From: Billi Goldberg <bigoldberg@igc.apc.org>
Subject: CDC Summary 11/19/92
Note: Copyright 1992, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed.
Archive-Number: 6471
Organization: unspecified
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 08:04:27 PST

                       AIDS Daily Summary
                       November 19, 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 
************************************************************************
 "Almost One-Third of Gay Men in Study Admit to Unprotected Anal 
Intercourse" Washington Post (11/19/92), P. A2 
A nationwide study of homosexual men in smaller cities found that 
approximately a third of them engage in unprotected anal intercourse, 
researchers announced yesterday.  Several of the men who admitted to the 
practice believed their risk of contracting HIV was none or slight--
representing a high level of ignorance, the study said.  The study was 
conducted by the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and will be 
featured in the Archives of Internal Medicine.  The researchers said in 
the report, "Our findings show clearly that enhanced community-based 
resources and prevention efforts are now urgently needed for reaching 
gay men in smaller cities who have been neglected in AIDS prevention 
relative to their urban counterparts."  The researchers surveyed 1,858 
men entering gay clubs in 16 communities early last year. About one-
third of the men said they had practiced unsafe anal sex an average of 
eight times in the preceding two months, usually with someone other than 
their regular partner.  A total of nine percent said they had tested 
HIV-positive.  The 16 smaller cities used in the study were located in 
upstate New York, North Carolina, West Virginia, Minnesota, Washington 
state, and Montana. Related Story: Baltimore Sun (11/19) P. 8A 

"Israel Bars Immigrants Who Carry the AIDS Virus" New York Times 
(11/19/92), P. A3 
The Israeli government has revealed that the country is barring HIV-
positive immigrants.  The practice has prompted outrage among critics 
who claim the ban is discriminatory and contradicts the Israeli law that 
gives all Jews the right to settle in Israel. The controversy emerged 
after the Interior Ministry announced last week that Israeli embassies 
and consulates were ordered this year to refuse immigrant visas to 
applicants found in required medical checks to test positive for HIV.  
The ministry said foreign workers who wish to stay in Israel longer than 
three months will have to take an HIV test, and those testing positive 
will be expelled.  Parliament members, doctors, AIDS advocates, and a 
leading civil rights group have criticized the policy and have requested 
that the Ministry of Health and Immigrants Absorption reexamine it.  
Israel's Law of Return, which declares the right of any Jew to settle in 
Israel, includes a clause authorizing the Interior Minister to deny 
immigrant visas to those believed to be a public health hazard.  Dan 
Yakir, a lawyer with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, said, 
"The use of this clause is illegal, discriminatory, and contradicts the 
aim of the Law of Return."  According to critics, the restrictions are 
ineffective because they do not apply to Israelis returning from visits 
abroad or to tourists staying less than three months. 

"Prisoner With AIDS Appeals Sentence for Biting a Guard" New York Times 
(11/19/92), P. B7  (Sullivan, Joseph F.) 
An inmate with AIDS at Trenton State Prison requested yesterday that an 
appeals court overturn his 25-year sentence for attempted murder for 
biting a prison guard, and claimed that he had been unfairly treated 
because of fears about the disease.  The inmate's attorney contended 
that the jury acted irrationally in convicting him because there is no 
proof that biting someone can transmit HIV.  However, the prosecutor 
said that it was irrelevant, telling the court that Gregory Dean Smith 
believed he could transmit HIV in 1989 when he bit Albert Waddington, a 
Camden County corrections officer, telling him: "Now die, you pig!  Die 
from what I have!"  The case is being brought before a three-judge panel 
of the Appellate Division of Superior Court, the state's second-highest 
tribunal.  Smith's attorney, Ronald L. Kuby, said the belief that 
"persons with AIDS are living weapons" and should be subjected to 
"special and draconian punishment when they do something wrong" has the 
potential to perpetuate and worsen discrimination against AIDS patients.  
He added, "The bottom line is that if Mr. Smith didn't have the AIDS 
virus he wouldn't be charged with attempted murder."  Roseann Finn, an 
assistant Camden County prosecutor, said medical experts still have not 
clearly determined that HIV cannot be transmitted via biting.  Kuby said 
that unless Smith can win a new trial or a reduction of his 25-year 
sentence, "his current sentence will indeed be a death sentence because 
he will die in prison." Related Story: Philadelphia Inquirer (11/19) P. 
B4 

"Hemophiliacs With AIDS Say National Group Betrays Them" Philadelphia 
Inquirer (11/19/92), P. A1  (Gaul, Gilbert M.) 
The 44th annual meeting of the National Hemophilia Foundation will begin 
today, and protests from hemophiliacs with AIDS are likely to be voiced.  
Many hemophiliacs who contracted HIV through contaminated blood products 
feel the NHF has done little to help them.  But NHF officials believe 
the anger is misdirected.  According to officials, critics are using 
"20-20 hindsight" to question decisions made years ago when the NHF was 
attempting to balance the need for effective clotting drugs against the 
dangers of AIDS.  American hemophiliacs are dying in alarming numbers--
more than 1,500 so far.  But they are dying from AIDS rather than their 
congenital bleeding disorder.  Most contracted HIV during the early 
1980s while using tainted clotting medicines, known as Factor VII and 
Factor IX.  More than half of the country's hemophiliacs--at least 
10,000--are HIV-positive.  These hemophiliacs, tired of quietly 
accepting their fate, are now demanding answers.  They are asking why 
the NHF and the U.S. government did not do more to guarantee the safety 
of blood-clotting medicines when their link with AIDS first became 
apparent.  They are also questioning whether financial ties between NHF 
and the manufacturers, which help to underwrite the convention, affected 
these decisions.  Moreover, they are asking why the U.S. is one of a 
handful of Western nations that has not yet established a type of 
compensation fund for HIV-positive hemophiliacs and their families to 
help with escalating health care costs.

"Medical Care for Vacaville Prisoners With AIDS Criticized" Los Angeles 
Times--Washington Edition (11/19/92), P. B4 (Morain, Dan) 
A California legislative report accused a state prison in Vacaville, 
Calif., for allowing four prisoners with AIDS to die prematurely earlier 
this year as a result of inadequate care. The report cited conditions 
that can hasten the onset of AIDS-related death, including drafty 
cellblocks, improper diets, and medical and correctional staff who are 
not trained to deal with AIDS.  The report indicated that the problems 
at the California Medical Facility at Vacaville worsened after two 
doctors quit, warning that Department of Corrections was not providing 
enough staff to handle increased numbers of prisoners with AIDS at 
Vacaville.  The report concentrated on four prisoners with AIDS who 
died.  One inmate died after being put on a high security wing instead 
of the hospital when he began vomiting blood.  A second was not hooked 
up to a dialysis machine and gained 30 to 40 pounds before dying.  The 
third prisoner was discharged from the prison hospital even though he 
was vomiting blood and could not stand.  The fourth was heard calling 
for help in the night and was found dead in his cell the next morning. 
The prison hospital is overcrowded and hospital staff at Vacaville does 
not watch for life-threatening conditions like rapid weight loss among 
AIDS patients, said the report.  The report also indicated that 
prisoners who have only six months to live are not being released under 
a program that permits them to leave the prison because requests for 
compassionate release are lost and postponed. 

"Around the Region: AIDS Home Where 2 Were Arrested Is Set to Reopen" 
Washington Post (11/19/92), P. C3 
An Arlington, Va., home for AIDS patients that was closed down after two 
residents with AIDS were arrested in July on charges of sodomizing a 14-
year-old boy will be reopened this week to new AIDS patients, officials 
from the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington, D.C. announced yesterday.  
Clinic officials said they have adhered to new screening and housing 
guidelines drafted by a panel of health care experts and clinic 
volunteers in an effort to prevent further problems.  The new rules 
require the clinic to ask prospective clients about any criminal history 
and will not allow visits by minors who are unrelated to residents.  
Criminal background checks will be performed if they are considered 
necessary, said officials.  The county owns the house and leases it to 
Whitman-Walker.  County spokeswoman Sally Michael said, "We are 
satisfied that the preparations for the reopening and the selection of 
new residents have followed the stringent guidelines set forth by last 
summer's review committee."

"AIDS Deaths in Mass. Jump More Than 40 Percent in a Year" United Press 
International (11/17/92) 
Boston--The number of deaths resulting from AIDS increased more than 40 
percent between 1990 and 1991 in Massachusetts, making AIDS the leading 
cause of death among men aged 25 to 44, announced state health officials 
Tuesday.  The department said that as of Nov. 1 the state had reported 
5,384 cases of AIDS in its annual Death Data Report, with 64 percent of 
AIDS patients deceased.  Among those, 632 died from AIDS or HIV-related 
conditions in 1991--a 41 percent increase over the year before. Health 
Commissioner David Mulligan said the rise in AIDS deaths signified a 
sharp increase in the number of cases diagnosed in 1988 and 1989 because 
the average time between diagnosis and death is about 18-24 months.  
Despite the disease's peak in the late 1980s, Mulligan emphasized 
continued public education to curb the further spread of HIV.  "While we 
can take some comfort in the fact that better treatments and earlier 
diagnosis will continue to help people live longer with HIV and AIDS, we 
still need to reinforce messages that urge safer sex practices...and 
encourage abstinence for our youth," he said. 

"Asian AIDS Cases Soon to Pass Africa's" New York Times (11/18/92), P. 
A26  (Silva, John L.) 
If Asia emulates the prevention, testing, and sexual behavior changes of 
the United States gay population, then the AIDS epidemic could be 
thwarted there, writes John L. Silva, executive director of Community 
HIV Project Gay Asian Pacific Alliance in San Francisco.  Silva comments 
on the New York Times' special report on AIDS on Nov. 8.  He said that 
there is a growing trend to scapegoat gay people as the principal 
carriers of the disease in Asia.  Throughout Asia, discrimination and 
misinformation regarding the epidemic is rampant.  In Japan, where AIDS 
cases are most prevalent in the homosexual population, new government 
pamphlets on HIV do not directly address the gay population. There is 
misconception that AIDS is the result of the gay liberation movement, 
and any educational materials directed to gays may only increase the 
AIDS caseload. With more than 35 countries in Asia and 25 of these 
countries reporting HIV and AIDS cases, WHO estimates the number of 
cumulative AIDS cases in the region will surpass Africa's by the year 
2000.  The economic health and well-being of Asia has profound effects 
on Western nations and Japan, and the continent's own denial is 
exemplified by the lack of sharing resources and experiences in fighting 
AIDS.  For two years, the San Francisco AIDS surveillance unit has 
reported a drop in the number of reported Asian Pacific Islander AIDS 
cases.  Early intervention and testing and sexual behavior changes have 
been responsible for this decline. Implementing similar programs in Asia 
will be one significant way to curb the AIDS epidemic, concludes Silva. 

"New Weapons Against AIDS" Fortune (11/30/92) Vol. 126, No. 12, P. 104  
(Bylinsky, Gene) 
The AIDS epidemic has prompted many pharmaceutical companies to research 
anti-HIV vaccines, and never in the history of science has so much 
research been mobilized so quickly against a disease. Approximately a 
dozen anti-HIV vaccines are currently in clinical trials--a result of 
the competition among drug companies to claim what experts say could be 
a $2 billion-a-year market for a preventive medicine by the year 2000.  
Some researchers such as Bette Korber, of Los Alamos National 
Laboratory, believe that HIV may become less virulent in future years.  
But hopes for an effective vaccine regularly emerge and subside.  
Vaccine makers have previously avoided introducing any form of HIV into 
healthy patients for fear that even a single virus particle slipping 
into a cell could lead to AIDS.  Instead, their technique has been to 
try to turn the virus' mutations against it.  But now their strategies 
are changing.  In order to succeed, new vaccines should provoke a 
strong, extended immune response in which antibodies detect any 
subsequent HIV attack and adhere to virus particle and infected cells, 
marking them for destruction. Margaret I. Johnson, head of AIDS basic 
R+D at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 
believes that the development of a protective vaccine is only a matter 
of time. She believes that an effective therapeutic vaccine may arise 
sooner.  In addition to vaccine research, scientists have been testing 
drugs aimed at HIV enzymes.  Two HIV enzymes--tat and env--are being 
researched to be targeted by anti-HIV drugs. Also, at least ten 
companies are researching drugs aimed at the enzyme protease. 

Newsgroups: sci.med.aids