From: bigoldberg@igc.apc.org (Billi Goldberg)
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: CDC Summary 9/4/92
Date: 5 Sep 92 04:41:38 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.1992Sep6.134916.22513
Organization: unspecified
Note: Copyright 1992, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed.
Archive-Number: 6070


                         AIDS Daily Summary
                         September 4, 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 
******************************************************************************
 "3 HIV-Infected Haitians Allowed Into U.S." St. Louis Post-Dispatch 
(09/03/92), P. 1C
     The United States Immigration Commissioner has waived policies to permit 
three HIV-positive Haitians held at the U.S. Navy base at  Guantanamo, Cuba, 
entrance into the country to obtain care from  American hospitals.  The change 
in rules, which gives the  Haitians "humanitarian parole," is the first 
violation of  regulations, policies, and court decisions that have prevented  
300 Haitians at the base from entering the U.S. because either  they or their 
family members have tested HIV-positive.  Richard  Kenney, spokesman for the 
Immigration and Naturalization Service, said that the United States will 
determine whether the others  will be allowed entrance on a case-by-case 
basis, should they  develop medical problems.  The country enacted the rule 
that  prohibits entry to foreigners who have tested HIV-positive in  1987, and 
has received criticism from around the world.  The  three Haitians allowed to 
enter the country include a man sent to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland 
for the treatment of an eye  fungus about 10 days ago and a mother and baby 
evacuated to a  children's hospital in Norfolk, Va., Tuesday night because the

child had pneumonia and needed a respirator.  They are expected  to remain in 
the United States and can contact lawyers once on  American soil. 

"4 Haitians With HIV Admitted to U.S." Washington Post (09/04/92), P. A8  
(Duke, Lynne)
     The de
cision by the Justice Department to allow 4 HIV-positive  Haitians to enter 
the United States and obtain medical care does  not indicate a change in the 
government's ban on HIV-infected  immigrants, announced a department official 
yesterday.  The  official added that the move does suggest that the care the  
Haitians are receiving at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay,  Cuba, may 
not be adequate enough to deal with special needs.  One man was given 
"humanitarian parole" and was sent to Bethesda  Naval Medical Center to be 
treated for an eye infection.  Also,  Immigration and Naturalization Service 
officials granted the same status to a mother and her infant son, who is being 
treated for  double pneumonia at a Norfolk, Va., hospital.  Last week, Justice 
Department officials were ready to offer parole to an  HIV-positive Haitian 
woman who was about to give birth, but after military doctors at the base 
discovered that the birth was less  risky than they first thought, she 
remained there.  Public health officials revealed last month that at least 23 
of the nearly 231  HIV-positive Haitians at the base had developed actual or  
suspected AIDS symptoms.  An INS spokesman said that since the  medical 
conditions of some within the refugee population could  worsen, it is possible 
that other Haitians may need to be  admitted into the United States for 
treatment. 

"Parents Skirted on Condoms in High School" Washington Post (09/04/92), P. D1  
(Horwitz, Sari)
     Washington, D.C.'s health commissioner announced yesterday that  all city 
public high school students will be able to receive  condoms from school 
nurses, despite what school officials say.   The discrepancy between the 
health commission and the school  system policies began to emerge Monday when 
D.C. Superintendent  Franklin L. Smith said parents who did not want their 
children to obtain condoms could keep them from doing so by writing him a  
note.  However, D.C. Public Health Commissioner Mohammed Akhter,  who 
supervises all the nurses in D.C. schools, said yesterday  that his nurses 
will not follow the orders of such notes, will  not call any parents, and will 
keep confidential all visits to  receive condoms.  He said that they will 
provide condoms to any  student who requests them.  Akhter met with all school 
principals yesterday and all his nurses Tuesday to address the issue.  In  
addition, he is sending a letter to parents explaining the plan.  School 
officials have the right to exclude specific children from any AIDS or condom 
education program operated outside of the  nurses' offices, according to 
Akhter.  Smith now realizes that he has no authority to prevent students from 
obtaining condoms from  school nurses. 

"First-Time Campers Riding High" Philadelphia Inquirer (09/04/92), P. B1  
(Harbach, Louise)
     The YMCA-operated Camp Ockanickon in Medford, Pa., has opened  Camp 
Bright Feathers, a camp for children affected by AIDS.  All  of the children 
at the camp have tested positive for HIV, have  AIDS, or have parents or 
relatives who have the disease.  The  camp is a first for the area, according 
to local AIDS groups and  camp officials.  Although the campers have come in 
contact with  AIDS, it has not stopped the nearly 70 Philadelphia and South  
Jersey children, ages 5 to 13, from enjoying a week of  traditional activities 
at the Burlington County camp.  The camp  was created because the camp's board 
of directors wanted to  extend its service to special needs children.  Fred 
Brown,  Ockanickon's executive director, said, "They're part of the  
population that camps have ignored.  As a Y camp, we feel we have an 
obligation to have all kinds of children enjoy traditional camp activities."  
He said that officials still had some concerns  about the effort because "the 
public still has a lot of  misconceptions about AIDS."  Officials decided the 
camp would be  free of charge, he added.  As a prerequisite, campers need to 
be  healthy enough to enjoy activities like swimming, boating,  canoeing, 
horseback riding, and hiking.

"Mel Rosen, AIDS Service Pioneer, Dies at 41" United Press International 
(09/02/92)
     New York--Mel Rosen, the first executive director of the Gay  Men's 
Health Crisis and a pioneer of services to AIDS patients in New York State 
died of AIDS on Monday night at New York  University Hospital.  Rosen served 
as chairman of the Jewish  Board of Family and Children's Services' volunteer 
services  program for people with AIDS at the time of his death.  This  
organization was the only family agency in the city offering  extensive 
counseling programs for AIDS patients.  Rosen was  renowned for being the key 
figure in increasing the New York  Jewish community's awareness of AIDS.  "As 
a committed Jew, he  fought long and hard to spur a compassionate response to 
those  suffering with the disease," said Irwin Hochberg, board chairman  of 
the United Jewish Appeal--Federation of Jewish Philanthropies. "We will miss 
him."  Rosen held the GMHC position for a year and  started a buddy program 
which sent volunteers into the homes of  AIDS patients too ill to leave home 
or to care for themselves.   The program has been emulated worldwide.  
Subsequently, Rosen  became first head of the New York State AIDS Institute, 
where he  served from 1983 to 1988.  The institute, founded by Gov. Mario  
Cuomo, was designed to coordinate programs that help people who  are HIV-
positive or have AIDS, and has been the prototype for  other state programs 
nationwide. 

"HPD Chief Lauds Cops' Handling of AIDS Protest" United Press International 
(09/02/92)
     Houston--A recent report by the Houston chief of police applauds  the way 
the police dealt with a gay rights and AIDS protest that  lead to violence 
during the GOP National Convention last month.   City councilwoman Eleanor 
Tinsley said that report is misleading  because it relied on information from 
police and did not involve  other eyewitness accounts of what happened outside 
of the  Astrodome in Houston on Aug. 17.  "The report doesn't reflect  
complete impartiality," said Tinsley, who questioned why police  did not 
interview demonstrators who alleged they were beaten.   She said, "We heard 
some fairly responsible people last week who  evidently were eyewitnesses."  
Civil rights organizations  condemned the report and requested that Mayor Bob 
Lanier name an  independent investigator to examine the incident sponsored by  
ACT-UP.  However, Lanier backed the report and the police  involved, who said 
at least eight violations of the law occurred  before officers intervened.  
Police on horseback and carrying  clubs charged protesters as they set fire to 
several street  barricades and burned an image of President Bush.  The 
protesters have blamed the police for brutalizing them when they were herded 
into a dead-end street near the Astrodome. 

"Multiple False-Positive Serologic Tests for HIV, HTLV-1, and  Hepatitis C 
Following Influenza Vaccination, 1991" Journal of the American Medical 
Association (08/26/92) Vol. 268,  No. 8, P. 1015  (Mac Kenzie, William R. et 
al.)
     Influenza vaccination was linked to the occurrence of multiple  false-
positive viral ELISAs among blood donors, write William  MacKenzie et al. of 
the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta,  Ga.  Blood donors found to have 
multiple false-positive viral  ELISAs and randomly selected seronegative 
controls who donated  between October 31, 1991, and December 15, 1991 were 
studied.   Among 17,941 donors, 10 case donors were identified.  Nine of the 
10 received influenza vaccine, compared with three of 30 control  donors.  Of 
the nine case donors, the mean time between  vaccination and blood donation 
was 26 days.  Follow-up ELISAs of  serum samples from seven case donors 
obtained 52 to 130 days  after vaccination showed reversion to HIV and HTLV-1  
seronegativity in all but one specimen, with persistence of  positive HCV 
ELISAs in four specimens.  The authors predict  that about 0.6 percent to 1.7 
percent of blood donors who  received influenza vaccine this season had 
multiple  false-positive viral ELISAs.  Since the risk of multiple  false-
positive results is already estimated to be low, the  authors recommend that 
potential donors who recently received a  flu shot not be deferred.  In 
addition, blood donors with  multiple false-positive viral ELISAs should be 
considered for  future reentry as blood donors, conclude the researchers.

"Pregnancy and HIV" New England Journal of Medicine (08/27/92) Vol. 327, No. 
9,  P. 645  (Cooper, Elizabeth et al.)
     Childbearing women as a whole deserve the full protection of  mandatory 
HIV-testing laws, write Elizabeth Cooper et al. of the  American Civil 
Liberties Union AIDS Project in New York, N.Y.   Heagarty and Abrams in the 
March 26 issue of the New England  Journal of Medicine were correct in stating 
that there is  sufficient scientific information to support widespread 
education about HIV, with counseling and an offer of testing to everyone  
seeking health care in areas with high rates of HIV infection.   However, 
those authors do not differentiate between voluntary  programs that provide 
counseling and require consent and  mandatory programs that deny a woman her 
essential rights.   Testing a newborn reveals the serologic status of the 
mother, so  the mother's role in giving consent for such testing should not  
be ignored.  If a state imposed mandatory testing, it would  interfere in the 
relationship between the mother and newborn,  sending the rude message that it 
is a better "mother" than the  mother.  While early detection of HIV can help 
delay disease  development by administering drugs sooner, there is no evidence

that the provision of mandatory testing alone will get women and  their 
newborns the care they need.  In fact, mandatory programs  may discourage 
women from seeking prenatal and other health care. 

"Effect of Blood Transfusion on Survival Among Children in a Kenyan Hospital" 
Lancet (08/29/92) Vol. 340, No. 8818, P. 524  (Lackritz, Eve M. et al.)
     Prevention and effective treatment of the causes of anemia,  targeted to 
children 3 years old or younger, are necessary to  limit pediatric anemia, 
blood transfusions, and mortality, write  Eve M. Lackritz et al. of the 
Centers for Disease Control in  Atlanta, Ga.  Blood transfusions are 
frequently given in Africa  to treat severe pediatric anemia.  Given the risk 
of HIV  transmission, identification of when transfusion will cut down on the 
risk of death for severely anemic children has grown in  significance.  The 
researchers examined data on clinical  presentation, hemoglobin, receipt of 
transfusion, and in-hospital survival of all children admitted to a Kenyan 
hospital from  October 1989 to October 1990.  Among 2,433 admissions, 29 
percent had severe anemia and 20 percent received blood transfusions.   
Severely anemic children who were transfused had lower mortality  than those 
not transfused.  Children with clinical signs of  respiratory distress and who 
were transfused had lower mortality  than those who were not.  By targeting 
blood to those children  with severe anemia and clinical signs of respiratory 
distress,  and by using transfusion early in the course of hospitalization,  
the frequency of blood transfusions can be decreased and survival enhanced.

"Antibodies to HIV-1 in Urine of Children of HIV-1 Infected Women" Lancet 
(08/29/92) Vol. 340, No. 8818, P. 559  (Bauer, Gerhard et al.)
     Repetitive detection of gp 160-specific urinary antibodies in  comparable 
at-risk children aged 12 months or less should serve  as strong proof of HIV 
infection, write Gerhard Bauer et al. of  the University of Maryland School of 
Medicine in Baltimore, Md.   Urine of adults with HIV-1 contains HIV-1 
specific antibodies.   The researchers tested for the presence and diagnostic  
significance of such antibodies in urine from children born to  women infected 
with HIV.  An initial urine sample was obtained  from 36 children, aged 12 
months or less, of whom 29 were of  indeterminate HIV-1 status (CDC 
classification P0), 4 were  culture-positive but symptom free (P1), and three 
had symptoms of AIDS (P2).  Among the younger children, 6 of 29 (21 percent)  
classified as P0 and 6 of 7 (86 percent) known to be HIV-positive (P1 and P2) 
were positive for gp 160-specific urinary antibodies. Similar findings were 
obtained for paired urine samples from all  but 2 P0 children and 1 P1 child.  
The 2 were  urinary-antibody-positive when first tested at 3 weeks and 4  
months of age, respectively, but several months later were  negative.  The 
results indicate that excretion of gp 160-specific urinary antibodies by 
children of HIV-1 infected women is an  early indicator of vertically 
transmitted infection, the  researchers conclude. 

*  The AIDS Daily Summary will not be published Monday, September 7, due to 
observance of the holiday.  Thank you! 
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids