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|Prevention News Update

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		- E-mail NPIN                                               |  | Tuesday, April 27, 1999
   
		The CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention provides the following information as a public service only. Providing synopses of key scientific articles and lay media reports on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, and tuberculosis does not constitute CDC endorsement. This daily update also includes information from CDC and other government agencies, such as background on Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) articles, fact sheets, press releases, and announcements. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update should be cited as the source of the information.Peer-Reviewed Journals
		"Oral Vaccination of Mice With Human Papillomavirus Virus-Like
Particles Induces Systemic Virus-Neutralizing Antibodies"

		General Media
		"Drugs May Cause AIDS to Lurk in Cells"
      	"New Approach Might Thwart AIDS Spread"
      	"AIDS Activists Upset With Notification Plans"
      	"Syphilis Cases Plunge, State Study Finds"
      	"New Antibody May Block HIV Infection"
      	"Chaos, AIDS, Asia Crisis Boost Poverty-World Bank"
      	"Japan's Tale of Two Pills: Viagra and Birth Control"
      	"West County TB Battle"
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|"Oral Vaccination of Mice With Human Papillomavirus Virus-Like
Particles Induces Systemic Virus-Neutralizing Antibodies"
    Vaccine Online (04/23/99) Vol. 17, No. 17, P.
2129; Rose, Robert C.; Lane, Christopher; Wilson, Susan; et al.
     top |  | Scientists administered human papillomavirus (HPV) virus-like
particles (VLPs) to mice to determine whether oral vaccination 
against the disease was possible.  According to their data, ELISA
results show that serum anti-VLP immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA 
were generated following oral vaccination.  Furthermore, orally 
induced postimmune sera neutralized HPV-11 virion in vitro.  The 
researchers suggest that the concept of oral vaccination against 
anogenital HPV is feasible, and they note that their approach 
might work well when vaccinating large populations against 
HPV-related diseases.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
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|"Drugs May Cause AIDS to Lurk in Cells"
    Washington Post (04/27/99) P. A6
     top                                                                                                                                                                 |  | New research in the journal Nature Medicine estimates that HIV
can hide undetected in people taking antiviral drugs for up to 
six decades.  The drugs can reduce the body's levels of HIV to 
undetectable levels, but they cannot eliminate the hidden 
reservoirs of HIV in cells.  The researchers, led by Robert 
Siliciano of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, studied 34 
HIV-infected adults who were all taking virus-suppressing 
treatment.  Based on samples of "resting" CD4 T cells in the 
patients' blood, the researchers estimated how many cells were 
concealing HIV at various points of treatment, calculated how 
long it would take this reservoir of infected cells to die, and 
came up with an estimate of about 60 years.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
|"New Approach Might Thwart AIDS Spread"
    Washington Post (04/27/99) P. A6
     top                                                                                                                                                                 |  | Harriet Robinson, chief of microbiology and immunology at Yerkes
Primate Center in Atlanta, reports in the journal Nature Medicine
on a potential approach to an AIDS vaccine.  Robinson genetically
engineered a fowl pox virus so that it expressed four genes from 
HIV, resulting in four proteins the immune system recognized.  
Investigators tested the vaccine in rhesus macaques and found 
that it sparked antibody production and prompted a cell-mediated 
response.  The researchers attempted to infect the animals three 
times over the course of 62 weeks, and they note that the 
experimental vaccine controlled the infection.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
|"AIDS Activists Upset With Notification Plans"
    Washington Times (04/27/99) P. A15
     top                                                                                                                                                        |  | South Africa's plan to require physicians of HIV/AIDS patients to
inform the person's family, caregivers, and the government of 
their status has drawn fire from AIDS activists.  The proposed 
rule is set to become law within three months.  Statistics show 
that 3.6 million South Africans had HIV or AIDS as of year-end 
1998.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
|"Syphilis Cases Plunge, State Study Finds"
    Boston Globe Online (04/27/99) P. B3;
Kong, Dolores
     top                                                                                                                                          |  | The number of sexually transmitted syphilis cases in
Massachusetts fell from 1,175 in 1990 to 150 last year, prompting
state health officials to ask the Massachusetts legislature to 
remove a law requiring couples to get a premarital syphilis test.
However, health officials are concerned because the report--set 
to be presented at a state Public Health Council meeting 
today--found an increase of gonorrhea and chlamydia cases
in the last couple of year .  Experts note, however, that this "increase"
may be the result of better testing.  One area that officials are
focusing on is the rate of infection among minority youth.  
Minority youth have a rate of infection from nine to 58 times 
higher than white youth, according to the report.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
|"New Antibody May Block HIV Infection"
    Reuters (04/26/99)
     top                                                                                                                                                                                |  | Investigators from the Aaron Diamond Research Center in New York
and Progenics Pharmaceuticals report in the Journal of Virology 
that  they have developed an antibody which keeps HIV from 
attaching to cells in a test tube.  According to researchers, the
drug Pro 140, a monoclonal antibody, homes in on the CCR5 cell 
receptor blocking HIV from entering the cell.  The researchers 
plan to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for permission 
to start human tests of the drug.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
|"Chaos, AIDS, Asia Crisis Boost Poverty-World Bank"
    Reuters (04/26/99); Egan, Mark
     top                                                                                                                                                       |  | The World Bank's "1999 World Development Indicators" survey
reports that AIDS in Africa, chaos in the Soviet Union, and the 
Asian economic crisis have forced growing numbers of people to 
live in poverty.  For example, 10 sub-Saharan countries have seen
life expectancy drop by 10 years in the past 20 years, with HIV 
and AIDS affecting around 10 percent of the adult population.  
The survey noted that it was questionable as to whether the World
Bank would be able to reach its goal of reducing poverty by half 
by the year 2015.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
|"Japan's Tale of Two Pills: Viagra and Birth Control"
    New York Time (04/27/99) P. D1; WuDunn, Sheryl
     top                                                                                                                                     |  | The Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare recently rushed
approval of Pfizer's Viagra, but women's groups are angry 
because the country has yet to approve the low-dose birth control
pill, now a decade after the application was filed.  While 
officials explained that the impotence drug was approved quickly 
to insure correct usage, they also voiced concerns that if use of
the birth control pill becomes widespread, couples would stop 
using condoms, potentially increasing rates of sexually 
transmitted diseases.  In Japan, the incidence of gonorrhea and 
chlamydia increased 32 percent and 36 percent, respectively, 
among young people last year.  Officials have also said that 
young people need to be better informed about STDs before use of 
the pill becomes common.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
|"West County TB Battle"
    Contra Costa Times Online (04/25/99); May,
Meredith
     top                                                                                                                                                             |  | In West County, California, health officials have identified 69
people carrying the same tuberculosis genes, instead of 12 
separate TB clusters as was previously thought.  The situation is
unusual, and the TB rate in West County is 3.5 times higher than 
the rest of Contra Costa.  Also, studies of TB cases in New York 
and San Francisco indicate that less than 10 percent of patients 
have the same TB strain.  County TB expert Dr. Charles Crane 
conducted the research, which was discussed recently at the 
American Lung Association/American Thoracic Society International
Conference in San Diego.  The study does not specify any one 
person who may have sparked the outbreak; however, the findings 
support the theory that one or a few patients introduced the 
strain to the area.  Dr. Dan Chin, chief of surveillance and 
epidemiology for California's Tuberculosis Control Branch, 
explains: "These findings are significant, because it shows us 
that even though TB cases are declining nation- and statewide, 
there are clearly hot spots like West County where transmission 
is ongoing and fairly extensive."                                                                                                                                    
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