                       AIDS Daily Summary
                       February 23, 1996

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
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Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD

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"Pa. Adds New AIDS Drug to Program"
"Airing Ads on AIDS"
"CDC Finds Some Drug Users Still Spreading AIDS"
"Health and Welfare Ministry in Japan Knew of Risk of AIDS in 
1983"
"HHS Awards $80 Million in Ryan White Funding to 42 Cities"
"Urine Therapy Devotees Flock to India"
"Survey Finds Keys to Secondary Prevention of AIDS"
"Serum Cortisol Levels Linked to Disease Progression in AIDS 
Patients"
"CDC Wants More Input Before Updating Post-Exposure Guidelines"
"Gay Physicians Group Offers Aid to HIV-Infected Doctors"
"Continued Sexual Risk Behavior Among HIV Seropositive, Drug-
Using Men: Atlanta, Washington D.C., San Juan, Puerto Rico"
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"Pa. Adds New AIDS Drug to Program"
Philadelphia Inquirer (02/23/96) P. B3;   Collins, Huntly
     The Pennsylvania Welfare Department announced Thursday that 
uninsured people will have access to the first of the protease 
inhibitors, a promising new class of anti-HIV drugs.  The state 
will add the drug saquinavir, or Invirase, to the AIDS medicines 
it already provides to uninsured residents.  The drug, along with
others expected to be approved this spring, has shown the most 
potential yet to suppress HIV.  The state now pays for 56 AIDS 
drugs for low- and moderate-income residents.  A year's supply of
the saquinavir costs about $6,860.

 
"Airing Ads on AIDS"
Miami Herald (02/22/96) P. 1B;  Smith, Stephen
     Health Crisis Network, Dade County, Fla.'s largest provider of 
AIDS services, has contracted with the advertising firm Beber 
Silverstein & Partners to give a louder voice to AIDS education. 
Already, there are plans for billboards that show a condom and 
read: "The airbag for your other drive."  The new campaign is 
also supposed to include free television commercials, but 
currently TV stations are only willing to air the tamest ad.  
This commercial features a group of men, women, and children who 
obtain services from Health Crisis Network, along with the 
message: "Every 13 minutes, someone in the United States is 
infected with HIV."  Officials at Health Crisis Network say they 
are frustrated by the TV station's reluctance to air more 
provocative ads.  "If we're going to talk about the transmission 
of HIV, you have to talk about sex," said Cathy Lynch, the 
organization's director.

 
"CDC Finds Some Drug Users Still Spreading AIDS"
Reuters (02/22/96);  Cooper, Mike
     A new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) shows that one third of HIV-infected men using 
illegal drugs continue to have unprotected sex, frequently with 
multiple partners.  A total of 28 percent of the 116 men surveyed
said they were having sex without a condom.  The subjects 
reported an average of 4 sex partners and 14 sexual acts in the 
prior month, were more likely trade sex for money or drugs, and 
were less likely to inform their partners that they had HIV.  Dr.
Judith Greenberg of the CDC's Division of Sexually Transmitted 
Diseases says that the results indicate that the drug counseling 
programs from which the subjects were selected may be neglecting 
to stress the importance of practicing safer sex.

 
"Health and Welfare Ministry in Japan Knew of Risk of AIDS in 
1983"
Reuters (02/22/96)
     As early as 1983, Japan's Health and Welfare Ministry considered 
a warning against the use of U.S.-produced blood products for 
hemophiliacs, but did nothing, according to documents disclosed 
Wednesday.  Until recently, the Ministry said it could not 
confirm the existence of AIDS-related documents, in response to 
charges by hemophiliacs that it knew imported blood products were
contaminated.  A Ministry report in 1984 concluded that unheated 
products could continue to be used.  More than 1,800 Japanese 
have been infected with HIV from the blood products so far.

 
"HHS Awards $80 Million in Ryan White Funding to 42 Cities"
Reuters (02/21/96)
     The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that 
it has released $80 million in Ryan White funding to 42 cities.  
HHS said that the cities received about half of the normal amount
under the CARE Act, because Congress has not provided the full 
year's funding for the Ryan White Program, which provides medical
and support services for HIV and AIDS patients

 
"Urine Therapy Devotees Flock to India"
Reuters (02/23/96);  Graves, Nelson
     Hundreds of doctors and scientists from 17 countries are 
attending the first World Conference on Auto-Urine Therapy, a 
controversial treatment for many diseases including AIDS.  The 
three-day meeting, being held in the western Indian state of Goa,
brings together proponents of the 5,000-year-old therapy, which 
involves drinking one's own urine.  Former Indian Prime Minister 
Moraji Desai, who died at 99 last year, surprised the world when 
he revealed that he drank his own urine every day.  Some doctors 
say urine contains hormones, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals that
can cure diseases, and lessen AIDS patients' symptoms.  But many 
mainstream doctors say that while small doses of urine are not 
harmful, they offer no therapeutic benefit.

 
"Survey Finds Keys to Secondary Prevention of AIDS"
Reuters (02/22/96)
     A survey of more than 2,500 homosexual and bisexual men shows 
that when they recognize the importance of testing, therapy, and 
secondary prevention behaviors, HIV-infected patients tend to 
follow medical recommendations for treatment.  Dr. Ron Stall and 
others at the University of California at San Francisco analyzed 
the surveys, which asked about preventive health habits, 
antiviral treatments, and perceptions about such treatment 
including benefits and toxicity, and use of alternative 
therapies.  While one-third of the men did not know their 
HIV-status, three-quarters of the ones that knew they had HIV 
adhered to secondary prevention recommendations.  According to 
Stall, prevention efforts can help guard against both primary 
infection and secondary problems related to treatment and disease
progression.

 
"Serum Cortisol Levels Linked to Disease Progression in AIDS 
Patients"
Reuters (02/22/96)
     A prospective study of adrenal function in 51 AIDS patients 
indicates that serum cortisol concentrations are negatively 
correlated with CD4 cell counts.  In the Journal of Clinical 
Endocrinology and Metabolism, Dr. Loic Guillevin of Universite 
Paris-Nord speculated that either glucocorticoids can influence 
the immune system, or, that as the disease progresses, changes in
the immune system influence cortisol concentrations.  Guillevin 
also suggested that adrenal insufficiency may be increasing among
AIDS patients.

 
"CDC Wants More Input Before Updating Post-Exposure Guidelines"
AIDS Alert (02/96) Vol.11, No.2, P. 13
     The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will gather health
experts for a meeting this spring to consider whether to 
recommend the use of zidovudine for health care workers exposed 
to HIV.  A case-control study, published recently in Morbidity 
and Mortality Weekly Report, showed that the drug, used in a 
prophylactic capacity, was beneficial to such workers.  The 
current Public Health Service (PHS) recommendations, published in
1990, say there is not enough evidence to merit recommending 
post-exposure prophylaxis, although health care workers are to be
informed of the option and left to make the decision themselves. 
The new study analyzed data from 31 health care workers that had 
been infected with HIV on the job and 679 others who were exposed
to HIV between 1988 and 1994.  Workers who took AZT after 
exposure were significantly less likely to become infected.  If 
the PHS were to recommend AZT use for post-exposure prophylaxis, 
the Food and Drug Administration might expand its approved 
indication for the treatment.  This could allow workers to 
receive insurance coverage for the drug.  Also, workers who are 
not offered AZT might have legal standing.  Worker interest in 
prophylaxis has increased since the study results were reported.

 
"Gay Physicians Group Offers Aid to HIV-Infected Doctors"
American Medical News (02/05/96) Vol.39, No.5, P. 22;  Kent, 
Christina
     San Francisco's Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) 
created the Medical Expertise Retention Program in 1990 to assist
HIV-infected health care workers.  The group offers legal 
assistance, support groups, job counseling, psychiatric 
referrals, updated policy information, and advocacy services.  
The organization has provided services for family practice, 
psychiatric, and ophthalmology residents who were dismissed based
on hospital lawyers' advice.  The group has also helped an 
emergency doctor whose professional liability coverage was 
dropped, thus forcing him to stop practicing.  In a 1991 survey 
of 200 HIV-positive or "high risk" health care workers, the GLMA 
found that 75 percent feared losing their jobs because of their 
HIV status.  The majority of those who were not tested, but 
considered high-risk, said they would be less likely to get 
tested, because of the potential job-related conflicts.

"Continued Sexual Risk Behavior Among HIV Seropositive, Drug-
Using Men: Atlanta, Washington D.C., San Juan, Puerto Rico"
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (02/23/96) Vol. 45, No. 7; 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
     A new study looking at sexual practices of male drug-users
who are infected with HIV underscores the need for intensified
prevention efforts for this risk group.  Previous research
reveals that a number of infected men who use drugs continue to
practice high-risk sexual behaviors.  To look at factors that may
contribute to these behaviors, this report compares two groups of
HIV-positive, drug-using men--those who report unprotected sex
and those who abstain or practice safer sex.  The study found no
significant differences in demographic characteristics, health
status, or drug use behavior, but did identify an opportunity for
improved prevention.  Most of these men are linked to ongoing
community programs which provide drug treatment, mental services,
health care, and psychological support.  The challenge is to
ensure that these programs also address the critical need for
these individuals to reduce risky sexual behaviors.  This article
will be available tomorrow, February 23, from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention National AIDS Clearinghouse
World Wide Web page, http://cdcnac.aspensys.com:86, the CDC
National AIDS Clearinghouse listserv, and CDC NAC ONLINE.

