                     AIDS Daily Summary
                       June 03, 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
by the CDC, the CDC Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction
of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1993, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"Children Buy Used Syringes as Toys in China"
"Guards Want Inmates With AIDS Segregated"
"Italian Health Staff Can't Refuse HIV Test--Court"
"HIV-Positive Man to Run for Congress"
"Wage War on AIDS, Kenyan Tells Africa"
"Memorable Mix"
"AIDS Doesn't Discriminate"
"The Story of O"
"Protecting Women From AIDS"
"Partner Preferences and Serostatus"
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"Children Buy Used Syringes as Toys in China"
Reuters (06/03/94)
     Used syringes, which present the risk of transmitting HIV and 
other deadly viruses, are being sold to Chinese children as toys,
reported the official Farmer's Daily.  The paper said private 
businessmen buy the dirty syringes for less than one American 
cent and sell them for 2.5 to 4.5 American cents to children, who
use them as water pistols.  The Farmer's Daily urged parents and 
teachers to warn children not to play with the syringes, which it
said some medical units have failed to destroy despite rules and 
regulations instructing them to do so.
      
"Guards Want Inmates With AIDS Segregated"
Chicago Tribune (06/02/94) P. 1-3
     The Michigan Corrections Organization, a union representing the 
guards who supervise the state's 37,000 prison inmates, is 
pressing for complete segregation of HIV-positive prisoners.  The
state Department of Corrections argues that the proposal would 
create "leper colonies" in the prison system, and says inmates 
should be isolated only for behavioral problems.  There are 203 
cases of HIV infection in Michigan prisons, and 266 inmates have 
full-blown AIDS.
      
"Italian Health Staff Can't Refuse HIV Test--Court"
Reuters (06/02/94)
     Health workers whose jobs require contact with other people do 
not have the right to refuse HIV testing, Italy's Constitutional 
Court decided on Thursday.  The ruling invalidated provisions of 
a 1990 law stating that HIV testing could not be performed, under
any circumstances, without the consent of the individual being 
tested.  Italy's highest court said  HIV tests should be viewed 
as a condition for employment in the health care field, but 
emphasized that tested individuals must be guaranteed 
confidentiality.
      
"HIV-Positive Man to Run for Congress"
United Press International (06/02/94)
     An HIV-positive Wisconsin man has announced his intention to run 
for Congress on the Republican ticket.  Mike Johnson, 32, who has
been presenting lectures on AIDS throughout the state, believes 
his candidacy will trigger debate on the disease.
      
"Wage War on AIDS, Kenyan Tells Africa"
Reuters (06/02/94);  Mdlongwa, Francis
     A Kenyan official on Thursday urged Africa to mount a war against
AIDS, which has infected more than 1.5 percent of the continent's
600 million people, or to suffer devastation.  Professor H. 
Okoth-Ogendo, head of Kenya's Council for Population and 
Development, explained to national leaders how the epidemic had 
ravaged east and central Africa, and was surging toward the 
south.  He said the African governments' most urgent imperatives 
were massive funding to buy condoms and AIDS therapeutics; 
elimination of import duties and taxes on these products, thereby
making them more available to the young people who are most at 
risk; and better campaigns to combat the epidemic.
      
"Memorable Mix"
Chicago Tribune (06/02/94) P. 2-5;  Dellios, Hugh
     The California fashion trade's recent tribute to designer Isaac 
Mizrahi, at $350 per person,  raised half a million dollars for 
AIDS Project Los Angeles, a non-profit organization that services
the needs of AIDS patients and seeks to prevent further spread of
the disease.  The show, which launched Mizrahi's fall collection,
also included a performance by singer k.d. lang, as well as an 
auction.  Mizrahi, 32, has been commended for his support of AIDS
research and patient support efforts.
      
"AIDS Doesn't Discriminate"
Houston Chronicle (06/02/94) P. 5;  Huynh, Dai
     Fifteen students at Houston's High School for the Performing and 
Visual Arts make up the cast of "The Age of Discretion," a play 
that seeks to send teenagers a wake-up call about AIDS.  The play
covers homosexuality, drugs, and sex; the message is that AIDS 
knows no boundaries.  It began touring last year and, since then,
has been presented at more than 45 schools in Houston and the 
surrounding areas.
      
"The Story of O"
Advocate (05/17/94) No. 655, P. 28;  Gallagher, John
     French health officials removed an HIV antibody test from the 
market because it consistently failed to detect a rare African 
strain of the virus.  The HIV-1 subtype, known as group O, poses 
no immediate threat to the United States, but merits close 
scrutiny, say AIDS researchers.  "At the moment it has no 
significance for this country, but everyone involved in AIDS 
research is keeping a close eye on it," said Dr. Herbert Perkins,
senior medical scientist at the Irwin Memorial Blood Centers in 
San Francisco.  He noted that because HIV can change genetically,
other subtypes could develop that are able to escape detection by
antibody tests.  Group O was first discovered four years ago, and
is primarily found in Cameroon and Gabon.  French officials 
reported that 11 cases of infection with the group O subtype had 
been documented in France, most of which involved patients from 
Cameroon.  After pulling one antibody test from the market, the 
French urged a re-evaluation of other HIV antibody tests.  Donald
McLearn, a spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration, said 
that American HIV antibody tests are not designed to detect group
O, but that they could most likely be modified to do so.  Perkins
confirmed that the test pulled from the French market differs 
significantly from those used in the United States, where no 
group O viruses have been detected.
      
"Protecting Women From AIDS"
Lancet (05/21/94) Vol. 343, No. 8908, P. 1284;  Rowe, Paul M.
     Despite health education campaigns, risky sexual activities are 
still common among Americans, and are especially severe in the 
Haitian, Jamaican, and Latina communities.  The National AIDS 
Behaviour Study found that 11 percent of American women between 
the ages of 18 and 49 were at some risk for HIV infection.  Among
Latina women, many clung to the myth that women should be 
submissive and less sexually knowledgeable than men.  And among 
the poor and uneducated Haitian immigrants in Florida, extreme 
culture and language barriers rendered the idea of "safe sex" 
completely useless.  Most of these women believe disease is 
caused by supernatural causes, and many are economically 
dependent on their partners--who are often promiscuous.  They 
have very little control over their own lives.  Under such 
conditions, women are not positioned to negotiate safe sex, and 
even those who are better-positioned do not consider it 
worthwhile.
      
"Partner Preferences and Serostatus"
Focus (05/94) Vol. 8, No. 6, P. 7;  Colleen, C.;  Hoff, B.A.;  
McKusick, L. et al.
     Serostatus may influence the formation of primary partner bonds 
in gay male communities, according to a large San Francisco 
study.  Researchers conducted a mail survey of 540 homosexual 
men--of whom 29 percent were HIV-positive, 38 percent were 
HIV-negative, and 29 percent had not been tested.  Respondents 
were asked about sexual behavior, antibody testing status, AIDS 
loss and relationship status, and partner preference.  
Seronegative and untested respondents were more likely to prefer 
uninfected partners for relationships, while seropositive 
respondents said HIV status was unimportant.  Researchers found 
no correlation between current relationship status and serostatus
preference for romantic or platonic relationships.  The exception
was that single men were more apt then men in relationships to 
base a preference for friendship on HIV status.
