                     AIDS Daily Summary
                        May 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 National AIDS 
Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this 
text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC 
National AIDS Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this 
information. Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
     
     
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"Preventing HIV Infection in Newborns"
"Lifeline: Cycling for AIDS"
"Way to Fight AIDS Is to Know About It" 
"Before the Big Day"
"Thymus Transplant Performed in AIDS Patient"
"Science & Health Bulletin: Kenya-AIDS Vaccine [to Be Ready in 
Six Months]"
"Isoniazid Resistant TB: Not Higher in HIV-Positive Individuals" 
"Thousands Get Hepatitis-Tainted Shots in Taiwan"
"Monkey Study Prompts High-Level Public Health Response" 
"Tuberculosis Morbidity--United States, 1995" 
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"Preventing HIV Infection in Newborns"
Washington Post (05/23/96) P. A20;  Kuvin, Sanford F.
     In a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, Dr.
Sanford F. Kuvin, a board member of Americans for a Sound AIDS 
Policy, advocates mandatory HIV testing of pregnant women.  He 
says Congress' conditional agreement to require testing of 
newborns by the year 2000 is a positive move, but that testing 
the mothers would be more useful, because many perinatal 
transmissions can be prevented with AZT therapy.  Kuvin contends 
that a mother's right to privacy should not come before her 
child's right to health.
     
"Lifeline: Cycling for AIDS"
USA Today (05/23/96) P. 1D;  DeRosa, Robin
     About 3,000 riders will participate in the
Philadelphia-to-Washington, D.C., AIDS Ride fundraiser, June
21-23.  The 250-mile trip is expected to raise more than $5
million for various AIDS organizations.

"Way to Fight AIDS Is to Know About It"
     St. Louis Post-Dispatch (05/22/96) P. 2E;  Landers, Ann
     In a letter to her readers, advice columnist Ann Landers advises
     individuals, communities, and institutions to take a role in educating
     young people about how to prevent the spread of HIV. She points to the
     recent "Youth and HIV/AIDS" report released by the White House and the
     need for education efforts targeted to young people.  Landers notes
     that "education is the key to prevention," advocating teaching about
     HIV in the classroom, and urges teachers to contact the Centers for
     Disease Control and Prevention's National AIDS Clearinghouse to obtain
     this report.

"Before the Big Day"
Los Angeles Times (05/22/96) P. E3;  Doheny, Kathleen
     Under California law, couples planning to get married no
longer have to be tested for syphilis and rubella, but health
officials recommend that they consider taking HIV tests and
genetic tests.  Because HIV can be transmitted from mother to
child, a test for the virus is especially important for high-risk
couples who plan on having children.  People who have a chance of
passing on a genetic disorder are also encouraged to be tested.

"Thymus Transplant Performed in AIDS Patient"
Reuters (05/22/96)
     In hopes of bolstering his immune system, an HIV-positive
man from San Francisco received a thymus transplant last week.
Matthew Sharp, 39 years old, received the tissue from a
one-year-old donor undergoing heart surgery.  Sharp's doctor,
Richard Hong, said he hopes to perform the procedure in eight
more patients.  Funding for the surgery is provided by the Linda
Greenberg Foundation of Southern California and is administered
by Project Inform, a patient advocacy group in San Francisco.
     
"Science & Health Bulletin: Kenya-AIDS Vaccine [to Be Ready in 
Six Months]"
PANA News Service (05/22/96);  Tindwa, Peter
     Prof. Arthur Othoeno Obel, the Kenyan creator of a
controversial AIDS treatment called Pearl Omega, said he is now 
working on a vaccine for HIV and that he intends to conform to 
scientific conventions.  Obel's claims about Pearl Omega were 
criticized by scientists but supported by non-scientists.  He 
said that research on his vaccine, which he hopes will wipe out 
HIV, will be a collaborative effort with reputable institutions. 
Obel, the chief government scientist in the office of the 
president, predicted that AIDS would be eliminated by the year 
2000, though he would not reveal his design for the vaccine.
     
"Isoniazid Resistant TB: Not Higher in HIV-Positive Individuals" 
Reuters (05/22/96)
     Tuberculosis patients infected with HIV are no more likely
than those not infected with the virus to demonstrate TB drug
resistance, researchers report in the American Journal of 
Respiratory Critical Care Medicine.  Steven Asch of the 
University of Southern California at Los Angeles and colleagues 
found that, from a group of 1,500 TB patients, isoniazid 
resistance was less common among 235 HIV-positive patients than 
in 1,271 patients who were HIV-negative or had not been tested.  
In an editorial accompanying the article, John A. Sbarbaro of the 
University of Colorado at Denver said the findings contradict 
those of similar studies in New York.  He determined that there 
is no unique association between HIV and drug-resistant TB, "only 
a unique relationship between those infected with HIV and those 
environments (such as hospitals) where drug-resistant organisms 
were (and are) prevalent."
     
"Thousands Get Hepatitis-Tainted Shots in Taiwan" 
Reuters (05/22/96)
     Between 20,000 and 50,000 people in Taiwan have been exposed
to hepatitis B after receiving injections of a tainted drug 
intended to protect them from the virus.  According to officials 
of the health department's Bureau of Communicable Disease
Control, inspections have confirmed that 55,000 of the shots, 
imported from Italy in 1994, were infected with the virus.  "The 
health department will assist anyone infected ... to seek 
compensation from the Italian maker," noted Chao Show-lin of the 
health department's National Quarantine Service.  Officials said 
that a recall of the tainted shots was ordered on Wednesday and 
that a full-scale investigation of the incident has been 
launched.
     
"Monkey Study Prompts High-Level Public Health Response" 
Science (05/10/96) Vol. 272, No. 5263, P. 805;  Cohen, Jon
     The potential implications of the recent discovery that
monkeys treated with the hormone progesterone are at increased 
risk for SIV infection stirred intense interest in the public 
health community, but still remain unclear.  The finding, made 
public by researcher Preston Marx of the Aaron Diamond AIDS 
Research Center on May 6, suggests that women who use 
contraceptives with progesterone, like Depo-Provera and Norplant, 
which are used by some 2.5 million American women, might be at 
increased risk for HIV.  Marx's study showed that monkeys that
were given progesterone had nearly an eightfold higher risk of 
becoming infected, but studies on humans are less definitive.  An 
analysis of nine published studies designed to assess the impact 
of Depo-Provera on women's risk of HIV infection showed mixed 
results.  Ann Duerr, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention who conducted that analysis, said that 
while more information is needed, the current data do not suggest 
that a change in policy is necessary.  She also emphasized that 
Norplant and Depo-Provera do not offer protection against HIV and 
women at risk of infection with the virus should use condoms.
     
"Tuberculosis Morbidity--United States, 1995"
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (05/10/96) Vol. 45, No. 18, 
P. 365
     The total number of tuberculosis (TB) cases reported in the 
United States decreased 6.4 percent from 1994 to 1995, according 
to officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 
Division of Tuberculosis Elimination.  This was the third year in 
a row the number of cases decreased, and 1995 had the lowest TB 
rate since the disease was first tracked in 1953.  From 1994 to
1995, the number of TB cases decreased for both men and women and 
for each age group and racial/ethnic group except Asians/Pacific 
Islanders.  The proportion of cases in people not born in the 
United States and its territories, however, increased from 31.3 
percent in 1994 to 35.7 percent in 1995.  Six countries--Haiti, 
India, Mexico, China, Philippines, and Vietnam--accounted for 
63.6 percent of these cases.  The number of cases reported in 
U.S.-born individuals decreased 10.8 percent from 1994 to 1995, 
while the number of cases in foreign-born persons rose 5.4 
percent.  An editorial note accompanying the CDC report 
attributes the decrease in cases to increased testing, prevention 
and control measures, and to federal support for state and local 
TB-control efforts.  Some local TB control measures have targeted 
the HIV-infected population, and more comprehensive HIV testing
and counseling for TB patients is planned.
