Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary for Date: Mon May 15 07:01:00 PDT 2000 (187 lines) From: National AIDS Info Clearinghouse Copyright 2000, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update Monday, May 15, 2000 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 HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update should be cited as the source of the information. Contact the sources of the articles abstracted below for full texts of the articles. HEADLINES PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS "Cancer in Husbands of Cervical Cancer Patients" GENERAL MEDIA "Psychological Abuse Found Harmful to Women's Health" "Sharing of Profits Is Debated as the Value of Tissue Rises" "Senate Committee Approves NIH Increase" "Cheaper Drugs to Combat AIDS" "Australian AIDS Vaccine to Be Tested in Three Years" "Sentinel Becomes First US Service to Test Urine for HIV-1 Infection, Other STDs" "Sudan Staring at Potential AIDS Catastrophe" "Aid for AIDS" *************************************************************** PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS *************************************************************** "Cancer in Husbands of Cervical Cancer Patients" Epidemiology (www.epidem.com) (05/00) Vol. 11, No. 3, P. 347; Hemminki, Kari; Dong, Chuanhui An analysis of the Swedish Family-Cancer Database compared cancers in husbands of women with invasive cervical cancer to a second carcinogenic event in women with the cancers. The researchers were interested in connecting human papillomavirus (HPV) to increased cancer susceptibility. There were 313,602 men identified with cancer after the birth of their last child, including 6,839 whose wives were diagnosed with in situ cervical cancer and 2,813 whose wives had invasive cervical cancer. The authors note that when the wives had either in situ or invasive cervical cancer, the standard incidence ratios for anal cancer in husbands were 1.75 and 1.92, respectively. The results "indicate that female cervical cancer, probably through HPV infection, is associated with anal and, weakly, with penile cancer in husbands," the researchers report. HPV infection is associated with anal cancer in both males and females, according to the study. Husbands of cervical cancer patients were also found to have cancers related to smoking, including in the upper aerodigestive tract, lung, pancreas, and kidney. **************************************************************** GENERAL MEDIA **************************************************************** "Psychological Abuse Found Harmful to Women's Health" Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (05/15/00) P. A12 A study of 1,152 women recruited from health clinics for over two years shows that over half had undergone physical or psychological abuse by a partner. Women who were abused psychologically were twice as likely as those not abused to report conditions such as chronic pain, sexually transmitted diseases, stomach ulcers, and migraines. The researchers also found that psychological abuse can be as harmful to women as physical abuse. "Sharing of Profits Is Debated as the Value of Tissue Rises" New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (05/15/00) P. A1; Kolata, Gina People who donate tissue and cells for research purposes have been questioning if they should receive any profits made from that research. Erich Fuchs, a gay man who had unprotected sex many times, suspected he carried HIV. However, he tested negative over six years and seemed immune to the virus. He approached the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York, where they found he had a gene that blocked the virus' entry into white blood cells. The research center received a patent to test for the gene, and Fuchs asked if the profits made could be shared with him, after he gave his time, blood, and suggestion to study his experience. However, patients like Fuchs who want to help research rarely receive any share of the profits. The money made from these tests never reaches the subjects, who are becoming less willing to donate tissue for genetic research. Some use contracts or ask for money before research, and the issue of who owns genetic material continues to be a legal battle. The Aaron Diamond Center received the patent on the AIDS-resistance gene without considering paying Fuchs and another man, Steve Crohn. The debate continues as researchers strive to get patents and make money and patients begin to ask for a share of those funds. "Senate Committee Approves NIH Increase" Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com) (05/12/00) The fiscal 2001 spending bill approved Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee will give the National Institutes of Health an additional $2.7 billion, for a total of $20.5 billion next year. The bill was approved unanimously and features initiatives to stop medical errors and increase research for women's health. The measure would also increase the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's budget by $168 million to $3.2 billion and would boost the Ryan White AIDS programs by $55 million to $1.65 billion; both sums are less than President Clinton had requested. The bill is slated to come before the full Senate later this month. "Cheaper Drugs to Combat AIDS" New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (05/15/00) P. A24 The recent announcement that five top pharmaceutical companies will cut the price of AIDS drugs in poor nations offers hope to people living in Africa and other areas with high incidences of AIDS, note the editors of the New York Times. The companies have offered to sell their drugs at prices up to 90 percent below the American price, and the editors point out that while this is more affordable, many regions lack the health care facilities and personnel to administer the drugs. Still, the editors suggest that "drastically cut prices can encourage doctors and health care officials in poor countries to learn how to use these drugs and to develop the clinics needed to deliver them and monitor their use." More affordable drug prices may also encourage more people to get tested for HIV and to seek treatment. "Australian AIDS Vaccine to Be Tested in Three Years" Agence France Presse (05/14/00) Experts meeting in Sydney, Australia, have announced that large-scale human trials of an HIV vaccine could start within three years. Peter McDonald, chairman of the Australian National Council of AIDS, said research was starting on a vaccine to stop HIV progression and prevent HIV infection. The chief candidate vaccine is based on the fowlpox virus, McDonald said. Robin Gorna of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organizations noted that despite the vaccine possibilities, HIV prevention education remains important. "Sentinel Becomes First US Service to Test Urine for HIV-1 Infection, Other STDs" Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com) (05/12/00) Calypte Biomedical Corp.'s new Sentinel testing service is the first in the United States to offer urine-based testing solely for HIV-1 antibody, chlamydia DNA, and gonorrhea DNA. Results are available about three days after the sample is received by a laboratory in Kansas. The company noted that the noninvasive screening method should help make the tests both more affordable and accessible to patients. "Sudan Staring at Potential AIDS Catastrophe" Reuters (www.reuters.com) (05/14/00); Lyon, Alistair Sudan's national adviser to UNAIDS, Abdalla Ismail, said the country faces an AIDS disaster similar to that of neighboring nations unless action is taken to fight HIV. Ismail noted that a lack of political commitment from the country's government, misgivings in the donor community, and denial have hampered efforts to stem the spread of the epidemic. UNAIDS and the U.N. Population Fund have asked the European Union to fund an HIV prevention project in Sudan that would cross civil war battle fronts and help individuals affected on both sides. Civil war has plagued Sudan since 1983, killing more than 1 million people and displacing 4 million more. "Aid for AIDS" Economist (www.economist.com) (04/29/00) Vol. 355, No. 8168, P. 76 The AIDS epidemic is demanding the attention of global leaders like U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the World Bank. The disease is the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide, and is increasingly infecting people ages 15 to 24. Life expectancy, once rising in Africa, is falling by as much as 17 years in some African countries. AIDS is also lowering productivity. Economic growth in countries with an 8 percent infection rate is 0.4 percentage points per year lower than it would otherwise have been. AIDS experts agree that a vaccine is one of the best answers to the epidemic, but funding has been scarce. A possible approach is to create a purchase fund that guarantees to buy vaccines for AIDS at a set price. Another option is for international institutions to buy more existing vaccines and help provide support for an AIDS vaccine in the future.