Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 12:18:35 PST (127 lines of text) From: National AIDS Info Clearinghouse Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD AIDS Daily Summary January 19, 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 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "Va. Funeral Home Agrees to Stop Charging Extra to Embalm AIDS Victims" "Hepatitis Virus Passed to Hemophiliacs in Clotting Compound, Health Officials Say" "New Issue Update: Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc." "Scientists Aim to Recreate Immune System in AIDS" "Doctors Admit Man Did Not Die of AIDS in 1959" "Issue of Mandatory HIV-Testing Halts Progress on Ryan White Reauthorization" "Book Review: "The Second Decade of AIDS"" ************************************************************ "Va. Funeral Home Agrees to Stop Charging Extra to Embalm AIDS Victims" Washington Post (01/19/96) P. B5 Following action by the Justice Department, the Fisher Funeral Home in Portsmouth, Va., agreed to stop adding $300 to the bill for embalming bodies of people that die of AIDS. In the first settlement under the Americans With Disabilities Act when a funeral home was found to discriminate based on AIDS, the funeral home admitted no wrongdoing, but said it would reimburse nine families and pay damages for adding the extra charge. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued rules in 1991, based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that said that funeral homes must treat all bodies as if they have an infectious, blood-borne disease, so that no extra fee is justified for dealing with AIDS. Related Stories: Washington Times (01/19) P. C9; Philadelphia Inquirer (01/19) P. A37 "Hepatitis Virus Passed to Hemophiliacs in Clotting Compound, Health Officials Say" New York Times P. A14; Altman, Lawrence K. For the first time in the United States, health officials say, the hepatitis A virus has been shown to be transmitted through the blood-clotting compounds hemophiliacs use to stop their bleeding. Special care has been taken in recent years to make such substances safer, especially to protect against transmission of hepatitis B and C and HIV, which have been found in the anti-clotting factors, claiming the lives of many hemophiliacs. While the improved processing has nearly eliminated the risk of those infections, it does not kill other viruses, like hepatitis A. The tainted clotting factors, Factor 8 and Factor 9, were manufactured by Alpha Therapeutic Corporation of Los Angeles, and the affected batches have either been recalled or not distributed. The virus was found in two people, and two more cases are suspected. "New Issue Update: Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc." Investor's Business Daily (01/19/96) A new class of anti-HIV drugs seems to verify the reliability of a marker for the clinical progression of AIDS, according to results of a study sponsored by Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc. The new drug being studied is delavirdine mesylate, a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Preliminary results from a study of 1,900 patients in North America will be presented at the Third Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections later this month. "Scientists Aim to Recreate Immune System in AIDS" Reuters (01/18/96) Two leading AIDS researchers recommend that scientists redirect their AIDS research efforts to recreate the immune system in AIDS patients. Dr. Barton Haynes, chairman of medicine at Duke Medical Center, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease, write in the journal Science that researchers should look in a new direction because of disappointments in vaccine research, and limited success in debilitating HIV with drugs. One solution Haynes is working on is to first clear a patient's damaged immune cells and then implanting thymus tissue, which helps cells distinguish foreign material. Researchers say that "long-term non-progressors" may be the key to success because they may have inherited proteins that better recognize the difference between its tissue and invading bacteria and viruses. "Doctors Admit Man Did Not Die of AIDS in 1959" Reuters (01/18/96) David Carr's death in 1959 was a mystery to doctors, but when his tissues were examined in 1987, two British virologists, determined that he died of AIDS. Now, in a letter to the medical journal The Lancet, the doctors admit that they somehow infected their tissue samples with modern HIV. Carr would have been the first known person to die of AIDS. The doctors say that if Carr would have had the same symptoms of wasting today, AIDS would immediately be the suspected cause. "Issue of Mandatory HIV-Testing Halts Progress on Ryan White Reauthorization" Nation's Health (01/96) Vol.26, No.1, P. 24 Reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, the nation's largest AIDS services program, has been held up in a congressional conference committee, while members consider two amendments relating to testing newborns for HIV. An amendment sponsored by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) would force states to adopt a phased-in approach to mandatory HIV testing of newborns or risk losing funds. In addition, Sens. Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kan.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) sponsored an amendment to provide resources for voluntary testing and counseling for all pregnant women in states with high rates of HIV infection. "Book Review: "The Second Decade of AIDS"" Focus (12/95) Vol.11, No.1, P. 1; Sullivan, Patricia Reviewer Patricia Sullivan describes "The Second Decade of AIDS" as an "ambitious book," that deals with the psychological, social, relational, family, and cultural issues a clinician working within the HIV epidemic encounters. The book stresses the importance of understanding patients' experiences in order to provide effective treatment. Sullivan calls the book "a primer for clinicians new to the epidemic as well as a manual for the provider seasoned in HIV-related care," and says it would be relevant for health care providers, medical social workers, and educators.