Subject: CDC NCHSTP Daily News Update Date: Wed Feb 25 07:31:03 PST 1998 (197 lines) From: National AIDS Info Clearinghouse Copyright 1998, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD CDC NCHSTP Daily News Update February 25, 1998 The CDC National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention provides the following information as a public service only. Providing synopses of key scientific articles and lay media reports on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis does not constitute CDC endorsement. This daily update also includes information from CDC and other government agencies, such as background on Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) articles, fact sheets, press releases and announcements. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC NCHSTP Daily News Update should be cited as the source of the information. Copyright 1998, Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. HEADLINES --------- GENERAL MEDIA "Navy Checks Blood Banks Worldwide" "Bill Would Widen Needle Program" "State to Require Reporting of HIV Cases" "Numb Chin May Be First Sign of HIV Infection" "Isle Needle Exchange Called Success in Slowing Spread of HIV" "Hepatitis C Victims Riled By Report of 'Quiet' Deal" "Microsporidiosis a Major Cause of HIV-Related Diarrhea in Germany" "Using Recombinant Vectors as HIV Vaccines" "Drug Reduces Herpes Shedding" **************************************************************** GENERAL MEDIA **************************************************************** "Navy Checks Blood Banks Worldwide" Washington Post (02/25/98) P. A13; Goldstein, Avram Reports of mishandled blood donations at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD, have spurred the Inspector General of the Navy to investigate the service's worldwide blood bank program. Conditions at the National Naval Medical Center deteriorated enough to warrant the suspension of new donations there three months ago, and senior Navy officials ordered the Inspector General to begin an overview of the Navy's worldwide blood bank procedures. In what began as a routine review of the hospital, Food and Drug Administration officials found hundreds of safety violations dating back to 1996, encountering sloppy management practices and poor bookkeeping that allowed suspect blood into the military blood reserves. While hospital officials claim the blood supply is safe, a premature infant in the neonatal intensive care unit was infused with waste blood less than a month ago; the child did not contract any infections and should be released soon. A team of eight blood specialists have been reviewing the conditions at the hospital for the past two weeks. "Bill Would Widen Needle Program" Washington Times (02/25/98) P. C4; Redmon, Jeremy Maryland State Senator Paul Pinsky (D-Prince George's County) is sponsoring legislation to allow Maryland's 23 counties to initiate needle-exchange programs for drug addicts. Pinsky asserts that the programs would save both lives and money, but critics argue that they will increase crime, foster drug addiction, cause overdoses, and send the wrong message about drug use to children. Pinsky and 10 other senators are sponsoring the measure, which has been backed by Gov. Parris Glendening, Johns Hopkins University, the Maryland Addiction and Recovery Coalition, and the AIDS Legislative Committee. Researchers note that Baltimore's needle-exchange program, which has served more than 6,500 people, has helped to effect a 20 percent reduction in new HIV infections among drug abusers in the city versus a 1 percent increase in the surrounding counties. State health officials have recorded 17,000 cases of AIDS since the epidemic began, 42 percent of which were caused by injecting drug users. "State to Require Reporting of HIV Cases" Boston Globe (02/24/98) P. B4; Kong, Dolores Massachusetts health care workers will soon be required to report all HIV infections to the State Department of Public Health. The reporting system will not include patient names, but will instead use a coding system involving unique identifiers to track HIV cases. AIDS activists support the measure, which should allow for increased HIV surveillance, yet protect individual privacy. The policy will go into effect once the state has agreed upon a specific method of reporting and codes. "Numb Chin May Be First Sign of HIV Infection" Reuters Health Information Services (02/24/98) Spanish researchers report that HIV may first be manifested in some people by numb chin syndrome. The team describes a case of a 27-year-old man presenting with numb chin syndrome as a result of Burkitt's lymphoma in the February issue of Neurology. The patient tested positive for HIV. The physicians believe that lymphomatous perineural mental nerve infiltration caused the numbness, but that doctors should also consider HIV in patients with numb chin syndrome and risk factors for infection. "Isle Needle Exchange Called Success in Slowing Spread of HIV" Honolulu Advertiser (02/16/98); Creamer, Beverly According to an annual review by New York analyst Dr. Don C. Des Jarlais, Hawaii's needle-exchange program is responsible for the prevention of HIV in nearly 30 percent of the state's injection drug users, saving the state "tens of millions" of dollars. The program, run by the Community Outreach Worker Project, began in 1990 and has since become a model of success. Hawaii boasts the only statewide needle exchange program completely funded by the state. The program, which costs $650,000 annually, has two sites on Oahu and five mobile van routes. In addition to reducing HIV incidence, the needle-exchange program helped place 96 injection drug users in substance abuse programs last year. "Hepatitis C Victims Riled By Report of 'Quiet' Deal" Toronto Globe and Mail (02/23/98) P. A3 Activists have been angered by reports that federal and provincial governments in Canada have struck deals to limit compensation to only the 22,000 individuals infected with hepatitis C through blood transfusions between 1986 and 1990. Safety screening tests were available during those years, but were not implemented. Health ministers recently agreed to pay patients a total of $1.2 billion Canadian dollars, or about C$60,000 per infected individual. Critics of the proposal argue that the cutoff dates are unfair and would exclude approximately 20,000 individuals. Canada instituted hepatitis C screening in 1990; no effective screening test was available before 1986. Federal Health Minister Allan Rock explained that the government wants to supply an adequate compensation package and does not want infected individuals to have to take an expensive legal route. "Microsporidiosis a Major Cause of HIV-Related Diarrhea in Germany" Reuters Health Information Services (02/23/98) According to a report by Dr. David A. Schwartz of Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta and colleagues, microsporidosis constitutes a major cause of diarrhea in HIV-infected patients in Germany. The study, which appeared in the February issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, examined 97 German HIV-positive patients with diarrhea. The data showed Germany to have one of the highest reported rates for intestinal microsporidosis in the world. Microsporidia were the most common enteropathogens detected in 36 percent of 50 individuals with diarrhea and some 4 percent of 47 patients without diarrhea. "Using Recombinant Vectors as HIV Vaccines" IAVI Report (01/98-03/98) Vol. 3, No. 1, P. 1; Schultz, Alan More than 20 HIV vaccines based on recombinant vectors are now in development; however, only a few have progressed into human trials. When an individual is immunized with a vector-based HIV vaccine, the body generates HIV proteins or peptides that researchers hope will trigger an immune response to protect the individual if he or she is subsequently exposed to the virus. However, there are problems in finding suitable vectors for HIV vaccines, including the fact that some vectors will carry only short segments of foreign DNA or lose the genetic fragments during replication. Researchers are also looking for a vector that will not cause disease in a body which lacks prior immunity. Also, because the vaccines are likely to be used in parts of the world where it may not be possible to screen for HIV and thus exclude infected individuals from being immunized, the vectors may need to have limited ability to replicate so that immune-suppressed HIV-positive patients can handle exposure. A possibility is avian poxviruses, which do not grow in mammalian cells. Other options include altering vectors genetically; passaging them in non-mammalian hosts, thereby rendering them safe for use in humans; and using so-called naked DNA injection, in which the vector is bypassed and its DNA is injected instead. "Drug Reduces Herpes Shedding" Infectious Disease News (02/98) Vol. 11, No. 2, P. 27 Daily use of famciclovir appears to reduce asymptomatic shedding of herpesvirus in HIV-infected patients. A study by students at the University of Minnesota examined 48 HIV-positive patients with herpes simplex virus 1, 2, or both, administering 500 mg of the drug daily for an eight-week period. Mouth and anogenital swab samples collected from the patients showed a reduction in asymptomatic HSV shedding in 76 percent of the patients and symptomatic shedding in 97 percent of the patients, with total shedding decreases in 87 percent of the subjects. ***************************************************************** The AIDSNews Mailing List is maintained by the CDC National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention. Regular postings include the CDC NCHSTP Daily News Update, conference announcements, clinical trials information, current funding opportunities, and selected MMWR articles. To SUBSCRIBE, send the command "subscribe aidsnews firstname lastname" to the address listproc@aspensys.com. To UNSUBSCRIBE, send the command "unsubscribe aidsnews" to the address listproc@aspensys.com. 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