Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary for Date: Thu Jun 8 07:01:01 PDT 2000 (183 lines) From: National AIDS Info Clearinghouse Copyright 2000, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update Thursday, June 8, 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 "New Clues to How the TB Bacillus Persists" GENERAL MEDIA "Outbreak of Syphilis Contained in L.A." "Senate Passes Ryan White AIDS Bill" "HIV-Infected Women Deserve Infertility Treatment" "Population Boom Speeds Up, India Likely to Lead World Past 9 Billion by 2050" "G8 to Unveil Plan to Curb Infectious Diseases in Poor Nations: Report" "ILO Warns of Declining Labor Force Because of AIDS" "Child-to-Child HIV Transmission Reported in Africa" "AIDS Epidemic Declared in Russian Urals City" *************************************************************** PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS *************************************************************** "New Clues to How the TB Bacillus Persists" Science (www.sciencemag.org) (05/26/00) Vol. 288, No. 5470, P. 1314; Wickelgren, Ingrid Tuberculosis (TB) kills around 2 million people a year and can remain latent for years before sickening the host. Two groups are studying how the tuberculosis bacterium can stay in the body so long. One group is being led by Stanford University's Stanley Falkow, while the other is being led by William Jacobs of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. They have both found genes that may be necessary for TB infection to persist. This discovery could allow for new drugs that target the genes in order to fight TB. Falkow and colleagues identified the Mycobacterium marinum genes using green fluorescent proteins and inserting DNA fragments into this latent infection in frogs similar to human TB. However, Ian Orme of Colorado State University does not know if the frog model of Stanford's group is accurate for humans, since M. marinum is harmless to people. Meanwhile, William Jacobs and colleagues looked for mutants two years ago in the genes and found that mutations in the BCG gene, or bacillus Calmette-Guerin, could prevent the bacteria from forming cords, when the microbes come together in long ropelike structures in culture. This research is helping show that a mutated enzyme affects the ability of M. tuberculosis to endure. The new technology of creating TB mutants will greatly help the study of new drugs for this disease. **************************************************************** GENERAL MEDIA **************************************************************** "Outbreak of Syphilis Contained in L.A." Washington Times (www.washtimes.com) (06/08/00) P. A6 A syphilis outbreak among gay men in Los Angeles County is under control, according to health officials, with no new cases since the first week of April. Between January and late March, there were 93 cases of syphilis reported, including 53 in men also infected with HIV. Usually, there are about 100 cases of syphilis reported in the area each year, and the outbreak sparked concern that HIV might be spread even faster than usual. "Senate Passes Ryan White AIDS Bill" Fox News Online (www.foxnews.com) (06/07/00) The Senate has passed legislation to renew through 2005 the Ryan White AIDS program, which supports a number of HIV prevention and treatment programs, including the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. The measure was sponsored by Sen. James Jeffords (R-Vt.), the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who wrote the original law 10 years ago, said the reauthorization of the bill indicates that the AIDS epidemic in this country will get the attention it needs, bringing hope to over 600,000 people a year. Changes in the program in this year's measure include increased funding for rural areas and for states with fewer numbers of HIV-positive residents. "HIV-Infected Women Deserve Infertility Treatment" Reuters (www.reuters.com) (06/07/00) Two doctors write in the New England Journal of Medicine (2000;342:1748-1750) that HIV-infected women have a right to infertility treatment. Drs. Howard Minkoff of Maimonides Medical Center and Nanette Santoro of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine note that because new drug therapies can help women keep HIV under control and prevent it from passing to their infants, women should therefore not be refused fertility services. The authors point out that antiviral drugs and caesarean section delivery have reduced the number of newborns who contract HIV to about 2 percent, and that women are able to understand the implications of childbearing and child raising when HIV is present. "Population Boom Speeds Up, India Likely to Lead World Past 9 Billion by 2050" Salt Lake Tribune Online (www.sltrib.com) (06/08/00); Armas, Genaro India's population may reach 1.6 billion by 2050, if the nation's government is not more successful in increasing literacy rates and sexual education among women in the coming decades, a new report predicts. Currently, India has 1 billion people, but it could overcome China as the country with the largest population within 50 years, according to a report by the Population Reference Bureau. Africa is expected to reach 1.8 billion people by 2050 from 800 million now, despite the impact of AIDS, while Europe is expected to fall from 728 million to 658 million. The United States will grow from 275 million people today to 403 million as a result of immigration and a good economic outlook. The estimates for Africa will depend on the number of AIDS-related and fertility rates, which are expected to fall. An estimated 23 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with HIV. "G8 to Unveil Plan to Curb Infectious Diseases in Poor Nations: Report" Agence France Presse (www.afp.com) (06/08/00) A report in the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper indicates that the leaders at the Group of Eight summit in Japan next month will show their support for developing nations and their fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The leaders will call for financing nongovernmental groups and activities to improve the conditions in poor countries. The G-8 summit will be held in Okinawa from July 21 to 23. "ILO Warns of Declining Labor Force Because of AIDS" CNN Online (www.cnn.com) (06/07/00) The International Labor Organization (ILO) has released a study warning that HIV will diminish the size and quality of the labor force in sub-Saharan African countries. The United Nations agency called for action to prevent "catastrophes" in other areas. The ILO's 49-page report, "HIV/AIDS: A Threat to Decent Work, Productivity, and Development," was released before a ministerial-level debate at its annual conference, and predicts that in 20 years the workforce in Namibia will be cut by 22 percent as the result of AIDS. The study noted, "Some companies have already begun to hire or train two or three employees for the same position if it is feared that employees in key positions may be lost due to AIDS." "Child-to-Child HIV Transmission Reported in Africa" Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com) (06/07/00) The first reported case of horizontal transmission of HIV from one sibling to another was documented in a May issue AIDS (2000;14:896-897). The index child tested positive for HIV infection at age 3.5 years, and the sibling tested negative at that time. However, after 17 months the younger sibling was diagnosed with the same strain of HIV, suggesting that by sharing a bed and undergoing exposure to skin or mucous membranes with HIV-infected blood and other secretions, the virus was transmitted. Dr. Heidi Orth of the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa noted the source of the older child's infection is unknown, since both parents are HIV-negative. "AIDS Epidemic Declared in Russian Urals City" Reuters (www.reuters.com) (06/07/00); Shurmina, Natalya The AIDS epidemic in Yekaterinburg, Russia, is spreading because of increasing drug addiction among the city's residents. Alla Golubkova, head doctor at the AIDS center, said the number of HIV infections is increasing rapidly. The doctor noted that there were 51 registered cases of AIDS one year ago; however, that number has soared to 238 since the beginning of 2000, and most of the patients are drug addicts. The city has passed measures to open needle exchanges and fight drug abuse, but the number of drug users is increasing, estimated at over 5,000 in Yekaterinburg.