                     AIDS Daily Summary
                       August 18, 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

"AIDS Devouring Africa Even as Awareness Grows"
Washington Post (08/18/94) P. A1;  Okie, Susan
     The African AIDS epidemic is causing a tide of illness that 
cannot be corralled.  Doctors at Kenyatta National Hospital, the 
largest hospital in sub-Saharan Africa, say AIDS cases have 
doubled in the last year and that the majority of patients in the
hospital's medical wards suffer from AIDS-related infections.  
"There is no ward you can go to with an empty bed," says nurse 
Winifred Kihia.  Studies from several countries show that AIDS 
has become the most common cause of death among adults in 
sub-Saharan Africa.  In several African cities, 20 percent to 30 
percent of the adult population is infected with HIV, with the 
proportion rising to more than 50 percent in many hospitals.  
More than 10 million of the 15 million HIV-positive people 
worldwide are African, according to the World Health 
Organization.  Of the 3 million people who have died from AIDS, 2
million are African.  Health experts say Africa has had 
exceptional trouble fighting the epidemic because of economic 
instability and lack of political commitment in many African 
countries.
      
"Woman Wins Award After False AIDS Test"
United Press International (08/16/94)
     An Ohio Court has awarded a Cincinnati woman $100,000 in a 
medical negligence lawsuit against the University of Cincinnati 
and Hoxworth Blood Center over inaccurate HIV test results.  
Andrea Beth Alfarano Kennedy,  a former nursing assistant at 
University Hospital, accidentally stuck herself with a used 
syringe in July 1990 and complied with hospital regulations that 
she undergo HIV testing.  On Aug. 8, 1990, Alfarano Kennedy was 
informed that she had tested positive for HIV on two separate 
tests.  Concerned that she could transmit the virus to her child 
if she were to become pregnant, she subsequently underwent a 
hysterectomy; the tests later proved to be incorrect.
      
"Catholic Charities' HIV Program Gains Donated Satellite Pantry"
Business Wire (08/17/94)
     Catholic Charities of San Francisco has established a northern 
San Mateo County "satellite pantry" for its new HIV Food and 
Emergency Services Program, which distributes food, grocery, and 
transportation vouchers to area residents infected with HIV.  
Homedco of Northern California has provided the program with 
office and warehouse space, as well as loading access in South 
San Francisco.
      
"So Long, Condom Cowboy"
Newsweek (08/15/94) Vol. 124, No. 7, P. 8
     The Wyoming state health department depicted a condom on 
horseback waving a cowboy hat as the logo for its AIDS hot line, 
but Gov. Mike Sullivan earlier this month threw out the symbol.  
His action was prompted by a letter campaign, which called the 
condom cowboy an "obscene" parody of the state symbol portraying 
a bronco-busting buckaroo.  For "obscene," counters Terry Foley 
of Wyoming's AIDS Prevention Program, "You should see what AIDS 
does."
      
"Industry's '93 AIDS Claims Rose Slightly to $1.5 Billion"
National Underwriter (08/08/94) No. 32, P. 1;  Cox, Brian
     Despite the merciless spread of AIDS throughout the world, life 
and health insurers expect to continue receiving relatively few 
AIDS-related claims.  "We have claims, but they're controllable,"
says Dr. Robert Gleeson of Northwestern Mutual Life, Minneapolis.
"Companies are not in dire straits."  The country's insurers paid
out an estimated $1.5 billion in claims last year, compared to 
$1.4 billion in 1992.  While the figure is only a slight increase
over 1992 payouts, it nevertheless represents a 419 percent 
increase from 1986, when insurers doled out $292.2 million.  The 
1993 estimate is based on the responses of 372 companies surveyed
by the American Council of Life Insurance and the Health 
Insurance Association of America.
      
"First Oral Vaccine Study Launched in Baltimore and Rochester, NY"
AIDS Alert (08/94) Vol.8, No. 9, P. 119
     Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the University of 
Rochester (NY) are recruiting 16 healthy, uninfected volunteers 
to participate in the first study of an oral AIDS vaccine 
designed to prevent sexual transmission of HIV.  The single-dose 
Multicomponent Global AIDS Vaccine consists of a time-released 
powder mixed with a bicarbonate of soda solution, which is 
swallowed.  The vaccine stimulates production of IgA, a secretory
antibody critical to the immune system.  "The best protection 
against infection of mucosal membranes is mucosal immunity, 
because IgA antibodies located there attack organisms before they
can penetrate the body," says Dr. Jack Lambert, clinical director
of AIDS vaccine research at the John Hopkins Medical 
Institution's Center for Immunization Research.
      
"Weighing HIV Vaccine Trials"
Science (08/05/94) Vol. 265, No. 5173, P. 735;  Holden, Constance
     The World Health Organization will hold a meeting in September to
debate the merits of conducting large-scale clinical HIV vaccine 
trials--which some researchers say do not have much of a chance 
of being proven effective.  The meeting follows the June decision
of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases 
head Anthony Fauci not to proceed with large-scale trials of two 
HIV vaccines.  He admits, however, that a different set of 
circumstances might have swayed him in favor of holding the 
trials.  "If we had the dynamics of the epidemic seen in 
Thailand," he explains, "that would tip the balance in favor of 
going forward."  Genentech Inc. and Biocine Inc., the 
manufacturers of the two vaccines of the delayed U.S. trials, are
now considering conducting efficacy trials in Thailand.
      
"'Lack of Behaviour Studies Is Hampering AIDS Prevention'"
Nature (08/04/94) Vol. 370, No. 6488, P. 316;  Gavaghan, Helen
     The United States should allocate federal funds to conduct a 
national survey that would fill the  gaps in existing knowledge 
on sexual practices and intravenous drug use, and their 
correlation to HIV infection, says a panel of experts assembled 
by the Institute of Medicine.  Past requests for federal funds 
for any survey including questions about sexual practices have 
been opposed by strong conservatives and the religious right, 
therefore, previous sex surveys were conducted only with the help
of private funding.  The dearth of knowledge on sexual practices 
and drug use, according to a report by the panel, is creating 
roadblocks in efforts to prevent the spread of the disease.  
"Without the information from such a survey, we all feel 
profoundly crippled in attempts to devise effective prevention 
messages," explains Mindy Thompson-Fullilove, a member of the IOM
panel.  She says anti-AIDS messages commissioned by the Public 
Health Service have not been adequately candid, frequent, or 
well-targeted.
      
"Coast to Coast Digest: Pillar House Hosts Fund-Raiser"
Nation's Restaurant News (07/25/94) Vol. 28, No. 29, P. 11
     The Pillar House restaurant will host a benefit dinner on Oct. 22
to raise money for the Foundation for Children with AIDS.  The 
Boston-based charity benefits HIV-positive and drug-affected 
children and their families.  At $150 a plate, the four-course 
meal will be prepared by Pillar House executive chef Kevin 
Cromwell and four guest chefs.
      
