From: bigoldberg@igc.apc.org (Billi Goldberg)
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: CDC Summary 9/29/92
Date: 29 Sep 92 18:25:04 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.1992Sep29.190105.28879
Organization: unspecified
Note: Copyright 1992, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed.
Archive-Number: 6249


                         AIDS Daily Summary
                         September 29, 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 
************************************************************************
 "Bristol-Myer's HIV Drug Clears Hurdle" Wall Street Journal (09/29/92), 
P. B10  (Tanouye, Elyse)
     Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. announced that the Food and Drug  
Administration has approved the company's anti-AIDS drug, DDI,  for 
expanded use.  Last October DDI was first approved, but only  for 
patients who couldn't tolerate AZT, made by Burroughs  Wellcome Co.  The 
new FDA approval enables any AIDS patient to  switch to DDI after trying 
AZT.  DDI and AZT are the only drugs  FDA has approved for slowing the 
course of HIV infection.  The  approval was based on a study featured in 
last month's New  England Journal of Medicine that recommended switching 
to DDI  from AZT to slow the onset of AIDS.  The study, headed by James  
Kahn of San Francisco General Hospital, indicated that DDI is  superior 
to AZT in decreasing secondary infections in patients  with AIDS-related 
complex, or ARC.  Furthermore, patients taking  AZT had higher rates of 
severe anemia and leukopenia, the  depletion of certain red and white 
blood cells, than those on  DDI, according to the National Institute of 
Allergy and  Infectious Diseases, which sponsored the study.  DDI's 
efficacy  seemed equal to AZT's in patients with full-blown AIDS, and 
the  study revealed no difference in death rates between the two  drugs.  
Samuel Isaly, a pharmaceutical analyst and partner in  Mehta + Isaly, a 
research firm, said the approval doesn't alter  DDI's status as a 
second-choice drug.  "What would really  represent an advance is if it 
were designated as first-choice  therapy," said Isaly, who added that 
such approval is not  expected.  Related Story: Washington Post (Health) 
(09/29) P. 6;  Philadelphia Inquirer (09/29) P. A2 

"Connecticut Health Campaign Puts AIDS Message Under Glasses" Baltimore 
Sun (09/29/92), P. 8D
     Connecticut bars will soon be distributing cocktail napkins with  
safe-sex messages targeted at couples on dates.  The $10,000  state 
anti-AIDS campaign is designed to raise awareness of AIDS.  State health 
officials concede that although people may realize  condoms are 
essential for safe sex, it is not an easy topic to  bring up with a 
date.  Beth Weinstein, chief of the AIDS section  for the Department of 
Health Services, said, "This is a way of  getting attention, to give 
people something to talk about.   They're a very inexpensive way and a 
funny way of getting out a  message that needs to be kept out in the 
public."  About 600,000  napkins with six different messages are being 
sent to bars in  Connecticut's largest cities and to six college 
campuses,  including Yale and the University of Connecticut.  The 
messages  include: "Please let This Come Between Us," "Let the Good 
Times  (Un) Roll," "You're Putting Me On," and "Shake, Rattle, and  
(Un)Roll."  Last year, the napkins were distributed in gay bars  and 
were a success at AIDS workshops, and state officials decided to use 
them to try to reach the heterosexual population, said  Weinstein.  
Father John Gatzak, a spokesman for the Roman  Catholic Archdiocese of 
Hartford and former chairman of its AIDS  task force, said the messages 
promote promiscuity.  Yet bar  owners who have seen the napkins said 
they would use them,  despite objections from customers. 

"Some Cancer, AIDS Patients are High on 'Brownie Mary'" Philadelphia 
Inquirer (09/29/92), P. A1  (Adams, Jane Meredith)
     One woman, Mary Rathbun, has been compared to Mother Teresa for  
her compassion and care for AIDS patients, but Rathbun delivers  
marijuana-laced brownies to the sick instead of food and  clothing.  
Most of her clients consist of young men with AIDS who say there is 
nothing like one of "Brownie Mary's" special  brownies to relieve nausea 
and restore their appetite.  Rathbun  was arrested this summer while 
preparing to mix marijuana into  her brownie batter, and is scheduled 
for an Oct. 9 court date.   Her actions are commended by those fighting 
to legalize marijuana for medical use, and she has become a heroine to 
AIDS and cancer  patients, ACT-UP protesters, several doctors, national 
television talks show audiences, and the crowd at the recent 22d annual  
conference of the National Organization for the Reform of  Marijuana 
Laws (NORML).  During her trial, Brownie Mary's lawyers will argue the 
defense of necessity, maintaining that her felony  charges of possession 
and distribution of marijuana should be  excused because they prevented 
the "greater evils" of nausea and  weight loss that affect AIDS 
patients.  When asked if she was  concerned about going to prison she 
said, "I don't want to go to  jail, but by God I'll go to jail for my 
kids," referring to the  AIDS patients she has come in contact with 
while volunteering for nine years.  In 1986, she was named Volunteer of 
the Year on the  outpatient AIDS ward at San Francisco General Hospital.  
She  said, "My kids linger terribly...if marijuana helps them, they  
should have it." 

"The Opium War: Burma Road Heroin Breeds Addicts, AIDS Along China's 
Border" Wall Street Journal (09/29/92), P. A1  (McGregor, James)
     Due to the availability of heroin in Ruili County, China, the  rate 
of HIV infection is increasing across the country.  The  renowned Burma 
Road, hacked out of the jungle about 50 years ago  by Allied troops, has 
become the major artery for smuggling  heroin out of Burma.  In the 
remote, mountainous province, the  trailhead for Burmese heroin's 
journey to the West, China's  increasing heroin problem is apparent, as 
is the AIDS epidemic  that accompanies it.  Ruili County, on Burma's 
border, is a  320-square-mile finger of Chinese territory that projects 
into  Burma.  About two-thirds of the 708 Chinese the government so far 
knows to be HIV-positive live there.  But the government has  performed 
few HIV screenings outside of the border region.   Officials and experts 
believe that Ruili also has China's largest concentration of heroin 
addicts.  Not only is heroin contributing to the AIDS problem, but so is 
prostitution in Ruili, where  condoms are not available.  Also, locals 
who are HIV-positive are not aware of their HIV-status.  The reasons 
health officials give for not informing AIDS sufferers are, in the 
least, obscure.   "They might do things like go into restaurants, order 
food, and  then refuse to pay," one physician said.  But, oddly, 
authorities say they are not fearful of the disease's spread.  "There is 
not  a problem with AIDS spreading because these people are peasants  
and they never go anywhere," said Liu Dequan, a provincial health 
official.  But world health officials say the disease will spread along 
with drug use, and drug use is likely to grow with  availability--as it 
has along the border. 

"Woman Stabbed With Dirty Syringe During Robbery" United Press 
International (09/28/92)
     Tampa, Fla.--A woman was stabbed six times in the arm by a man  
armed with a syringe who demanded her purse as she sat in her car at a 
stop light and struggled to get money out of her pocket,  according to 
police.  Katherine Calleja said Sunday she will  undergo HIV testing to 
determine whether or not she is infected.  She is already taking AZT.  
Calleja said, "I would rather him to  shoot me than for him to stick me 
with a needle.  I have to live  with this."  Jeffrey Nadler, an 
infectious disease consultant at  the University of South Florida, said 
the risk of exposure to HIV through a needle stick is small because the 
virus can't live long outside the body.  He said it will take up to six 
months for the  virus to show up in a test.  At about 8 p.m. Calleja was 
leaving  a birthday party when she approached a stop light.  She said no  
other cars were on the street.  She saw a man near the road  holding a 
sign that said, "I will work for food."  As she came  closer to the 
light the man darted out in front of her car, she  said.  After she 
almost hit him, Calleja said the man walked  toward her window and she 
thought it was just to let her know he  was OK.  But he threatened her 
with a syringe if she didn't hand  over her purse.  Calleja said she 
told him she had some money in  her pocket and gave him $100.  Calleja 
said she believes the man  stabbed her because she was trying to close 
her automatic windows while she reached into her pocket.  The man ran 
away and she sped off.  She drove home and called police.  Subsequently, 
a doctor  at Tampa General Hospital told her she had been pricked about 
six times, she said. 

"Tracking the Mystery Virus" Advocate (09/22/92) No. 612, P. 54  
(Rochman, Sue)
     The findings of the mysterious "AIDS-like" condition that were  
released at the Eighth International Conference on AIDS prompted  a 
media frenzy where a lot of conclusions were made based on  inadequate 
evidence.  Newsweek issued a news release on July 18  telling of an 
article in its July 27 edition which documented  immune-system 
deficiencies in "roughly a dozen" people who  consistently tested HIV-
negative.  Even though doubts grew about  the existence of a mystery 
virus, reporters continued to portray  the news as an impending public-
health concern.  Officials at  AIDS organizations say the hype prompted 
public hysteria.  Mark  Aurigemma, communications coordinator for the 
Gay Men's Health  Crisis in New York, said, "Anytime you get a story 
that reports  falsely that we don't know how HIV is transmitted or that 
there  is a mystery going on, like a new virus no one understands,  
people's anxiety levels about AIDS go through the roof."  The  public 
soon became worried over whether the mystery virus would  infect the 
nation's blood supply.  Newsweek printed another story in the Aug. 10 
issue encouraging readers to avoid blood  transfusions until allegations 
about the mystery virus could be  elucidated.  But Dr. June Osborn, 
chairwoman of the National  Commission on AIDS, said such a warning was 
"silly" because even  if a mystery virus existed, no proof showed that 
it was  blood-borne.  But Nicholas Wade, science editor for the New York  
Times said because the so-called mystery virus was the main focus at the 
conference, "It was an interesting and legitimate story." 

"Interview: Auntie Angela" Advocate (09/22/92) No. 612, P. 68  (Allman, 
Kevin)
     Angela Lansbury has long been an advocate of AIDS causes but  feels 
no one can do too much.  Lansbury was honored by the  Pacific Center for 
HIV/AIDS Counseling on Sept. 19 at a black-tie benefit at Los Angeles' 
Bonaventure Hotel for her work in  fighting AIDS.  Since 1988, she has 
been a member of the national council for the American Foundation for 
AIDS Research (AmFAR),  hosting two benefits that each raised more than 
$1 million.  She  also served with AIDS Project Los Angeles and the New 
York  City-based organizations Gay Men's Health Crisis and Broadway  
Cares.  "It's impossible to do the kind of hands-on care giving  that 
one would want to, but most of us performers are able to  attract that 
money audience.  Thank God," Lansbury said in an  interview with the 
Advocate.  When asked how AIDS has affected  her personally, Lansbury 
said, "Simply by the fact that many of  my closest friends and cohorts 
in the business have been struck  down by it and have died."  She added, 
"I know we're trying to  find a cure for heart disease and cancer, but 
AIDS is more of an  epidemic.  AIDS is different; it's catching.  That's 
the  absolutely horrifying aspect of AIDS."  She said that Broadway  was 
"way ahead" of the way Hollywood responded to the AIDS  epidemic.  "They 
were facing AIDS right up front, because in  motion pictures and 
television they weren't as aware of the gay  community.  They do 
acknowledge it now." 

"HIV Infection and Smoking Behavior" Journal of the American Medical 
Association (09/30/92) Vol. 268,  No. 12, P. 1529  (Davis, Ronald M. and 
Samet, Jonathan M.)
     A study on the link between smoking and increased HIV infection  in 
Haitian women, conducted by Halsey et al., should have more  accurately 
assessed the association between smoking and HIV  infection,  write Dr. 
Ronald M. Davis and Dr. Jonathan M. Samet  of the Michigan Department of 
Public Health.  Halsey and  colleagues should have examined the risk of 
HIV infection in  former smokers relative to the risk in current 
smokers, and as a  function of duration of abstinence from smoking.  The 
authors  investigated the risk of HIV infection among "women who 
reported  during the first interview that they had ever smoked."   
Therefore, every smoker in this case included current and former  
smokers.  The authors did not indicate the percentage of ever  smokers 
who were former smokers.  The observation that 29 of the  89 smokers at 
the first interview had stopped smoking by the  second interview 
indicates that a significant number of the  smokers at the first 
interview may have been former smokers.  If  the risks of HIV infection 
declines after smoking cessation, the  inclusion of former smokers in 
the sample of smokers would  diminish the measured link between smoking 
and the risk of HIV  infection.  When sample sizes allow, risks should 
be predicted  for former smokers based on how long they have abstained 
from  smoking.  An association is more likely to be causal if risk  
decreases with increasing duration of abstinence, the researchers 
conclude. 

"Intentional Self-Injection With HIV" Journal of the American Medical 
Association (09/30/92) Vol. 268,  No. 12, P. 1541  (El-Mallakh, Rif S.)
     Psychopathology could be a risk factor for HIV infection, writes  
Dr. Rif S. El-Mallakh of the National Institute of Mental Health  in 
Washington, D.C.  Researchers recently observed an unusual  case of an 
45-year-old female laboratory technologist who was  counseled for 
repeated intentional self-injection with hazardous  biomaterials.  She 
had a long psychiatric history marked by  repeated suicide attempts, 
impulsive and occasionally violent  acts, and dissociative episodes, all 
indicative of a borderline  personality disorder.  In 1989, after about 
15 years of minimal  psychiatric difficulties, increased domestic 
problems caused her  symptoms to reemerge, necessitating psychiatric 
hospitalization.  She experienced anxiety, dysphoria, dissociation, and 
suicidal  tendencies.  While under a work pass arranged in preparation 
for  discharge from a subsequent hospitalization, she impulsively  
developed a plan to inject herself with HIV-positive blood.  She  
gathered the blood from an HIV-positive patient for clinically  ordered 
tests, put the waste serum into a 3-ml syringe and  smuggled it out of 
the hospital.  She then injected the serum  into her thigh.  She did not 
disclose her actions to anyone and  was discharged from the hospital as 
expected.  She injected  herself some 20 times with the HIV-positive 
blood over the next  several months   She finally tested positive for 
HIV.  In 1990,  she made four additional suicide attempts, was 
hospitalized  several times, and again started self-injection, though 
this time with bacteriologically contaminated substances. 

"AIDS in the Work Place: When Silence Can Be Deadly" Today's Facility 
Manager (09/92) Vol.4, No.6,P.1 (Tessler, Donna and Schwartz, Heidi)
     Facility managers of corporations should institute AIDS policies  
before the first cases of the disease emerge in the organization, write 
Donna Tessler and Heidi Schwartz of Today's Facility  Manager.  It is 
predicted that about 90 percent of HIV-positive  individuals are 
presently in the labor force; every American  employer will have to come 
in contact with HIV/AIDS-infected  employees in the near future.  
Already, about 1 in 10 small  businesses have faced the reality of AIDS 
in the work place.  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects 
the civil rights  of all individuals with disabilities, including HIV, 
and will  significantly affect the way HIV-positive employees are 
treated.  The authors, along with the Centers for Disease Control and 
the  American Red Cross, suggest that organizations implement  
educational programs that address the scientific, psychological,  
social, legal, medical, and human resource issues related to  AIDS.  
Facility managers should keep in mind that under the ADA,  employers 
cannot disclose the HIV/AIDS-related condition of an  employee unless 
there is a justifiable need to know.  Any attempt to communicate 
positive messages--and reduce fear and  confusion--could possibly 
increase worker morale and  productivity.  Also, employers who present a 
compassionate and  professional response to the AIDS epidemic can have a 
significant impact on workers' understandings and beliefs about the 
disease,  and can encourage co-workers to behave correctly.  Moreover, 
if  health-care coverage is denied to any HIV-positive employee,  
discrimination lawsuits may result. 
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids