                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       March 14, 1995

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 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"N.J. Senate Panel Oks Bill for HIV-Infected Hemophiliacs"
"Tuberculosis Cases Decline 2d Year in a Row, City Says"
"Obituaries: Robert Hershman, TV Producer, 41"
"'Outbreak'"
"Across the USA: Massachusetts"
"Inner Workings of the AIDS Virus"
"Renewing the War Against AIDS"
"Italian Surgeon Gets AIDS Virus from Scalpel Cut"
"The AIDS Knowledge Base: A Textbook on HIV Disease from the 
University of California, San Francisco, and the San Francisco 
General Hospital"
"Jockbeat: Jockclips"
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"N.J. Senate Panel Oks Bill for HIV-Infected Hemophiliacs"
Philadelphia Inquirer (03/14/95) P. B4;  Shaw, Donna
     On Monday, the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee voted in 
favor of a bill that would give HIV-infected hemophiliacs a year 
to sue certain drug companies without regard to the statute of 
limitations.  If passed, the bill would be the first such 
hemophilia law in the country.  The one-year time period would go
into effect as soon as the bill was signed into law.  Hemophilia 
activists say that many of the hemophiliacs who became infected 
with HIV during the late 1970s and early 19080s due to tainted 
blood products, did not sue before the statute of limitations 
expired because they were told the tragedy was unavoidable.  
Richard Weinroth, a lobbyist for the American Blood Resources 
Association, said the bill would make hemophiliacs a privileged 
group, and would conflict with the state's goal of 
personal-injury lawsuit reform.  The four U.S. drug companies 
that made the blood-clotting medicines deny any wrongdoing.
      
"Tuberculosis Cases Decline 2d Year in a Row, City Says"
New York Times (03/14/95) P. B1;  Jones, Charisse
     Tuberculosis (TB) is on the decline in the five boroughs of New 
York City, said city officials on Monday.  The incidence of the 
disease has dropped for the second straight year.  The number of 
new cases dropped from 3,235 in 1993 to 2,995 in 1994--a 7.4 
percent decline.  The decrease represented a 21.4 percent drop 
from 1992, when 3,811 cases were reported.  New York City Mayor 
Rudolph W. Giuliani announced the figures with Dr. Margaret A. 
Hamburg, the City Health Commissioner.  Giuliani warned that New 
York City still has the highest number of TB cases in the 
country, and that the city cannot slow down its efforts to 
control the disease.
      
"Obituaries: Robert Hershman, TV Producer, 41"
New York Times (03/14/95) P. B8
     Robert Hershman, a producer of news documentaries for CBS 
television, died of AIDS-related complications this past weekend 
at the age of 41.  Highlights of his career as a producer for 
"West 57th" and "48 Hours" range from interviews with the 
president of Iran after the overthrow of the Shah and with Prince
Charles of England in his first direct American television 
interview in 10 years, to programs on Germany's WWII anti-Nazi 
group and on AIDS in Orange County, Calif.  Hershman helped 
change hospital policies for AIDS patients in New York when he 
sued New York University Hospital in 1990 to alter policies that 
excluded AIDS patients from sharing semiprivate rooms with other 
patients. Hershman is survived by his partner, as well as his 
parents, a sister, and two brothers.  Related Story: Boston Globe
(03/13) P. 21.
      
"'Outbreak'"
Washington Post (Health) (03/14/95) P. 10;  Weiss, Rick
     "Outbreak, starring Academy Award-winning actor Dustin Hoffman, 
is a biomedicine thriller that opened in movie theaters last 
week, and is being touted as only barely fictional.  While 
Hoffman uses the latest in biotechnology and molecular medicine 
to fight a killer virus in the movie, some actual scientists are 
proposing a different approach.  These researchers are 
reconsidering some old-fashioned treatments--ones that were 
promising before the advent of antibiotics.  Most researchers 
remain skeptical about the role of such treatments in the future,
but with a little fine tuning of some modern technology, 
approaches that were only partially effective in the past may 
become very useful remedies, said Robert Tauxe, chief of the 
foodborne and diarrheal branch of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.  One possible approach involves the use of serum,
the liquid part of blood that contains antibodies and other 
disease-fighting components.  Scientists have recently begun 
testing serum therapy in AIDS patients.  In at least four 
studies, researchers have taken serum from HIV-infected people 
and--after killing any viruses in the blood--infused the serum 
into weaker patients.  For the most part, preliminary results 
have been positive.
      
"Across the USA: Massachusetts"
USA Today (03/14/95) P. 8A
     A total of 10,000 cases of AIDS have been reported in 
Massachusetts.  Governor Weld said that AIDS awareness efforts 
help prevent the disease's spread and eliminate the prejudice 
directed at people with AIDS.
      
"Inner Workings of the AIDS Virus"
USA Today (03/14/95) P. 8D;  Levy, Doug
     "Toss-a-Virus" is part of the "AIDS: The War Within" exhibit at 
Chicago's Museum of Science & Industry.  Using interactive 
displays and a computer link to the latest scientific data, 
museum officials hope to teach adults and children how HIV 
progressively destroys the human immune system.  "The idea is to 
use comic art to help translate very complex material into pieces
of information that people will find easier to understand," says 
Barry Aprison, project director and senior scientist at the 
museum.  The exhibit also features an animated "voyage" through 
the immune system, illustrating the life cycle of HIV; a computer
that downloads daily information from the Center for Disease 
Control and Prevention's National AIDS Clearinghouse; and an 
interactive computer that helps visitors assess their own 
personal risk for HIV infection.
      
"Renewing the War Against AIDS"
Toronto Globe and Mail (03/13/95) P. A10
     In view of the countless AIDS benefits, public education 
campaigns, and AIDS-related deaths, it seems almost inconceivable
that anyone does not know the dangers of having unprotected sex 
or sharing hypodermic needles, write the editors of the Toronto 
Globe and Mail.  According to the Toronto Health Department, 
however, AIDS is now the second leading killer in that city.  
Canada's Health Department said last year that across the 
country, 30,000 men and women would develop the disease during 
the next five to seven years--twice the number in the first 14 
years of the epidemic.  AIDS continues to spread, in part because
of the nature of HIV, and also because the disease is spreading 
beyond the main affected group--gay men--into new groups such as 
prison inmates and heterosexual women.  Health professionals say 
that a good part of the reason is the failure of Canadians to 
appreciate the dangers of unprotected sex.  Gay men's 
organizations and public health authorities should redouble their
efforts and authorities need to put even more effort into the 
newer risk groups.  Although getting out the message will not be 
easy, that is no reason to abandon the effort, conclude the 
editors.
      
"Italian Surgeon Gets AIDS Virus from Scalpel Cut"
Reuters (03/10/95);  Holmes, Paul
     While operating on an HIV-infected patient, an Italian surgeon 
contracted the virus--representing the first documented case of 
transmission under such circumstances, said researcher Dr. 
Giuseppe Ippolito on Friday.  Ippolito is the head of a team at 
Spallanzani Hospital in Rome that has conducted one of only two 
major studies on the occupational risk of AIDS among health care 
workers.  Ippolito said the accident took place in a hospital 
last year when the scalpel cut through the surgeon's glove.  The 
surgeon was immediately tested for HIV.  The results were 
negative, but a follow-up test was positive.  "We excluded all 
other means of transmission," Ippolito said.  In Italy, surgical 
patients are not routinely tested for HIV, and can only be 
tested, with their consent, when a risk is suspected.
      
"The AIDS Knowledge Base: A Textbook on HIV Disease from the 
University of California, San Francisco, and the San Francisco 
General Hospital"
New England Journal of Medicine (03/02/95) Vol. 332, No. 9, P. 
617;  Klein, Robert S.
     "The AIDS Knowledge Base," the work of 102 contributing authors, 
focuses on AIDS as it is presented and managed in the United 
States.  It is intended to be relevant to all geographic regions 
for a wide range of health care professionals and motivated 
nonprofessionals.  The book's 11 sections address the 
pathogenesis and management of HIV infection, as well as legal, 
economic, and ethical issues.  Because many of the authors are 
from San Francisco, however, there is a tendency to base general 
statements on experience with middle class men.  Still, 
information that is relevant to all persons affected by AIDS is 
usually included.  Some particularly comprehensive chapters are 
those on the methods of testing for HIV antibody or antigen and 
on rochalimaea, and the section on the pulmonary aspects of AIDS.
      
"Jockbeat: Jockclips"
Village Voice (03/14/95) Vol. 40, No. 11, P. 125
     On March 15, Board AID II will take place in Snow Summit, Calif. 
Pro snowboarders including Jeff Brushie, Shaun Palmer, and Tina 
Basich will join bands such as Porno for Pyros and Ned's Atomic 
Dustbin for a day of snow and music.  The event, which is 
produced by WARP magazine and the music industry fundraising 
organization LifeBEAT, has already raised $120,000 for AIDS 
education and outreach for teenagers.
      
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