                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       August 25, 1994

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public
service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement
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Copyright 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD

"Indonesia May Have 2.5 Million People With HIV by 2000"
Reuters (08/25/94)
     Indonesian Health Minister Suyudi warns that the Asian nation may
have as many as 2.5 million people HIV carriers by the end of the
decade.  Suyudi hopes to keep the figure around 600,000 through 
"intense efforts."  Indonesia plans to build a special hospital 
for HIV patients.
      
"Mom Dying of AIDS Finds Home for her Dearest Treasures"
Chicago Tribune (08/24/94) P. 1-1;  Talalay, Sarah
     Karen Smith, a 34-year-old mother of five residing in Elgin, 
Ill., is dying of AIDS.  Concern that her children would be 
separated after her death led her to find them a new mother.  
AIDS rights advocates say there is a need for AIDS-infected 
parents to plan for their children's future.  They cite a 1992 
American Medical Association study finding that an estimated 
45,000 children are expected to be orphaned by AIDS in 1996.  
That number could total 100,000 by the end of the decade, the 
study warns.  Smith chose Gayla Millican, who works 
rehabilitating developmentally disabled adults, to adopt the five
children.
      
"Regulation of Body Piercing Goes to Wilson"
United Press International (08/24/94)
     The California Assembly has passed legislation that would impose 
new regulations on body piercing and tattooing.  Supporters of 
the measure say the use of unsterilized needles in both body 
piercing and tattooing could spread the HIV.  The bill is now on 
the desk of Gov. Pete Wilson, awaiting his signature to become 
law.
      
"Meals for People With AIDS"
Washington Post (08/25/94) P. D.C.5
     Foods and Friends is a volunteer agency in Washington, D.C. that 
delivers nutritious meals to AIDS patients.  The organization is 
currently emphasizing fund-raising and volunteer recruitment.
      
"Questions and Answers: Smoking Cessation in Patients With HIV"
Journal of the American Medical Association (08/17/94) Vol. 272, 
No. 7, P. 564;  Chaisson, Richard E.
     Conflicting studies have made it unclear whether cigarette 
smoking hastens progression of AIDS among HIV patients, notes Dr.
Richard E. Chaisson of Johns Hopkins University.  Because it has 
been linked to rapid depletion of CD4 cells, and an increase in 
respiratory tract infections among infected persons, Chaisson 
says smoking tobacco and other substances is clearly correlated 
with important causes of sickness and death in HIV-positive 
individuals.  Previously, however, some clinicians treating HIV 
patients did not address the importance of smoking cessation 
because they assumed the long-term health effects of smoking were
not relevant in patients whose immune systems were seriously 
crippled by AIDS.  Now, says Chaisson, it is evident that smoking
cessation does offer short-term health benefits to HIV patients. 
The most harmful effects of smoking are caused by smoke and its 
components; therefore, he concludes, interventions--including 
nicotine replacement therapy--are warranted to reduce the 
incidence of smoking in HIV patients.
      
"What Heterosexual Adults Believe About Condoms"
New England Journal of Medicine (08/11/94) Vol. 331, No. 6, P. 
406;  Choi, Kyung-Hee;  Rickman, Richard;  Catania, Joseph A.
     Using data from a telephone poll of residents in 23 urban areas 
in the United States with a high prevalence of AIDS, Catania et 
al. surveyed 5,331 heterosexual adults aged 18 to 49 about their 
beliefs concerning condoms.  Most acknowledged condoms as an 
effective method for prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.
Fifty-four percent, however, feared the condom would fail, 41 
percent said the device reduced pleasure, 37 worried about losing
their partner's trust by suggesting condom use, and 21 percent 
reported feeling uncomfortable about putting on condoms.  Based 
on these responses, Catania et al. recommend that instructions 
depicting correct condom use be widely distributed and that 
publicity materials eroticize condom use.  The team also suggests
that condoms be more easily available through the mail and 
vending machines.  Training and counseling, they said, are needed
to increase sexual sensation with condoms.  And, although they 
may not offer 100 percent protection against HIV, consistent use 
of condoms will certainly curb the spread of the disease.
      
"Experts, Senate Favor HIV Testing of Sex Offenders"
AIDS Alert (08/94) Vol. 8, No. 9, P. 111
     The Working Group on HIV Testing, Counseling, and Prophylaxis--a 
panel of 16 legal and medical experts--has recommended HIV 
testing and counseling guidelines which include the hotly debated
policy of limited mandatory testing of rape suspects.  Group 
member Dr. Kenneth Mayer explains that "...there may be special 
circumstances where the psychic and physical harm of not knowing 
may be relevant, such as issues around pregnancy."  Under the 
working group's guidelines, the rape survivor must request 
preconviction testing; probable cause must be present; test 
results would be disclosed only to the accused and the accuser 
and could not be used in court proceedings; and if the accused 
tests negative, another test should be administered in six 
months--unless an acquittal has been handed down.  Women's 
groups, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union, strongly 
oppose mandatory testing of rape suspects, but the authors of the
report say the violent nature of rape sets it apart from other 
forms of HIV exposure, such as consensual sex or health care 
workers treating infected patients.  Presently, 32 states allow 
HIV testing of suspected or convicted rapists.
      
"Wellness Spirituality in Homosexual Men with HIV Infection"
Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (07/94-08/94) 
Vol. 5, No. 4, P. 28;  Kendall, Judy
     The AIDS epidemic has spawned a plethora of community-sponsored 
support programs designed to help people cope with the various 
dimensions of the disease.  Building a network of people who 
value and support each other is regarded by the authors of 
numerous studies as an important part of caring for infected 
persons.  Dr. Judy Kendall, assistant professor at Oregon Health 
Sciences University School of Nursing, conducted a follow-up 
study of 29 homosexual men with HIV to extend previous grounded 
theory on wellness spirituality and to form a new theory on how 
human relationship influences wellness responses in seriously-ill
individuals.  Her findings confirmed the conclusions of other 
researchers who showed the importance of spirituality in the 
health and well-being of terminally ill patients.
      
"The Cause of AIDS"
Issues in Science and Technology (Summer 1994) Vol. 10, No. 4, P.
18;  Root-Bernstein, Robert
     In response to Wanda K. Jones and James Curran's review of his 
book "Rethinking AIDS: The Tragic Cost of Premature Consensus," 
Robert Root-Bernstein feels that the book's estimated 2,000 
references rebut claims by Curran and Jones that Root-Bernstein's
arguments are "overstated" and "strained."  He also says his 
critics "grossly distorted" his arguments.  They write, for 
example, that "he [Root-Bernstein] interprets the failure of 
chimpanzees to develop AIDS after HIV infection to mean that HIV 
is 'incapable of causing AIDS by itself or perhaps at all.'"  
Root-Bernstein, however, argues that his conclusion is not that 
HIV is not a cause of AIDS, but that the scientific and medical 
establishment cannot be sure that it is.  Any scientist, he says,
should appreciate the difference.
      
