29; Kelly-Rossini, Liza; Perlman, David C.; Mason, Diana J. A resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) cases has occurred in New York City, where about 40 percent of TB cases occur in HIV-infected individuals. In hospitals, patients who have TB or suspected of having TB are placed in respiratory isolation until they are no longer infectious. In this study, 18 patients with HIV who were isolated for TB were questioned about the isolation and how they dealt with it. A Profile of Mood States (POMS) was also used to describe six affective states or moods: tension, depression, anger, vigor, fatigue, and confusion. The survey revealed that patients either felt lonely or appreciated the time alone. Other complaints included feeling trapped, not having interaction with others, boredom, and disruption of sleeping and eating patterns. Many were also depressed about their future. The patients said they felt stigmatized by the isolation, and abandoned by the hospital staff. Participants felt they did not receive enough information about their condition and their isolation, and coped with the situation by relying on religion, personal strength, survival strategies developed during incarceration, and family. To improve the isolation, the patients suggested increasing human contact, adding diversions, and improving environmental hygiene. "Prevalence of HIV Infection Among Israel's Ethiopian Immigrants" Lancet (02/10/96) Vol.347, No.8998, P. 389; Fishman, Rachelle H.B. The recent reports of an Israeli blood bank discarding most blood donations from Ethiopians set off demonstrations by Ethiopians claiming racial discrimination. Now Dr. Shlomo Ma'ayan, director of the AIDS Clinic at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Hospital in Jerusalem, has analyzed the data for blood donations received. He says that since 1991, tests show that the rate of HIV infection among Ethiopian immigrant blood donors is 80 times higher than the rate in the rest of the population. Ma'ayan reasons that the rate of false negatives--when donors have not been infected long enough to show HIV antibodies--would be the same. Since the early 1980s, 48 units of blood donated in Israel have been found to test positive for HIV. Three of those 48 came from Ethiopian immigrants. Of the 125,000 Israelis who identified themselves as at risk and who volunteered for testing since 1986, 1,380 have tested positive. All 20,000 of the Ethiopian immigrants who have arrived in Israel since 1991 have been tested for HIV and the hepatitis B virus. About 330 had HIV and another 210 seroconverted subsequently and were detected during voluntary testing. These figures account for approximately 39 percent of the total number of recorded HIV cases in Israel. "Trials By Fire" POZ (02/96-03/96) No. 12, P. 56; Williams, Scott Community-based drug studies, especially for natural treatments, are slowly gaining popularity in the medical community. An informal community-based trial--like the one David Stokes is heading in San Francisco for SPV-30, an extract from the boxwood tree--could garner enough attention to lead to a larger, more formal study. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases says a drug that shows promise in a community trial may be considered for a government study. Donald Abrams, assistant director of AIDS services at San Francisco General Hospital, is working with others from the San Francisco Community Consortium and with biotechnology firm Chiron to assess the effectiveness of alternative therapies used in the community. Activist Kiyoshi Kuromiya says that the government is not open to trials for treatments that are not profitable. The government's large clinical trial networks "are industry-driven rather than community-driven," he says. The AIDS Research Alliance (ARA) in Los Angeles serves as a bridge between community trials and government research. It collaborates with government researchers and drug companies, but advocates AIDS research that is not bogged down in bureaucracy or driven by profitability.