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.
Nature (www.nature.com) (02/17/00) Vol. 403, No. 6771, P. 692;
Butler, Declan
The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development has announced plans
to have a draft a scientific blueprint by June 2000. The
alliance recently convened for the first time, at a meeting in
Cape Town, South Africa, organized by the Rockefeller Foundation
and co-sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, the World
Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, and the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, among others. The newly
formed consortium of scientists, donor agencies, and drug
companies hopes to reach a consensus on tuberculosis (TB)
research priorities and on funding for member institutions. The
alliance also plans to prepare a pharmaco-economics report later
this year to assess both the market size for TB drugs and gaps in
corporate research and development.
New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (02/29/00) P. A1; Steinhauer,
Jennifer
Infant mortality rates in some neighborhoods of New York City are
high. While the infant mortality rate in New York City in 1998
was 6.8 deaths per 1,000 babies less than a year old, the rate in
Bedford-Stuyvesant--which has one of the highest rates in the
nation--is 14 deaths per 1,000. Reducing infant mortality is one
of the top priorities this year for city health commissioner Dr.
Neal Cohen. Although there is no clear-cut answer as to why some
neighborhoods continue to have high rates of infant death,
experts say that prenatal care is one area that needs
improvement. Some women who are addicted to drugs, HIV-positive,
or are illegal immigrants hesitate to seek prenatal care for fear
their babies will be taken away or they will be deported, while
others live to far from hospitals or health clinics. Experts
note that areas with many Caribbean immigrants seem to have high
rates of infant mortality; in Bedford, where 42.1 percent of the
women are foreign-born, there are many people from the Caribbean.
"UNAIDS Issues Guidelines on HIV Vaccine Research"
Reuters Health Information Services (02/28/00); Mitchell, Deborah
UNAIDS has issued new guidelines to ensure that all HIV vaccine
research is ethical and scientific. The "Guidance Document on
Ethical Considerations in HIV Preventive Vaccine Research,"
released Monday, is based on a series of meetings using input
from 33 countries. Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS,
noted that there was agreement on most issues, but consensus on
some matters was not reached. The document features 18 "guidance
points," as well as recommendations about aiding host countries
of clinical trials "practice meaningful self-determination in
vaccine development."
New York Times (www.nytimes.com) (02/29/00) P. D8
New research from the Alan Guttmacher Institute ranks the United
States poorly in the areas of teenage pregnancy and childbearing.
According to researchers from the institute, American teen
pregnancy rates are at least four times higher than those in
France, Germany, and Japan. Sara Reims, president of the
institute attributed the problem to poverty, inequity, and a lack
of sex education and inexpensive, easily obtainable
contraception. The report noted, however, that the United States
saw a 17 percent drop in adolescent pregnancy and childbirth
during the 1990s, following a greater trend seen over the last 25
years in developed nations.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (www.accessatlanta.com) (02/29/00)
P. 5B; Wilson, Angel
A survey conducted for Seventeen magazine shows that 55 percent
of Americans ages 15 to 19 have participated in oral sex. The
survey of 1,105 teens also showed that one-third believe they are
not getting adequate information about birth control from their
parents, and 75 percent believe sex education should be taught in
schools by age 13. Nearly 20 percent of the boys surveyed said
peer pressure was the primary influence in having sex, compared
to 9 percent for girls. Seventeen is working with the Kaiser
Family Foundation on a year-long campaign called SexSmarts, which
will address such issues as sexually transmitted diseases and
pressure to have sex.
Reuters (02/28/00)
ViroPharma and American Home Products Corp. have started human
clinical trials for a compound thought to slow replication of the
hepatitis C virus. The initial trials are taking place in the
United Kingdom, and will evaluate the safety of the compound in
healthy volunteers. The compound is from a group of small
molecule compounds developed between Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories
and ViroPharma. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
estimates there are about 4 million Americans infected with the
hepatitis C virus.
Las Vegas Sun Online (www.lasvegassun.com) (02/25/00)
Experts say that parties in Trinidad and Tobago in which young
female tourists dance with male islanders may account for the
increasing spread of HIV in the twin-island nation. New AIDS
cases rose 20 percent during the first nine months of 1999, and
the Caribbean has the second highest HIV rate in the world.
Residents blame tourists for bringing HIV to the island, by
taking advantage of sex tourism and the ignorance of local people
regarding HIV prevention. It is not hard for tourists to find
men willing to have sex for food or money, as the island has a
double-digit unemployment rate.
Kyodo News Service (02/28/00)
Myanmar and Thailand plan to create a joint task force to fight
HIV and malaria along their common border. The first meeting
regarding the task force will be held in Chiang Mai, Thailand,
sometime this summer. Thai officials are in Myanmar this week
discussing the exchange of medical and public health technology,
and the Thai group also supplied the Myanmar government with
about $87,000 worth of medical supplies and drugs.
"Survivors' Benefit?"
Science News (www.sciencenews.org) (01/22/00) Vol. 157, No. 4, P.
63; Travis, John
Variola, the virus that causes smallpox, and HIV have something
in common that may help scientists create a better smallpox
vaccine and possibly provide a way to resist HIV. Researchers
have found that HIV and variola infect cells using similar
cell-surface proteins. Biologists have concluded that poxviruses
like variola use chemokine receptors to enter cells, and they
have tested this hypothesis in one of two laboratories that are
allowed to research the deadly variola. The results of the
research, permitted by the World Health Organization, may
determine if HIV and poxviruses both rely upon the CCR5 chemokine
receptor. People who have mutations in the gene for CCR5 are
less susceptible to HIV, and scientists suspect the mutation
formed as a survival advantage, suggesting an outbreak during the
time period of the Black Death.