                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       July 19, 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
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Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"Sex Barely Gets a Foot in the Classroom Door"
"S. African Boxers Found Infected with HIV in Tests"
"State High Court OK's Falmouth Plan to Provide Condoms in Public
Schools"
"Donor's Disease Prompts Red Cross Blood Recall"
"Envisioning a Cure"
"Bombay Brothels Enslave 50,000 Nepali Girls--Report"
"Young People Say They Have Contributions to Make in AIDS Fight"
"Neutralization of HIV-1 by Secretory IgA Induced by Oral 
Immunization with a New Macromolecular Multicomponent Peptide 
Vaccine Candidate"
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"Sex Barely Gets a Foot in the Classroom Door"
New York Times (07/19/95) P. A4;  Perlez, Jane
     Caught between the former Communist influence and the new role of
the Roman Catholic Church, sex education in Poland is an 
embattled cause.  Sex education is required in schools, but they 
have no books on the subject because no one can agree on the 
content.  Without a textbook, educators say, it is hard to offer 
a subject that most teachers claim is too personal for them to 
discuss comfortably.  The majority of the country's teachers have
refused to take the scant training courses on sex education, and 
most principals are slow to invite any of Poland's few 
sexologists to the schools to fill the gap.  Moreover, AIDS is 
not unknown to the conservative nation.  Monar, a private AIDS 
foundation, estimates that there are 3,000 cases of AIDS and 
about 60,000 cases of HIV infection in Poland.  The disease, 
however, also has not been discussed in the classrooms.
      
"S. African Boxers Found Infected with HIV in Tests"
Toronto Globe and Mail (07/18/95) P. C6;  McKenzie, Glenn
     Officials announced on Monday that in 1994, 33 South African 
professional and aspiring boxers tested HIV-positive.  South 
African authorities kept the existence of the HIV-infected 
fighters a well-guarded secret for months.  The athletes were 
quietly barred from fighting, with the only explanation being 
that they were "medically unfit."  Several jurisdictions, 
including the International Boxing Federation and the United 
States Boxing Association, require HIV testing of title-fight 
contestants.  In addition, the International Amateur Boxing 
Association prohibits athletes who are HIV-infected or have 
hepatitis from boxing.  Still, while the South African boxing 
community is becoming aware of the reality of AIDS, many boxing 
councils--including most state governing bodies in the United 
States--do not test their fighters.  Scientists say boxers have a
small risk of contracting HIV while in the ring.  About half of 
the South African fights result in open wounds on both parties, 
but sports medicine researcher Dr. Martin Schwellnus of the 
University of Cape Town estimates the risk of transmission is 
about one in 27,000 fights.
      
"State High Court OK's Falmouth Plan to Provide Condoms in Public
Schools"
Boston Globe (07/18/95) P. 1;  Ellement, John
     Massachusett's Supreme Judicial Court said on Tuesday that 
providing condoms to public school students to stem the spread of
AIDS does not violate the religious freedom of parents or 
conflict with their right to raise their children.  The unanimous
decision makes Massachusetts the first state to clearly state 
that such condom distribution can proceed without prior parental 
consent, said an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.
The attorney for the parents who fought the condom distribution 
in Falmouth schools, however, called the ruling a deep intrusion 
into parents' rights to control what their children are exposed 
to in school.  State Department of Health Commissioner David 
Mulligan declared, "It's the ruling we've always supported."  
Mulligan added that programs like Falmouth's could help reduce 
the spread of AIDS among young people, and could lower the 
incidence of other sexually transmitted diseases as well.
      
"Donor's Disease Prompts Red Cross Blood Recall"
Toronto Globe and Mail (07/17/95) P. A1;  Picard, Andre
     The Canadian Red Cross (CRC) has recalled thousands of units of 
blood products after learning that a Vancouver man diagnosed 
with a rare neurological disorder donated blood often.  Since a 
woman informed the agency last week that her father has 
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), the CRC has learned that his 
blood was used in the manufacturing of products used to treat 
hemophiliacs, organ-transplant and surgery patients, people with 
immune deficiencies, and burn victims.  The recall is so 
widespread that it could cause shortages of Factor 8 and 
intravenous immunglobulin, said Dr. Maung Aye, national director 
of blood services at the CRC.  Aye emphasized the fact that the 
withdrawal was voluntary and strictly precautionary in nature.  
Most blood products are now heat-treated to kill viruses and 
bacteria.  Only last week, a doctor testifying at the inquiry 
into Canada's tainted blood scandal cautioned that CJD could be 
"the next AIDS."  Although there have been no documented cases of
CJD being transmitted by blood, it is similar to AIDS in the 
beginning of the epidemic in that there is no test for it.
      
"Envisioning a Cure"
Chicago Tribune (07/18/95) P. 2-1;  Turano, James
     The Elton John AIDS Foundation, in collaboration with Los Angeles
eyewear designer Oliver Peoples, is offering a limited edition 
line of eyeglasses.  All proceeds from the sale will go directly 
to the foundation's AIDS care and education programs.  John 
Bigger, an optician and buyer for Eyelines, the exclusive Chicago
distributor of the spectacles, said the public response has been 
amazing.  "The demand has been incredible...I've never had to 
create a waiting list for glasses," he said.  Bigger believes 
that one reason the glasses are so popular is because they are "a
subtle statement that the wearer supports the fight against 
AIDS."  However, fans should know that the frames are not cheap, 
costing $275 each with the specially fitted sunglass clip costing
an additional $85.  The original 5,000 limited edition frames are
almost sold out, but in the coming months, additional 
non-numbered frames will also be available.
      
"Bombay Brothels Enslave 50,000 Nepali Girls--Report"
Reuters (07/17/95);  Verma, Sonali
     According to Human Rights Watch Asia, up to 50,000 Nepali girls 
are enslaved in Bombay brothels, where they are abused.  In a 
report titled "Rape for Profit," the U.S.-based human rights 
group said that thousands of girls with an average age of 10 are 
brought across the 500-mile border between India and Nepal by 
paying off officials on either side.  The report said that many 
of the girls--who are lured from distant, poor villages with 
promises of marriage or jobs--are sold to brokers for $4 who take
them to the brothels, where they are raped and tortured.  "I am 
not living even now, so how does it matter if I die," asked one 
HIV-infected Nepali prostitute.  "Because many of the girls 
contract AIDS sooner or later, there is a growing demand for 
'fresh meat' and traffickers have begun looking for Nepali girls 
of all castes and localities," the report noted.  It said that 20
percent of Bombay's 100,000 prostitutes were under the age of 18,
and that about half of them are thought to be infected with HIV.
      
"Young People Say They Have Contributions to Make in AIDS Fight"
Nation's Health (07/95) Vol. 25, No. 6, P. 8
     Teenagers attending the National Youth Summit on HIV Prevention 
and Education in May said that adults need to listen to the youth
of America for a new perspective on fighting AIDS.  "Adults need 
to accept the fact that they can learn from young people," said 
one participant.  During the conference, more than 160 teens and 
young adults developed a list of recommendations that garnered 
both attention and praise from some federal and state officials. 
Helene Gayle, Washington director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, said, "This [summit] gives us hope."  The
summit's broad recommendations included demanding that youth have
a real influence on the policy process, coordinating youth 
efforts in national AIDS education and prevention efforts, 
increasing the role of peer education, and developing AIDS 
policies that encompass and respect diversity.
      
"Neutralization of HIV-1 by Secretory IgA Induced by Oral 
Immunization with a New Macromolecular Multicomponent Peptide 
Vaccine Candidate"
Nature Medicine (07/95) Vol. 1, No. 7, P. 681;  Bukawa, Hiroki;  
Sekigawa, Ken-Ichiro;  Hamajima, Kenji
     Bukawa et al. recently developed a new macromolecular 
multicomponent peptide antigen--called VC1--which is made of 
HIV-1 peptides from four subtypes of the third hypervariable 
region (V3), a CD4 binding site.  Using this vaccine and a 
cholera toxin (CT), they found that oral immunization induces a 
high level of gut-related and secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA) 
antibody to HIV-1 in mice.  Serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) 
antibodies induced by oral immunization with VC1 and CT inhibited
nearly 30 percent of syncytium formation of HIV-1 (IIIB) at a 1:8
solution, but failed to inhibit it when used with a weaker 
solution.  Three separate neutralizing assays indicate that the 
secretory IgA antibody can neutralize HIV-1 (IIIB), HIV-1 (SF2), 
and HIV-1 (MN).  According to the authors, the findings suggest 
that oral administration of VC1 produces strongly 
antigen-specific IgA and IgG antibodies in secretion and serum.  
This new approach may be important in the development of a 
vaccine that will protect mucosal surfaces from HIV-1, they 
conclude.
      
CORRECTION: The AIDS Daily Summary for July 5, 1995 contained an
error.  The first sentence of "Antigenic Oscillations and
Shifting Immunodominance in HIV-1 Infections" by Nowak et al.
incorrectly stated that The Lancet was the source. The correct
source is the journal Nature.
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