Subject: CDC AIDS DAILY SUMMARY 02/16/94 Date: Wed, 16 Feb 1994 08:30:27 CST (205 lines) Approved: jfh@netcom.com (Jack Hamilton) Archive-number: 12987 From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" Note: Copyright 1994, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed. Copyright 1993, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD AIDS Daily Summary February 16, 1994 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 1993, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD "Activists: Corporate Greed Delaying AIDS-Vaccine Tests" Philadelphia Inquirer (02/16/94) P. B3 (Collins, Huntly) AIDS activists in Philadelphia yesterday criticized corporate bickering that they say is delaying further testing of a vaccine developed by Jonas Salk, who created the first successful polio vaccine. The outrage was provoked in the AIDS community when the two companies collaborating on the vaccine, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Inc. and Immune Response Corp., announced that an independent arbitrator had been asked to resolve a management dispute over each firm's role in the vaccine-development process. This corporate dispute, said the activists, jeopardizes further administration of booster shots promised to some 200 HIV patients who are currently enrolled in preliminary tests of the vaccine, which is made from the core protein of HIV. By the time the dispute is resolved, many of the trial participants will have died, warned activists. The vaccine, which has proven safe and effective in preliminary studies, is poised for large-scale testing, upon approval of the Food and Drug Administration. Spokesmen for the two companies insist that arbitration, which will take months to complete, will not interfere with their effort to receive FDA approval for large-scale testing, nor their promise to make booster shots available to trial participants as soon as FDA approval is granted. "AIDS Transmission" Associated Press (02/16/94) (Hostetler, A. J.) Atlanta--In addition to standard infection control methods required by federal law, hospitals should use blunt needles and other simple measures to avoid the spread of AIDS between patients and health care workers, says a panel of authorities. The physicians and AIDS experts attended a debate on the universal precautions developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some panel members said that established protective measures such as gloves, gowns, masks, proper sterilization, and careful disposal of sharp objects are not sufficient and, sometimes, misguided. Surgeons sticking themselves with needles is not the problem, according to Dr. Frank Lewis, chief of surgery at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital. Rather, he says, it is nurses handling intravenous fluids and laboratory workers testing specimens who are at greater risk. "We're focusing on the wrong things," declared Lewis. "We're focusing on double-gloving among surgeons," when the use of blunt instruments would easily reduce the risk of transmission. Other panel members maintained that universal precautions are effective, but need to be tailored to the individual physician and the hospital environment. "HUD Grants to Help Those With AIDS" Philadelphia Inquirer (02/16/94) P. B5 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development yesterday awarded grants of more than $140 million to Pennsylvania and Philadelphia to provide housing and services to homeless people with AIDS. The grants were available through the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS program, which provides services for poor people with HIV or AIDS. The money can be used to buy or renovate community residences or single-room occupancy housing, as well as to help AIDS patients pay rent or secure health services. "To be homeless and gravely ill with AIDS, or affected by HIV, is a condition that we in the wealthiest nation in the world cannot accept and must eliminate," said HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros. "Delta--AIDS" Associated Press (02/15/94) Redwood City, Calif.--A former manager at the San Francisco airport office of Delta Airlines has launched a lawsuit claiming that he was terminated from his position because of his AIDS infection, and that the airline compiled a list of local employees who were thought to have the disease. Joseph A. Sullivan, 38, said that he was harassed, his privacy was invaded, and that his dismissal was a violation of state anti-discrimination laws. He also said that he was present at a management meeting in 1991, when office manager Donna O'Leary discussed employees she knew or suspected were infected with HIV. O'Leary prepared, filed, and circulated to Atlanta headquarters a list of the 13 employees and their known medical problems, attendance, and appearance records. The airline contended in court documents that although Sullivan revealed his condition to a supervisor in 1990, it was because of unreliability and excessive absences that the 13-year Delta employee was fired. Delta spokesman Bill Berry denies that disclosure of the AIDS list to airline management was a violation of privacy. "This is a manager communicating what is critical information to another manager," he said. "Two Million HIV Cases in India, AIDS Expert Says" Reuters (02/15/94) New Delhi--Approximately 100,000 people in India have full-blown AIDS and 2 million are infected with HIV, according to I.S. Gilada, secretary of the independent Indian Health Organization (IHO). These figures were much higher than official statistics, which posted the number of HIV infections at 13,254 and the number of AIDS cases at just 459, according to Gilada. "The arrival of AIDS in India was for a long period denied by the authorities. Then their attitude turned overnight from a stance of denial to a stance of despair," he said. "They have not publicized the perils of HIV infection sufficiently, nor have they properly publicized what people should do to try and avoid infection." Health experts say a high incidence of gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases amplifies the risk of HIV transmission, and cultural resistance to discussing sex hampers information campaigns. They warn that India is at risk of facing a new AIDS explosion. Gilada estimates that 3 million to 5 million Indians could develop AIDS and one in ten could be HIV-positive by the end of the century if the virus continues to spread at the current rate. "New Plan to Give Provinces More Control Over Blood System" Toronto Globe and Mail (Canada) (02/10/94) P. A7 (Mickleburgh, Rod) Canada's health ministers have approved a new plan that calls for the dramatic reorganization of the country's blood system by the end of June. The plan will give more control over the blood system to the provinces and less to the Canadian Red Cross. It recommends removing the responsibility of purchasing manufactured blood products from the Red Cross, and handing it over to the Canadian Blood Agency, a provincially-controlled organization. "There's been some confusion in the lines of authority and that's one of the difficulties that's led us to the risks of the past," explained Ontario Health Minister Ruth Grier, referring to the health crisis in which more than 1,000 Canadians were infected with HIV through contaminated blood in the 1980s. "As health ministers we want to be clear who runs the system, so we can assure people that the damage of the past is not repeated." Among other provisions, the plan also suggests a review of the Red Cross' blood program to increase its efficiency. "First Big Hollywood AIDS Film Lauded in Berlin" Reuters (02/15/94) (Kirschbaum, Erik) Berlin--"Philadelphia," hailed as the first major Hollywood film about AIDS, won enthusiastic reviews at its international premiere Tuesday at the Berlin film festival. Starring Tom Hanks as a gay lawyer who sues his former employers for firing him because he has AIDS and Denzel Washington as his attorney, the film walked away with the festival's "Golden Bear" award. It was also nominated in Hollywood last week for five Academy Awards. Some critics denounced what they called the movie's "Hollywood" qualities and a wary portrayal of homosexuality. Most, however, found that "Philadelphia" was successful in bringing the once-taboo subject of AIDS to mainstream theater--with just the right amount of emotion, and without preaching. "Calendar: Condom Nation" U.S. News & World Report (02/14/94) Vol. 116, No. 6, P. 4 February 14, St. Valentine's Day, kicks off National Condom Week, sponsored by the Condom Resource Center. Universities and clinics plan to conduct activities including safe-sex seminars and games promoting condom awareness. "Around the Nation: North Carolina" Advocate (02/08/94) No. 648, P. 20 Michael Curtis Hughes, of Gastonia, N.C., was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after he threw a towel soaked with his blood in the face of a police officer during a court appearance. Hughes said he is HIV-positive. "Detention of HIV-Positive Haitians and Cubans" New England Journal of Medicine (02/03/94) Vol. 330, No. 5, P. 372 (Annas, George J. et al.) An article by George J. Annas of the Boston School of Public Health compared the detention of HIV-positive Haitians at Guantanamo Bay to Cuba's sanitarium system. Granich et al. found the comparison both fallacious and misleading. Upon visiting one of Cuba's 13 sanitariums, Granich et al. observed an "enclosed, landscaped, suburban community that included houses, apartments, a dormitory, a library, recreational facilities, a clinic, and an infirmary," as opposed to Annas' description of "barracks housing hundreds of people." They also noted adequate medical care, frequent home visits, and close personal relationships among health care providers and residents. While Granich et al. do not suggest that the United States or any other country adopt a sanitarium system, they find this inaccurate portrayal of Cuba's response to HIV counterproductive. The comparison between Cuba's system and the detention of Haitians in Guantanamo Bay cannot be called fallacious except in terms of quality of medical care and housing facilities, argued Annas in response. However, he noted, the real issue does not concern the amenities offered by the quarantine facility, but "that the liberty of those living [in both places] is restricted and that they are separated from their families." Annas asked whether this deprivation of basic human rights is a reasonable way of dealing with HIV patients, and what legal rights they have to challenge a government that thinks it is reasonable.