Subject: CDC Summary 1/26/93 Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 22:01:12 PST (209 lines) Note: Copyright 1992, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed. sold. Copyright 1992, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD Archive-Number: 42 AIDS Daily Summary January 26, 1993 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. Copyright 1992, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ======================================================================= "Sex Adds to Fears of Parents of Retarded" New York Times (01/26/93), P. A1 (Belkin, Lisa) While topics of relationships and sexuality are difficult to address for any parent, they are even more so for the parents of the mentally and emotionally disabled. Doctors, therapists, and families did not even discuss sexuality and the mentally retarded for decades. But in recent years sexual expression has been viewed as a right. Many parents and programs began educating those who are capable of understanding about sex. Yet now in the age of AIDS, the ground is shifting again, as guardians are concerned about the newest risks of sex. Before parents can decide what to discuss with their child, they have to determine how much their child can understand. Betty Pendler, who leads sexuality workshops for parents of the mentally retarded, decided that her own daughter, who can travel on her own and manage the basics of daily life, could understand almost everything. She says her daughter, Lisa, knows all about AIDS prevention and birth control. But another mother said that her son, who has Down syndrome, barely comprehends the basics. The primary concern of most parents is that their children understand enough so they are not easy targets for abuse. According to Pendler, parents sometimes face the issue of homosexuality among retarded adults. She said it took many years for experts to determine that some mentally disabled people are capable of consenting to sex. It is still unclear what level of understanding is required to choose homosexual sex. Although there is no reason to believe that the level of homosexuality is high among the mentally retarded population, Pendler added, there is no reason to believe it is low either. ======================================================================= "AIDS Scams Con the Unwary" Washington Post (Health) (01/26/93), P. 9 (Henry, Sarah) Underground drugs taken to treat AIDS can often result in unwanted side effects, even though many AIDS patients feel desperate enough to try anything that might cure them of the disease. One case of drug fraud involved Jim Looney, an HIV-positive man from Los Angeles, who took Viroxan to treat his condition. He heard about the underground treatment and decided to start injecting the drug--a plant extract that his lawyer describes as having the consistency of refrigerated honey. His physician had subsequently convinced him to have a catheter surgically inserted into a vein in his chest so that the Viroxan could flow directly into his blood stream. Looney is one of as many as 100 HIV-positive patients who were convinced that Viroxan concocted in a doctor's home could keep them alive, even cure them of AIDS. He spent about $20,000 on the treatment, which he took for about nine months. Consequently, he developed lumps of dead tissue on his buttocks and hips from the painful Viroxan injections and potentially serious blood clots from the catheter. The drug also accumulated under his skin, causing his arms and fingers to swell. Looney, as well as eight other patients, has filed a civil lawsuit alleging medical negligence and malpractice, fraud, conspiracy, and emotional distress against the physicians, radiologist, pharmacist, and Los Angeles hospital where he had his surgery. The case emphasizes the difficult issue for the entire AIDS community. Many HIV-positive individuals are willing to try federally unapproved treatments, some of which seem effective for maintaining health, but find out too late that the treatments actually are useless. ======================================================================= "Mom With AIDS Seeks Precedent" Chicago Tribune (01/25/93), P. 1-7 (Fegelman, Andrew) A Chicago woman with AIDS wants a guardian appointed to care for her two young children only after she can no longer care for them. In addition, she wants to remain their only parent until that day arrives. The unnamed woman's attorney, Linda Rio, expects to test the limits of the Illinois probate law on Monday when she asks a Cook County judge to establish a new category of guardian. Rio said she will ask Judge George Cole to name the woman's sister as the children's guardian, but the girl's aunt would only take the role when their mother is not well enough to care for them. The request contradicts Illinois law, which often views guardianship as something immediate. Rio said that nothing happens with terminally ill parents, at least until the parent dies. In those cases, it can be more than a month before a guardian is named. Attorneys are calling the new concept stand-by guardianship, a policy they say is becoming necessary as more parents die of AIDS, leaving a growing number of children orphaned. According to advocates, a change in the law is not only needed because of AIDS cases, but for any terminal illness. The AIDS Legal Council of Chicago and Families' and Childrens' AIDS Network have filed legal papers supporting Rio's position. They also expect to request that state legislation similar to what has been approved in Florida, Michigan, and New York provide for the appointment of stand-by guardians. Susan Curry, legal director for the AIDS Legal Council, said, "This is a disease where the law has to bend, where the judges and the legislature have to institute more flexible procedures for those parents." ======================================================================= "Ramos Backs Condoms for Anti-AIDS Fight" Reuters (01/25/93) Manila--Philippine President Fidel Ramos on Monday endorsed efforts to curb the spread of HIV infection by backing the use of condoms. He said that condom use was government policy as a means to "stop, deter, or minimize AIDS as a universal threat that could even affect very adversely the survival of mankind." His position could broaden the rift with the powerful Roman Catholic Church, which objects to the government's population policy and any form of artificial birth control. In the Philippines, more than 350 people are reported to be infected with HIV, but government officials say the actual number could be 10 times as high. ======================================================================= "AIDS Discoverer Plans New Group to Combat Disease" Reuters (01/24/93) Paris--French AIDS researcher Luc Montagnier announced Sunday that he was helping establish a new organization to fight AIDS. Montagnier, who co-discovered HIV in 1983 along with U.S. researcher Robert Gallo, said he and UNESCO (the United Nations' science and education body) director-general Federico Mayor expect the group to research AIDS and run prevention programs. Montagnier said that the group would be formally announced next week. He added, "The project came up as a result of a meeting with the head of UNESCO." He said one objective of the group will be to examine areas of research that were neglected because they were "risky" and might not have produced any results. "There have been advances on the virus but not so much on the illness itself. There are still a lot of areas to be explored," said Montagnier, adding that these areas involved issues like the effects of the body's response to AIDS. In Le Monde newspaper, Montagnier wrote an article that reviewed 10 years of AIDS findings, and said that the outlook for stopping the disease was not very clear. "There are 10 million people infected, of whom the majority will die in the next 10 years, unless progress is made in treatment," he said. Moreover, he said AIDS could also be hiding a time-bomb in the form of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, which was almost eradicated in the developed world but is in danger of reemerging. ======================================================================= "French Minister Urges Ex-Patients to Get AIDS Tests" Reuters (01/24/93) Paris--French Health and Humanitarian Action Minister Bernard Kouchner encouraged all people who were operated on or received a blood transfusion in the last 10 to 15 years to undergo HIV and hepatitis testing. In France, more than 1,200 hemophiliacs were infected with HIV after receiving transfusions from contaminated blood stocks in the mid-1980s. Most of the hemophiliacs were infected with HIV before controls to screen and purify the blood products took effect in 1985. Last year, the government introduced legislation to streamline the country's system of blood donation, storage, and distribution in order to make the system completely safe. Kouchner said, "Other developed countries seem to deal with this plague better than us." He supports controlled distribution of needles--to prevent HIV infection through shared contaminated needles--and also medical use of methadone, a drug used to help IV-drug addicts break their habit. According to official estimates, of the 150,000 to 300,000 heroin addicts in France, 40 percent are HIV-positive. ======================================================================= "Miss America Presents Panel for National AIDS Quilt" United Press International (01/25/93) San Francisco--Miss America Leanza Cornett on Monday offered a panel for the national AIDS quilt commemorating Florida women who have died from AIDS. Cornett, 21, of Jacksonville, Fla., presented the panel to Names Project, the organization which handles the famous quilt that honors AIDS patients. The panel featured a quote from Mother Teresa and listed names of several Florida women who died of the disease. Kimberly Bergalis, who asked Congress for more AIDS funding before dying in December 1991, was one of the women listed on the quilt section. Cornett has served as a volunteer for more than a year with the Hope and Help Center of Central Florida, which cares for AIDS patients. Cornett said she considers herself "an AIDS activist first, Miss America second." She hopes to have a career in theater and said that she has lost several actor-friends to the disease. Her outspokenness on the AIDS issue is a departure from Miss Americas of the past. However, she said the pageant is firmly standing behind her. ======================================================================= "Vaccine Trials to Begin" American Medical News (01/18/93) Vol. 36, No. 3, P. 19 Clinical trials are expected to begin this month to learn whether three genetically engineered HIV vaccines can be safely used by HIV- positive pregnant women to protect their developing babies from infection. The trials will be conducted by researchers from Connecticut and Yale Universities in Hartford, Conn. The first trial will consist of 24 HIV-positive women in their sixth month of pregnancy who will be given the gp160-class vaccine, manufactured by MicroGeneSys Inc. of Meriden. Five other trials across the country will test the safety of the vaccines in newborns and other children by the spring. Approximately 20-30 percent of all babies born to HIV-positive mothers develop HIV infection themselves. ======================================================================= "AIDS's Economic Toll is Staggering, Too" Business Week (01/25/93) No. 3302 (Collingwood, Harris) The worldwide economic impact of the AIDS epidemic could be as devastating as its toll on human lives. A recent study by DRI/McGraw- Hill predicts that by the year 2000, AIDS-related medical expenses and lost productivity throughout the world will escalate and cost as much as $500 billion annually. This would be equivalent to the size of Mexico's economy just disappearing. Africa and the Middle East will feel the hardest impact from AIDS, which could depress their gross domestic product (GDP) by more than 4 percent by the next century. In addition, Asia, aside from Japan, could lose as much as 3 percent of national output. While Japan has a low rate of HIV infection, it could be affected by depressed exports to North America and the rest of Asia, where the epidemic is more prevalent. According to DRI, the Japanese economy will lose about 1 percent GDP--about as much as the U.S. ======================================================================= "Business Briefs: 91 AIDS Drugs Now in Testing" American Medical News (01/11/93) Vol. 36, No. 2, P. 14 The Food and Drug Administration approved three new AIDS drugs during 1992 and another 11 await approval, reports a survey by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association. Among 91 AIDS treatments and vaccines in development, 50 involve women and 13 involve children in clinical trials. A total of 17 AIDS drugs had been approved as of December 1992.