From: Billi Goldberg <bigoldberg@igc.apc.org>
Subject: CDC Summary 9/25/92
Note: Copyright 1992, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed.
Archive-Number: 6227
Organization: unspecified
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 92 08:14:48 PDT

                          AIDS Daily Summary
                          September 25, 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 
******************************************************************************
 "AIDS' Grip Tightens on City's Young" Baltimore Sun (09/25/92), P. 1A (Bor, 
Jonathan)
   The AIDS epidemic established itself last year as the leading killer of 
young adults in Baltimore--surpassing homicide and other diseases, city health 
officials announced yesterday. The new findings from the Baltimore Health 
Department came as the Centers for Disease Control released a report citing 
Baltimore and three other cities--San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York--as 
places where AIDS has become the main cause of death among adults aged 25-44 
years. In 1989, Baltimore AIDS cases exceeded homicide as the leading killer 
of young adults. That same year it comprised 14.1 percent of all deaths in 
that age group. However, by 1991, AIDS had widened the gap--comprising 22.4 
percent of deaths, compared with 11.9 percent for homicide. Dr. Susan Chu, 
acting chief of the CDC's AIDS surveillance section warned that death rates 
reflect only part of the problem: People dying today contracted HIV several 
years ago. Nationwide people are becoming infected with HIV at a steady rate. 
The new cases were diagnosed in Baltimore last year at a rate of 23.4 cases 
per 100,000 people in the general population--higher than Philadelphia, 
slightly lower than Washington and Los Angeles, and significantly lower than 
New York and San Francisco. The CDC report issued yesterday concentrated on 
death rates through 1989 that were reported by the Baltimore Health 
Department.  Related Story: Philadelphia Inquirer (09/25) P. B27 

"FDA Panel Backs Approval of AIDS Drugs" Wall Street Journal (09/25/92), P. B2 
(Ingersoll, Bruce)
   A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee suggested approving an 
Adria Laboratories drug to prevent a life-threatening bacterial infection in 
AIDS patients and a Wellcome PLC drug to treat pneumocystis carinii pneumonia 
(PCP). Although the recommendations of the outside panels do not mean the 
action will be taken by the FDA, generally, their advice is followed. The 
agency's Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee yesterday encouraged FDA officials 
to approve Adria Labs' drug rifabutin for the prevention of mycobacterium 
avium complex, or MAC, an AIDS-related illness that is a major cause of 
physical wasting and death among AIDS patients. Two clinical trials involving 
1,146 AIDS patients demonstrated that those on a daily dose of 300 milligrams 
of rifabutin were at least 50 percent less likely to get MAC than those on a 
placebo, according to Joseph Bianchine, director of medical research for Adria 
Labs. The drug exhibited only minor side effects, such as muscle and joint 
aches, on a few patients, he said. The panel also ruled that the FDA should 
permit Wellcome of London and its U.S. unit, Burroughs Wellcome Co., to market 
the drug Mepron as a treatment against PCP, a potentially fatal infection that 
is common among AIDS patients. The panel recommended that Wellcome's drug, 
also known as atoquavone, be used as a "second-line" treatment for PCP for 
those people who can't tolerate the combination drug 
trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. 

"Officials Warn TB Tests Give False Results" New York Times (09/25/92), P. B5
   Several batches of tuberculosis tests used in New York have been found to 
give false positive results for healthy people. State health officials asked 
physicians and health-care centers today to stop using these TB tests. There 
are 25 reported cases of false positive results from skin test products 
distributed by Scalvo Inc., a New Jersey company, during the last year, said 
the State Health Commissioner, Dr. Mark Chassin. The falsified testing 
occurred at state prisons, the Hudson River Psychiatric Center, and the state 
Health Department's Oxford Veterans' Home. People who tested positive with the 
Scalvo solution subsequently tested negative with another company's skin test, 
officials said. A department spokeswoman, Frances Tarlton, said inmates and 
other people at state centers believed to have been tested positive with the 
alleged Scalvo bathes--lots 192, 219, and 221--will be retested. In addition, 
the state suspended a purchasing contract with Scalvo and has asked the 
company for a list of its customers in New York. 

"College Newspaper Comes With Condoms" United Press International (09/25/92)
   Farmville, Va.--Longwood College's student newspaper this week was 
published with a condom taped inside each copy. Erin McCay, editor-in-chief of 
the Rotunda, said, "The purpose of this issue was to raise awareness." She 
added that she was "appalled by the Victorian attitude toward sex, and the 
grim repercussions that that attitude can have." The newspaper was headlined, 
"SEX!! SEX!! SEX!! IN THE NINETIES." The condoms were stuck on page eight in a 
box headed, "Just Use It." Dean of students Tim Pierson said the issue was 
"inappropriate." Advertising revenue paid for the condoms, according to McCay, 
who was summoned to a meeting Friday with Phyllis Mable, vice president for 
student affairs. The special edition entailed stories and commentary about 
date rape, AIDS on college campuses, and attitudes about sex as well as 
unrelated articles. A total of 1,200 copies of the Rotunda were distributed 
around campus on Monday night and were gone by early Tuesday. 

"AIDS is Biggest Killer of Young Men in Metro Areas" United Press 
International (09/25/92) (Taylor, Charles S.)
   Atlanta--AIDS has become the leading cause of death among young adult men 
in many of the nation's major cities, and there has been a significant rise in 
the death rate from the disease among young women, according to federal health 
officials. Susan Chu of the AIDS surveillance branch at the Centers for 
Disease Control said, "These death rates, unfortunately, are going to continue 
to increase because people are still being infected with HIV." She said 
Thursday that nationwide, AIDS was the second leading cause of death for men 
and the sixth leading cause of death for women aged 25-44 in 1989. However, in 
several major cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, and 
Baltimore, AIDS has become the number one killer among men in that age group, 
said Chu, exceeding heart disease, cancer, and homicide. The CDC said national 
trends suggest that AIDS is becoming a leading cause of death among young 
women, and cited New York City, where the disease is already the top killer of 
women ages 25 to 44. Chu said the increase in HIV infection and full-blown 
AIDS in women is "dramatic," and added that transmission of HIV is currently 
increasing faster through heterosexual sex than it is for either gay men or 
IV-drug users. In Baltimore, the AIDS death rate among young adult men rose 
from 380.7 deaths per 100,000 residents in 1987 to 452.8 deaths per 100,000 
through 1989--more than double the national average death rate from AIDS for 
white men and triple the national average for black men. 

"Panel: No Additional Blood Screening Needed for AIDS-like Syndrome" United 
Press International (09/24/92)
   Bethesda, Md.--No additional tests are necessary to protect the nation's 
blood supply from the mysterious "AIDS-like" condition reported in patients 
who are not infected with either HIV-1 or HIV-2, an expert committee announced 
Thursday. The Food and Drug Administration's blood product advisory panel 
voted 8-1 against suggesting new screening tests for donated blood to 
safeguard against the illness. The committee made its decision after hearing 
presentations by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes 
of Health. FDA spokeswoman Monica Revelle said, "They haven't found the 
potential causes. The CDC did a profile of the first five cases and there were 
no correlations, no geographic clusters." According to Revelle, the CDC said 
62 percent of the reported cases of the syndrome transpired in persons with no 
known risk factors for AIDS. The absence of common factors among the patients 
is one reason top experts question that an unknown virus causes the AIDS-like 
condition.

"AIDS Infection Rate for Gays Unchanged" United Press International (09/24/92)
   Pittsburgh--The University of Pittsburgh's Men's Study has found that 
although there is increased AIDS awareness and safer sex among young gay men, 
they are still contracting HIV at the same rate as gay men were eight years 
ago. The study involved more than 1,000 gay and bisexual men, whose health was 
tracked since the early 1980s. Approximately 7 percent of the 121 men aged 18-
22 enrolled in the study in 1984 and 1985 were HIV-positive.  About 7 percent 
of the 62 men in the same age group enrolled since 1988 also were infected 
with HIV. Pitt research specialist Anthony Silvestre said, "The problem is not 
going away. I anticipate a steady and continuing number of gay men being 
diagnosed with AIDS in the next 10 years." Silvestre conceded that AIDS 
awareness has risen among gay men, causing them to change their behaviors, but 
focus group discussions indicated many men still engage in risky behaviors. He 
said many limit their number of partners but are reluctant to use condoms 
during sex. In addition, Silvestre said the increased number of HIV-positive 
people means a person's risk of becoming infected can remain the same even if 
he has fewer sex partners than may have been the case 10 years ago. Homosexual 
men account for a decreasing population of all newly diagnosed AIDS cases in 
recent years, with IV-drug users comprising a growing number. However, 
Silvestre said that does not imply the epidemic is under control among gays. 
"It's not that gay men are doing that much better, but that IV-drug users are 
doing much, much worse," he added.

"Is it Big Brother or a Helping Hand? CDC HIV-Testing Proposal Draws Fire" 
Advocate (09/22/92) No. 612, P. 22 (Bull, Chris)
   AIDS-based discrimination could increase if the Centers for Disease Control 
implements the recommendations of a federal report that requests routine HIV 
testing of more than 3 million hospital patients a year. Epidemiologist Robert 
Janssen wrote the report which was published in the Aug. 13 edition of the New 
England Journal of Medicine. The report recommends voluntary esting of 
patients ages 15 to 54 at U.S. hospitals that treat large numbers of HIV-
positive patients,and predicts that about 110,000 people could be identified 
as being HIV-positive through the program. The researchers made their 
suggestions based on examination of 200,000 randomly selected blood samples 
taken anonymously from patients at 20 hospitals nationwide between 1989 and 
1991. About 5 percent of the blood samples were positive for HIV, and nearly 
two thirds of the patients who tested positive were unaware of their antibody 
status when they entered the hospital, the study said. CDC officials said they 
do not have any plans to push for widespread mandatory HIV testing of hospital 
patients. However, the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases 
(NIAID), said in a commentary that accompanied the report that it would 
support a widespread hospital-based testing program if it contained provisions 
to ensure the confidentiality of those tested. Donna Gaidamak, a spokeswoman 
for the American Hospital Association, said the program would be extremely 
costly and would take away resources from AIDS research and prevention 
programs. 

"Lost in the Noise" Advocate (09/22/92) No. 612, P. 37 (Delaney, Martin)
   Due to the increased focus by the media on reports of the AIDS-like 
condition that lacks HIV infection released at the Eighth International AIDS 
Conference in Amsterdam, some other significant findings were ignored. 
Combination therapy of AZT plus DDI using very low dosages of each drug was 
found to give excellent results. Also, significant benefits were demonstrated 
with the new drug d4T, which should be widely available by the end of 
September. The potential efficacy and safety of the drug 3TC, which treats 
both HIV and hepatitis B was found in preliminary studies. In addition, 
evidence was given that therapeutic vaccines may be able to halt or even 
reverse the progress of HIV infection, using a few injections per year and no 
drugs. Moreover, new directions for vaccine research were revealed, in 
addition to a clearer understanding of how and where HIV is stored in the 
body. Lastly, an announcement was given that an oral form of a protease 
inhibitor has finally been created and will soon be tested.

"Beer Group Hits Ads Tying AIDS to Imbibing" Advertising Age (09/21/92) 
Vol.63, No.38, P.4 (Teinowitz, Ira)
   The National Beer Wholesalers Association is irate over a new ad campaign 
by the Advertising Council, charging it with unfairly associating drinking 
with AIDS. Three animated TV spots from the U.S. Department of Health + Human 
Services and the National Institute on Drug Abuse depict characters who wake 
up in the morning and realize that they got drunk the night before and went 
home with a stranger. They worry they might have contracted HIV but are 
relieved when they remember they're just cartoon characters. The tagline is 
"Get high, get stupid, get AIDS."  Beer wholesalers are disturbed by the 
implication that drinking, rather than using contaminated needles or engaging 
in unprotected sex, can lead to HIV infection. The association and the Beer 
Institute, the industry arm of U.S. brewers, have implemented demonstrations 
over the TV campaign, which was launched early last month. Philip Katz, acting 
Beer Institute president said in a letter to Health + Human Services Secretary 
Louis W. Sullivan, "We interpret the message of this campaign to be that 
alcohol consumption leads to AIDS, with which we unequivocally disagree. The 
AIDS crisis in America is too important to be diverted in the wrong 
direction." But Ad Council officials said they do not expect to change the 
campaign. 

Newsgroups: sci.med.aids