From: Billi Goldberg <bigoldberg@igc.apc.org>
Subject: CDC Summary 7/27/92
Note: non-commercial reproduction.
Archive-Number: 5791
Organization: UCLA, Computer Science Department
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 92 07:47:18 PDT

                         AIDS Daily Summary
                           July 27, 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 
Clearinghouse, or any other organization.  Reproduction of this text is 
encouraged; however, copies may not be sold.  Copyright 1992, 
Information, Inc., Washington, DC 
************************************************************************
 "AIDS-Like Cases Fan Concern, Not Panic" New York Times (07/27/92), P. 
B1  (Sontag, Deborah)
     The revelation of 30 people who exhibit symptoms of AIDS but do  
not test positive for HIV has not resulted in a panic, as was  expected.  
At the Eighth International Conference on AIDS in  Amsterdam last week, 
doctors from various cities in the United  States and Europe explained 
the cases of patients who were  experiencing AIDS-related illnesses but 
showed no signs of HIV-1  or HIV-2.  In addition, a California doctor 
told about a new  virus, detected in a 66-year old woman with such 
symptoms as well as in her daughter, who is healthy.  The Gay Men's 
Health Crisis  witnessed an increase in calls from about 400 to 525 a 
day last  week.  However, the inquiries were not from people who were  
panicked about the news.  "People just want information, and we  tell 
them that the data is inconclusive, that we're talking about 30 cases 
that could be significant but also could be a medical  fluke," said 
David Eng, a spokesman for the GMHC.   The  Hemophiliac Association 
opened early last week to answer what it  believed would be an influx of 
calls.  However, only one of the  association's 700 clients called.  
Hemophiliacs and their  families have an advanced understanding of the 
disease now, said  the association's vice president.  Those individuals 
are aware  that a heat and solvent blast cleaning kills all viruses in 
the  clotting-factor concentrate used by hemophiliacs. 

"Blood Banks Vigilant But Vouch for Safety" New York Times (07/27/92), 
P. B2  (Rosenthal, Elisabeth)
     Recent reports disclosed at the international AIDS conference  last 
week about patients who seem to have AIDS but test negative  for HIV 
have prompted concern and confusion at the nation's blood banks.  
However, officials claim they do not see an immediate  need to change 
the guidelines for donating or receiving blood.   If research finds that 
a new AIDS-like condition is caused by a  microbe that cannot be 
detected in donated blood, experts say a  high degree of protection 
should be provided by the procedures  already implemented to screen out 
potential blood donations  tainted with HIV.  Of the small number of 
cases reported, the new illness mainly affects people in groups known to 
be at risk for  AIDS, and it seems to be relatively rare.  But doctors 
said the  reports of the cases raised many questions and could make it  
difficult to advise patients regarding the risks of transfusions. 
Approximately 25 percent of the patients with the new syndrome  seem not 
to be in high-risk groups and would therefore be  qualified donors.  Dr. 
John Adamson, director of the New York  Blood Center, said that if a 
significant number of people were  infected with a new agent that evaded 
detection, doctors would be seeing more transfusion recipients 
developing AIDS or related  illnesses.  Instead, the rate continues to 
decline. 

"Man With H.I.V. Challenges U.S. Entry Ban" New York Times (07/27/92), 
P. A12
     An HIV-positive male citizen of Spain challenged the United  
States' ban on admitting noncitizens infected with HIV by  entering the 
U.S. through the San Francisco International Airport on Saturday.  Tomas 
Fabregas, of Spain, is a legal resident of  the U.S. who lives in 
Oakland, Calif.  At the Eighth  International Conference on AIDS in 
Amsterdam last week, Fabregas announced he would challenge the ban on 
admitting  AIDS/HIV-infected people into the United States.  When 
Fabregas  returned from Amsterdam, he was greeted by about 40 
supporters.   Karen Philis, director of the Immigration and 
Naturalization  Service at the airport, said Fabregas went through 
customs and  immigration without question, but she did not disclose the  
specific process under which he was admitted.  Philis said that  
immigration officials did not inquire about Fabregas' infection  and 
that he did not "make it an issue."  David Ilchert, director  of the 
immigration office for the San Francisco district, said  Fabregas might 
have been permitted to re-enter the U.S. because  his trip could have 
been considered a "casual departure."   Prohibiting re-entry on that 
type of trip is not permitted.   Related Stories: Wall Street Journal 
(07/27) P. B4; Philadelphia  Inquirer (07/27) P. B5 

"AIDS: Illness and Injustice" Washington Post (07/26/92),P.C5 (Hunter, 
Nan D. and Rubenstein, William B.)
     As more cases of AIDS are showing up among people of color,  women, 
the poor, adolescents, and children, new charged social  issues  will 
emerge and HIV policy and law will be reconfigured,  write Nan Hunter, 
professor at Brooklyn Law School, and William  Rubenstein, director of 
the American Civil Liberties Union AIDS  Project, in an editorial in the 
Washington Post.  The matter of  who will take care of the children of 
HIV-infected single mothers will become paramount in state legislatures, 
as will the need to  change laws so that teenagers can obtain AIDS 
testing and  treatment without parental consent or notification.  AIDS  
activists will have to work harder to break down the public's  desire to 
punish HIV patients, a mood which will grow as AIDS  hits low-income 
groups harder.  Access to health care will have  to be more aggressively 
reformed as AIDS become increasingly  treatable.  More insurers are 
raising premium costs for  individuals with expensive illnesses, and 
some doctors and  hospitals are denying treatment to those with HIV.  A 
growing  number of self-insured employers also are adopting AIDS-
specific  caps and exclusions in their coverage.  AIDS advocates will 
spend more time pushing laws requiring insurers to accept all  
applicants and charge all policyholders the same rates. 

"Rose-Colored View on AIDS" Boston Globe (07/24/92), P. 18
     Although President Bush told a group of young participants at the 
International Conference on AIDS in Amsterdam that he was  "optimistic 
about achieving a major breakthrough," the reality of AIDS research is 
not so encouraging, according to the editors of  the Boston Globe.  The 
grim statistics that the president ignored include the fact that women 
now account for 40 percent of those  infected with HIV worldwide, up 
from 25 percent two years ago.   In addition, within two years one in 
every six new AIDS cases in  the United States will likely be a woman.  
The number of U.S.  children and teenagers orphaned by the disease will 
more than  double by the year 2000, according to a report by David 
Michaels  of New York's City University Medical School.  Though Bush  
promised to increase his budget request for AIDS research from  $4.2 
billion to $4.9 billion, that alone will not offset what the National 
Aids Commission described recently as the president's  "tragically 
insufficient" response to the AIDS crisis.

"At AIDS Talks, Reality Weighs Down Hope" New York Times (07/26/92), P. 
1  (Altman, Lawrence K.)
     The co-chairman of the eighth international AIDS conference, Dr.  
Jonathan Mann, concluded the meeting on Friday in much the same  fashion 
as he started it six days earlier, explaining that the  conference is 
one of "hope, not despair."  However, the  conference did conclude in a 
melancholy atmosphere prompted by  the increased recognition that HIV is 
revealing its secrets  slowly and that the disease is still not fully 
understood.  The  5,000 presentations given at the meeting did little to 
advance  knowledge about AIDS.  The conference emphasized that instead 
of  being controlled, the epidemic is spreading rapidly worldwide,  
especially in developing countries and among women.  Even  activists who 
have previously disrupted meetings by attacking  health officials and 
researchers for their slow action to fight  the epidemic admitted that 
there is an urgent need to return to  basic science.  For the first time 
in the history of  international AIDS conferences, an activist was 
allowed to speak  to the audience.  Mark Harrington of ACT-UP/New York 
said that  although aggressive advocacy has incited some useful reform 
in  "inefficient" research and drug regulation, he added, "it often  
seems that all these accomplishments go for naught" as HIV  continues to 
spread. 

"Disease Devastating Poor Nations" USA Today (07/27/92), P. 6D  
(Painter, Kim)
     The AIDS epidemic is depleting the economies of Third World  
countries, and represents an issue of the haves and the have  nots.  At 
the international AIDS conference in Amsterdam, it was  disclosed that 
the annual amount of health care spent on an AIDS  patient in the U.S. 
totals $38,000.  In Western Europe that  figure is $22,000, in Latin 
America $2,000, and in sub-Saharan  Africa spending per patient is just 
under $400.  In areas like  Africa and Asia, where the virus is most 
prevalent, exotic  anti-viral drugs are unthinkable because "there is no 
money for  even the most basic antibiotics," said Frans van den Boom of 
the  Netherlands Institute of Mental Health.  He said that some  
Africans must sell their land and animals to support their AIDS  care.  
When those individuals die, nothing is left for their  families.  In 
addition, women are at an increased risk of  contracting HIV, because in 
many areas women have little control  over sex.  The women do not feel 
they have the authority to  demand that their sex partner use a condom, 
and they dare not  leave a man who puts them at risk for HIV.  Even 
monogamy is not  enough to protect women.  A study of new mothers in 
Kigali,  Rwanda, found that 25 percent of the women with only one 
lifetime sex partner were HIV-positive.  The younger the women were, the  
more likely they were to be infected. 

"Biotech Partners Complete Early AIDS Vaccine Trial" Investor's Business 
Daily (07/27/92), P. 33
     Cel-Sci Corp and Alpha 1 Biomedicals Inc. announced Friday that  
safety studies of an AIDS vaccine used in 18 healthy volunteers  showed 
no significant toxic side effects.  The study's findings  are reported 
in the summer issue of Vaccine Research, said the  companies.  The 
vaccine, called HGP-30, is a synthetic replica of a component of a core 
protein of HIV.  Viral Technologies Inc., a Washington-based joint 
venture of Cel-Sci and Alpha 1, owns the  patent rights to the product. 

"The Great American Insurance Scam" Advocate (07/14/92) No. 607, P. 37  
(Sadownick, Doug)
     Since the AIDS epidemic began, the insurance industry has denied  
AIDS claims, cancelled policies and redlined entire industries.   
Approximately 37 million people nationwide are uninsured, and a  
projected 11,000 homeless people with AIDS are on the streets of  New 
York City.  Though gay men are not the only group at risk at  for HIV, 
they are being singled out as pariahs by the insurance  industry.  Those 
who test positive for HIV are becoming America's "uninsurables," with 
the courts and corporate insurance offices  offering minimal help, 
despite the fact that  AIDS claims  constitute only 4 percent of private 
health care claims.  Scores of gay policyholders have been dropped from 
their insurance once  they file AIDS-related claims, while others have 
witnessed their  premiums escalate.  Insurers screen out gay men on the 
basis of  their zipcodes, refusing to cover unmarried men living in 
areas  such as New York's West Village or California's West Hollywood,  
or who work in jobs associated with homosexuality, such as  interior 
decorating, hairdressing, and the arts.  Redlining also  affects gay-run 
businesses, AIDS organizations, and clinics. 

"AIDS in Politics--And in the Streets" U.S. News + World Report 
(07/27/92) Vol. 113, No. 4, P. 6
     At the Democratic National Convention held in New York City last  
week, two AIDS patients spoke about the disease.  Elizabeth  Glaser, 
whose daughter died of AIDS and whose son is currently  HIV-positive, 
said, "I am here because my son and I may not  survive four more years 
of leaders who say they care--but do  nothing."  Preceding Glaser to the 
podium was Bob Hattoy, an  adviser to Bill Clinton, who said, "I don't 
want to live in an  America where the president sees me as the enemy."  
In addition,  the National Commission on AIDS reported that up to half 
of all  Americans with AIDS are either homeless or on their way to be,  
and that at least 15 percent of people living on the streets are  HIV-
positive.  "The failure of the present administration to  address 
the...AIDS housing crisis is clear," concluded the  commission.  Magic 
Johnson, the most famous member of the panel,  threatened that he might 
quit the commission upon his return from the Summer Olympics in 
Barcelona.  "Every time we ask for  funding, we get turned down by the 
president," said Johnson. 

"The Hidden Cost of AIDS" U.S. News + World Report (07/27/92) Vol. 113, 
No. 4, P. 49
     In addition to the millions of lives the AIDS epidemic will take  
over the next decade, it will also devastate the global economy.  While 
the Black Death killed about 25 million in the 14th  century, by the 
turn of the century, 30 million to 110 million  people will be HIV-
positive by the year 2000--up from about 12  million today.  Southeast 
Asia could experience an increase of  infections from less than 10 
percent to more than 40 percent of  the world total by the year 2000, 
according to a recent study by  Harvard's Global AIDS Policy Coalition.  
A study by U.S. News +  World Report journalists and economist Nariman 
Behravesh of  DRI/McGraw-Hill, found that by the year 2000 the epidemic 
could  siphon off between $356 billion and $514 billion from the global  
economy.  A worst case scenario shows that the dollar loss equals 14 
percent of the entire world's gross domestic product, which is 
equivalent of depleting Australia or India of its entire economy. The 
epidemic will drain between $81 billion and $107 billion in  the United 
States by the year 2000, which is about 1 percent of  gross domestic 
product, the study predict.  Also, the number of  young people orphaned 
by AIDS could increase more than two times  in the next three years to 
3.7 million worldwide. 

"Prophylactic Intravenous Immunoglobulin in HIV-Positive Children With 
CD4 Counts of 200 or More." Journal of the American Medical Association 
(07/29/92) Vol. 268,  No. 4, P. 483  (Mofenson, Lynne M. et al.)
     Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) had a beneficial effect in  
multiple infectious outcome measures, with reductions in serious  and 
minor viral and bacterial infections observed in children with entry CD4 
cell counts of at least 200, write Lynne M. Mofenson et al. of the 
National Institute of Child Health and Human  Development in Bethesda, 
Md.  In a study of 376 HIV-positive  children with clinical or 
immunologic evidence of HIV  infection--313 of whom had entry CD4 counts 
of at least 200--  participants were randomly assigned to either a 
placebo or 400 mg of IVIG per kilogram of body weight every 28 days.  It 
was found  that viral infections and minor bacterial infections caused 
death more often in children with CD4 counts of at least 200 than did  
serious bacterial infection.  Opportunistic infections transpired at a 
similar rate as laboratory-proven serious bacterial  infections.  IVIG 
was substantially linked in this group of  patients  with a drop in the 
rate of viral infections and minor  bacterial infections per 100 
patient-years in addition to a  decline in the rate of serious bacterial 
infections per 100  patient-years.  There existed no observed 
discrepancy in the rate of opportunistic infections between treatment 
arms. 

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