The CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention provides the following information as a public service only. Providing synopses of key scientific articles and lay media reports on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis does not constitute CDC endorsement. This daily update also includes information from CDC and other government agencies, such as background on Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) articles, fact sheets, press releases, and announcements. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update should be cited as the source of the information. Contact the sources of the articles abstracted below for full texts of the articles.
"Are Booster Immunisations Needed for Lifelong Hepatitis B
Immunity?"
Lancet (www.thelancet.com) (02/12/00) Vol. 355, No. 9203, P. 561
According to the European Consensus Group on Hepatitis B
Immunity, lifetime protection from hepatitis B virus (HBV)
infection depends on immunological memory, which lasts at least
15 years in healthy individuals. The first three-dose course of
immunization is usually enough to start anti-HB production during
childhood. The need for booster doses of HB vaccine depends on
the risk factors involved, and is recommended when the titre
falls below 10mIU/mL. People who do not respond to a primary
course of shots should remain under observation as well.
Non-responders should receive another dose of vaccine, which may
cause an antibody response. Three options for protection against
HBV are: relying on immunological memory, not booster doses;
receiving regular booster shots without anti-HB status known; or
testing anti-HBs after one month from vaccination or booster and
repeating the booster until an acceptable level is met. Those
who are at greater risk for infection--including healthcare
workers, intravenous drug users, those engaging in risky sex, and
immunocompromised patients--should receive effective primary
vaccination, the researchers note.
Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (02/24/00) P. B1;
Goldstein, Avram
Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., is
recommending that almost 300 former patients be tested for HIV
and other infectious diseases because of fears that an X-ray
technician may have used contaminated needles when stealing
patients' painkillers for himself. The alert--being monitored by
D.C., Maryland, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
officials--comes nearly a month after Jeffrey Royal was caught
siphoning fentanyl, a highly addictive narcotic, from a patient.
Royal apparently stole painkillers similar to morphine during
radiology procedures and replaced them with saline solution.
Health officials call the risk of contracting a blood-borne
disease from Royal small, but the hospital is offering free
testing, a 24-hour patient hot line (202-784-0015), and free
counseling. According to D.C. police detective Charles Holley,
Royal confessed to stealing liquid narcotics from pumps and
intravenous lines; however, Royal's attorney refused to say
whether his client is infected with diseases such as HIV or
hepatitis. The most danger would come to patients if Royal used
old needles to remove the drugs from IV lines, and as a
precaution, Georgetown is screening all patients seen in Royal's
part of the hospital who received fentanyl or Versed, a similar
drug, while Royal was working there.
Reuters (02/24/00)
A Japanese HIV scandal in which 2,000 people were exposed to HIV
from tainted blood products has reached a final decision, with
three drug company executives being convicted. Renzo Matsushita,
former president of Green Cross Corp., which supplied blood
products, was given two years in jail for his role in a patient's
death from HIV, while two other Green Cross officials were handed
sentences of up to 18 months. The scandal came to light in the
early 1990s, after it was learned that Japan's health ministry
did not ban unheated blood products until December of 1985.
Approximately 1,800 hemophiliacs were infected with HIV because
of this, and at least 500 have died from AIDS.
"Across the USA: Connecticut"
USA Today (www.usatoday.com) (02/24/00) P. 4A
Connecticut Correction Commissioner John Armstrong has been sued
by a union representing state prison guards for allegedly failing
to protect the officers from exposure to infectious diseases.
The suit contends that AIDS and hepatitis are "near epidemic
proportions" in Connecticut prisons.
Reuters Health Information Services (02/23/00)
Antibiotics do not prevent preterm birth in women with bacterial
vaginosis, according to a study in The New England Journal of
Medicine (2000;342:534-540). Dr. Mark Klebanoff, a co-author of
the study from the National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development, said he had expected a reduction in preterm births,
but antibiotic treatment had no such effect. The researchers
report, though, that the drugs stopped bacterial vaginosis in 80
percent of the women. Based on their findings, the authors do
not recommend using metronidazole to prevent preterm delivery
among pregnant women with asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis;
however, in an editorial accompanying the study, Dr. Ronnie
Lamont of St. Mark's Hospital in London disagrees, asserting
that antibiotic treatment for women at high risk is beneficial.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Online (www.sun-sentinel.com)
(02/23/00); Abel, David
Married men in the Dominican Republic frequently cheat on their
wives, feeling they are entitled to have girlfriends. According
to health officials, infidelity is a chief source of HIV
infection in this Caribbean nation that has one of Latin
America's highest HIV rates. More married women are becoming
infected with HIV, and they are the fastest-growing class of AIDS
patients, according to Martha Butler of the National Program of
Control of AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Married women
feel they do not need to use protection with their husbands, and
the Catholic Church does not support condom use. An estimated
3.3 percent of Dominicans will carry HIV by 2005. In addition to
adultery, ignorance and taboos regarding sex are two reasons for
the rising AIDS rate. Prostitution contributes to AIDS as well,
but most sex workers have been taught to use condoms with
clients. Lack of sex education is a crucial problem in the
Dominican Republic, and many teenagers are not aware they are at
risk for HIV.
Reuters (02/23/00)
World Bank official Serge Michailof reported Tuesday that HIV
infections are rapidly increasing in Cameroon, but could be
stemmed by quick action. A 1997 count estimated an HIV infection
rate of 4.9 percent, a rate which Michailof noted is still low
enough to be affected by aggressive actions. Michailof, the
bank's director of operations for Central Africa, said that
Cameroon has a chance to stop AIDS before it destroys the country
as a whole, and he offered the World Bank's assistance for the
effort.
PANA Wire Service (02/23/00)
Angola's health minister, Julia Hamukuaya, announced that over
20,000 cases of tuberculosis (TB) occur each year in Angola, and
diseases like malaria, leprosy, AIDS are also plaguing the
country. Hamukuaya attributed the diseases' spread to the
nation's deteriorating military, political, and socio-economic
situation. Most TB patients receive no treatment due to
inadequate screening, and the disease will likely become the
chief cause of death among the active population in future years.
Hamukuaya also said that 157,000 cases of HIV were reported in
1999.
PANA Wire Service (02/23/00)
New statistics from Malawi's National TB Control Program show
that an average of two people die daily in Malawi from
tuberculosis (TB). About 22,000 TB cases occur each year in
Malawi, with 8,000 deaths. The AIDS epidemic is part of the
reason for the increase in TB cases, as 66 of every 100 TB
patients in hospitals have HIV. The head of the TB Control
Program, Felix Salaniponi, estimated that there will be about
29,000 TB cases in Malawi in five years, mostly among young
adults.