From: Billi Goldberg <bigoldberg@igc.apc.org>
Subject: CDC Summary 10/7/92
Note: Copyright 1992, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed.
Archive-Number: 6290
Organization: unspecified
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 08:06:31 PDT

                         AIDS Daily Summary
                         October 7, 1992 
 The Centers for Disease Control (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.  Copyright 1992, 
Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD 
************************************************************************
 "Bush to Name Convention Speaker to National Commission on AIDS" New 
York Times (10/07/92), P. A14  (Hilts, Philip J.)
     President Bush yesterday appointed Mary D. Fisher, the  HIV-
positive daughter of a prominent Republican fund-raiser who  spoke at 
the Republican National Convention, to the National  Commission on AIDS.  
Fisher will take the place of Magic Johnson, who recently resigned from 
the commission.  She is best known for making a speech to the Republican 
National Convention in which  she encouraged compassion toward AIDS 
patients and a more active  stance in dealing with the epidemic from the 
Bush administration. She recently founded the Family AIDS Network, a 
group designed to provide information and support to families whose 
members have  the disease.  Fisher, who contracted HIV from her former 
husband, worked in the White House under President Gerald R. Ford.  Her  
father, Max Fisher, is the honorary chairman of the Bush-Quayle  '92 
National Finance Committee.  She "proved in her speech to the Republican 
Convention that she is an eloquent spokeswoman for all people with HIV," 
said Jeffrey Levi, the director of government  affairs for the AIDS 
Action Council, a Washington lobbying group. He added that he hoped she 
could succeed where others had failed  in prompting the administration 
to increase financing for AIDS  causes.  Dr. June E. Osborn, the panel's 
chairwoman, said that  Fisher was an excellent choice to take the place 
of Johnson  because she was "at least as special as Magic in her own 
way.   She does not see AIDS as a political problem, but as a human  
problem."  Related Stories: Washington Post (10/07) P. A2;  Philadelphia 
Inquirer (10/07) P. A2; Baltimore Sun (10/07) P. 3A; Los Angeles Times 
(10/07) P. A4 

"On Outside Looking In: Immigrants With H.I.V." New York Times 
(10/07/92), P. B1  (Navarro, Mireya)
     Many HIV-positive immigrants living in American cities have been  
in an emotional and legal limbo because ever since the federal  
government ruled five years ago that HIV was a "communicable  disease of 
public health significance" in an attempt to deter  immigrants from 
coming into the country.  The government  considers immigrants infected 
with HIV to be a financial drain on the public, since they almost 
certainly face an expensive medical future.  State Department policies 
suggest that the average  lifetime cost of AIDS has been estimated at 
$85,000.  However,  adversaries of the guidelines argue that the costs 
are difficult  to determine and not a factor for immigrants with other 
diseases  like cancer.  They claim that the restrictions are actually a  
thinly disguised moral screening.  The rules restrict the  temporary 
entry into the United States of infected people, and  makes entry 
impossible for those seeking permanent entry or a  "green card."  The 
restrictions can be waived to guarantee family unity, on humanitarian 
grounds, or for other specified reasons,  but HIV-positive immigrants 
are also required to show evidence  that they can pay the cost of the 
disease if they become ill.   The United States Public Health Service 
said that in 1989, the  last year for which statistics are available, 
442 people tested  positive for HIV out of 397,000 applicants 15 years 
or older who  sought to immigrate.  The Immigration and Naturalization 
Service  said that last year only 10 people applied for the waivers, and  
two have so far been granted. 

"Personal Health: Living With a Diagnosis of H.I.V. Infection" New York 
Times (10/07/92), P. C13  (Brody, Jane E.)
     Magic Johnson's announcement last week that he is returning to  
professional basketball is encouraging for all of those  HIV-positive 
individuals who feel inhibited by the disease.  HIV  is definitely 
contagious, and AIDS is a fatal disease.  However,  the virus is not 
nearly as easily transmitted and the disease is  not as rapidly fatal as 
many people seem to believe, writes  columnist Jane E. Brody.  Magic, 
his wife, the doctors, and AIDS  experts are saying that giving up 
living before being compelled  to by progressing illness can rob HIV-
positive people of an  opportunity to obtain the most out of their 
remaining years and  may even speed their death.  Those people who may 
be HIV-positive but are not getting tested for the virus may not only be 
putting  others at risk but also may be eliminating many healthy years  
afforded by drugs and other measures that can inhibit disease  
progression.  Brody writes that anger and depression, natural  
occurrences after a diagnosis of HIV infection, should be  acknowledged 
and expressed.  Those who are infected say that  sharing feelings with 
family, friends, or members of an AIDS  support group can ease the 
emotional pain and result in more  constructive attitudes and actions.  
All HIV-positive patients  should eat a healthy diet and exercise 
regularly.  Exercise  prompts an overall sense of well-being and 
releases natural  endorphins that have immune boosting and stress 
reducing  properties, Brody says. 

"Princeton Students Take on Two Tall Tasks: Mt. McKinley, AIDS" 
Philadelphia Inquirer (10/07/92), P. B6  (Kelley, Tina)
     A group of Princeton University students will climb Mt. McKinley  
in an effort to fight AIDS next June.  AIDS is the second leading cause 
of death for American men age 25 to 44, and already has  claimed more 
than 130,000 lives in the United States.  Moreover,  HIV is contracted 
every 3.5 seconds around the world.  Princeton  students hope to draw 
attention to the problem of AIDS by  participating in the "Climb for the 
Cure" at Mt. McKinley on June 15.  Those participating include five men 
and four women.  The  students, who believe they are the first to climb 
a mountain to  raise money for AIDS, expect to raise $250,000 through 
pledges of support for the American Foundation for AIDS Research 
(AmFAR).   Mt. McKinley has dangerous crevasses, temperatures of -70 
degrees and winds of 150 miles per hour.  The students say it will be 
the biggest challenge they will ever face--last summer, 11 people  died 
on the mountain.  However, the group feels that the latest  AIDS figures 
are more frightening than the dramatic heights of  McKinley.  The number 
of people aged 13 to 24 who are  HIV-positive has increased 62 percent 
in the last two years.   Alex Friedman, a senior from Manhattan who 
directs Climb for the  Cure, said, "Our generation was the first 
generation to grow up  with AIDS, and our future parallels the future of 
AIDS."   Friedman thought up the idea for combining the climb and AIDS  
fund-raising effort, which so far has raised $100,000. 

"Miss America to Campaign in the Fight Against AIDS" Baltimore Sun 
(10/07/92), P. 1C
     The 1993 Miss America, Leanza Cornett, is different in one  
particular way from all other Miss America's--she has strong  interest 
in promoting AIDS awareness.  She is the first Miss  America to take on 
AIDS, but many wonder what kind of power Miss  America has in making a 
difference.  Cornett wore a little red  AIDS ribbon at the pageant, 
which drew much attention, and when  asked about her official platform 
or social cause she named AIDS. Cornett will participate in the opening 
ceremonies on Friday for  the international display of the Names Project 
AIDS memorial  quilt in Washington.  Cornett has helped with safe-sex 
seminars  in the past, where explicit materials were used to demonstrate  
the proper way to put on a condom.  "That's just one aspect of  
education.  I don't promote premarital sex or sexual activity or  
promiscuity.  I don't think it's my job to promote or be anti  that.  
But it is my job to educate.  Safe sex is something I  would be 
necessary to address," she said.  "By the end of my year as Miss 
America, I want to be able to say that society as a whole is more 
educated and more aware.  I also want to be able to say  the White House 
is more involved and that I've made a difference  in funding," Cornett 
added. 

"d4T: Phase II/III Ongoing Clinical Trial" AIDS Treatment News 
(09/18/92) No. 159, P. 3  (James, John S.)
     The United States and Europe are currently recruiting volunteers  
for a large multicenter trial comparing d4T to AZT.  Participants must 
have T-cell counts between 50-500, have taken AZT for at  least six 
months, and currently be tolerating at least 500 mg of  AZT daily.  
Also, they must not have used d4T, ddI, or ddC at any time.  Other 
medical and laboratory criteria also apply to  qualify for entry to the 
study.  The trial has 400 volunteers for the study, but it is seeking 
300 more.  The trials will be held  in Tucson, Berkeley, Los Angeles, 
Sacramento, San Francisco,  Torrance, Denver, Washington, D.C., Ft. 
Lauderdale, Miami, South  Miami, Tampa, Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis, 
Kansas City,  Wichita, Boston, Baltimore, Charlotte, Durham, Omaha,  
Albuquerque, Bronx, New York, Stony Brook, Philadelphia,  Pittsburgh, 
San Juan (Puerto Rico), Charleston, Dallas, Houston,  San Antonio, Salt 
Lake City, and Milwaukee. 

"'Parallel Track' d4T Access About to Begin" AIDS Treatment News 
(09/18/92) No. 159, P. 3  (James, John S.)
     Bristol-Myers Squibb will soon implement a large parallel track  
program which will make d4T available to patients with advanced  HIV 
infection who have no other alternative for antiviral  treatment because 
they cannot tolerate or cannot respond to AZT  and ddI.  Specifics of 
the track program have not been disclosed  as final approval by the FDA 
is still pending, and some criteria  for the program may not yet have 
been determined.  The original  proposal required the program to be open 
only to persons with  T-cell counts of 300 or less, but there is a 
strong push to raise the limit to 500.  Patients will be randomly 
assigned a high  dose--somewhat more than 1.0 mg/kg/day, divided into 
two daily  doses--or a low dose which is half the amount.  Dosage will 
be  contingent upon body weight.  Efforts will be made to open the  
program to persons obtaining care in public clinics, in addition  to 
those who have private doctors.

"International AIDS Organizations Develop from VIII International 
Conference" AIDS Treatment News (09/18/92) No. 159, P. 6  (Gilden, Dave)
     The "Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS" was  
reorganized to try to arrange for a more central position for  people 
directly affected by the epidemic.  Also, the network is  scheduling 
another meeting in its annual series of international  conferences by 
and for AIDS patients.  Next year's event will be  held in Acapulco, 
Mexico in September.  One group, the  "International Community of Women 
Living with HIV/AIDS.", was  developed after the Eighth International 
Conference on AIDS in  Amsterdam this summer, when  a pre-conference of 
59 women meeting over four days discussed women's particular needs in 
the  epidemic.  The network will try to send material aid directly to  
HIV-positive women in poorer countries, and will serve as an  
information exchange on treatment as well as reproductive,  family, and 
psychosocial issues.  Also, an alternative medicine  caucus within the 
International AIDS Society will be formed by  the Center for Natural and 
Traditional Medicine to give  proponents of alternative, low-tech 
medical strategies more  involvement in conference decisions.  In 
addition, ACT-UP/New  York has devised a "Healing Roots Network" which 
would connect  traditional medicine groups in an anti-AIDS information 
and  training exchange. 

"Another Kind of Epidemic" Advocate (10/06/92) No. 613, P. 27  
(Gallagher, John)
     The AIDS epidemic did not just cause medical problems but legal  
ones as well.  Approximately 13,000 complaints of HIV-related  bias were 
reported to various agencies between 1983 and 1988  alone, according to 
a survey conducted by the AIDS project of the American Civil Liberties 
Union.   Lawyers, as well as  researchers, found themselves covering 
unknown territory.  AIDS  lawyers, hustling to institute legal 
precedents and to shape  sound legislation, both created new law and 
transformed the old.  While the legal debate over AIDS continues into 
its second  decade, those changes are inclined to be reemphasized in 
debates  over broad public-policy questions.  As the number of AIDS 
cases  increased in the 1980s, attorneys realized they could wait  
neither for academic speculation nor for legislators to establish the 
law for them.  Gay and lesbian lawyers and gay rights groups  found 
themselves at the forefront of the development of AIDS  legislation, 
bringing with them experience on civil liberties  issues and a 
perspective that had never been applied to a disease before.  The 
Americans With Disabilities Act, which codifies the  civil rights 
approach to AIDS and other disabilities, was the  "major revolution" to 
occur in the epidemic, says Lawrence  Gostin, who tracks AIDS litigation 
for the U.S. Public Health  Service.  The passage of the bill in 1990 
signified the success  of a coalition between AIDS lobbyists and those 
working for  various other groups. 

"Improving Estimates of HIV-1 Seroprevalence Among Childbearing  Women: 
Use of Smaller Blood Spots" American Journal of Public Health (10/92) 
Vol. 82, No. 10,  P. 1370  (Hoxie, Neil J. et al.)
     In HIV-1 seroprevalence surveys that use dried neonatal blood  
specimens, "quantity not sufficient" (QNS)rates can be reduced by using 
multiple 1/8-in. blood spots to analyze specimens that are  of 
insufficient quantity to test using a standard 1/4-in. punch,  write 
Neil J. Hoxie et al. of the Newborn Screening Unit of the  Wisconsin 
State Laboratory of Hygiene in Madison.  Across the  country, HIV-1 
seroprevalence surveys using dried neonatal blood  specimens are 
critical to estimating HIV-1 seroprevalence among  childbearing women.  
But noninclusion of QNS blood specimens for  HIV-1 antibody testing 
potentially introduces bias.  Beginning in 1990, the researchers 
modified the survey protocol in Wisconsin  to reduce QNS rates and 
assess bias introduced by QNS specimens.  The HIV-1 test was modified to 
use four 1/8-in. blood spots when  a single 1/4-in. blood spot could not 
be obtained.  During a  27-month period, 7,396 of 154,683 specimens were 
deemed QNS using 1.4-in. blood spots.  Among these, 6,590 were (89 
percent) were  of adequate quantity to be tested using four 1.8-in. 
blood spots; six specimens tested with 1.8-in. blood spots were HIV-1 
Western  blot assay positive compared with 44 of 147,287 1/4-in.  
specimens.  Since noninclusion of QNS specimens introduces the  
potential for bias, incorporating the results of HIV-1 antibody  testing 
of QNS specimens using four 1.8-in. blood spots can boost the accuracy 
of HIV-1 seroprevalence estimates in these serologic surveys, the 
researchers conclude. 

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