World AIDS Day - December 1, 2000
The year 2000 shows an increase in AIDS
International AIDS Conference opens in South Africa on July 9Antibody that Protects cells from HIV Virus discovered in Milan
New
Study Claims Adherence and Suboptimal Drug Potency Cause of
Virologic Failure
Hair and Skin Problems Associated with Indinavir
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A group of Italian investigators of the Saint
Raffaele Hospital of Milan have discovered an antibody that
protects cells from the HIV virus. The discovery has been carried out from the
Department of Biotechnologies of the hospital in Milan, studying for four years the immune system of 90 persons who were exposed HIV virus and did not contract the disease. The announcement, in the course of a press conference, was made by Lucia Lopalco, the biologist who has lead the search. " For now we have uncovered the mechanism, but we are very far from planning and realizing a drug that stimulates the same process in all the organisms, or a virus to prophylactically inject in the subject to risk ", the scientist has asserted. This antibody - the researcher explained - is a protein, called CCR5, present on the surface of the cells of the immune system, which represents an important entrance way for the virus. The mechanism of action of this antibody is a very particular one: modification of the cellular protein CCR5 render the HIV virus inaccessible to the cell. The impossibility of access in the cell creates therefore a natural protection to the infection from HIV virus. The search had left from the signalling of the unit infectious diseases of the same Saint Raffaele, that it had stated like some individuals, also having not protect sexual relationships with sick of AIDS, had not contracted the disease. Analyzing 90 cases, the attention has been centralized on
protein CCR5, for two reasons: one knows for a long time that it is the carrier through
which the responsible ones enter in the body of the men and the animals the so-called ' lentivirus' (, as an example, of the ' disease |
Jesse Jackson takes HIV test to encourage others to followIn Washingotn D.C. on February 24, 2000, the Rev. Jesse Jackson called on others to be tested for the HIV virus. He also called on the president and leading presidential candidates to encourage more people to be tested for the virus that causes HIV by submitting to a test themselves. Rev. Jackson took the oral HIV test by sticking a cotton swab between his cheek and gum. He spoke at the Max Robinson Center of the Whitman-Walker Clinic.
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Documented Proof of HIV
Reinfection
Data presented at the annual Conference on Retroviruses in San Francisco by researchers in Ottowa demonstrated the first case of an HIV positive patient that was reinfected with a second strain of HIV. This had been a theory, that HIV positive people can be reinfected even years after their first exposure to the HIV virus. This also causes a problem with developing a vaccine against HIV.
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Hair and Skin Problems Associated with Indinavir There have been reports of hair and skin problems associated with indinavir according to a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine from a group in France. The physicians reported that 10 men had total hair loss (alopecia) in the first 6 months of treatment with a 3 drug combination that included indinavir. In four of the 6 patients the hair loss was limited to the pubic area, chest and legs. Two of the patients had partial baldness. They experienced regrowth of the hair after stopping the indinavir and changing to another protease inhibitor. |
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HIV
Spread thru Oral Sex
Reports from the annual Conference on Retroviruses in San Francisco indicate that a large number of gay men have become infected with HIV through oral sex. Originally, this acitivity had been considered potentially safe. A study presented at the annual Conference on Retroviruses found nearly 8 percent of recently infected men in the San Francisco area were infected through oral sex. Research performed by Dr. Beth Dillion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at the University of California San Francisco surveyed 102 gay and bisexual men recently infected with HIV. They concluded that oral sex was the only risky behavior for eight of the men.
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Pediatric
Protease Inhibitor Trials Seem Successful By Ray King - HIV1 In trials conducted by The Pediatric
Clinical Trials Group 338, who reported results in JAMA January
26th, 2000 - Vol 283, No 4, it was found that the Protease
Inhibitor Ritonavir plus either zidovudine and lamivudine, or the
same regimen plus ritonavir and stavudine, was successfull in
reducing viral loads to undetectable levels ( <400 copies/mL.). Protease Inhibitors are routinely used
in adult drug regimens for HIV, but the role of PI's was still
unclear in the treatment of children. This study seems to prove
that ritonavir at least has the same therapeutic efficacy in
pediatrics as in adults. Patients in all three groups were
followed for 48 weeks. At study week 12, 12% of patients in the
zidovudine/lamivudine group had undetectable plasma HIV RNA levels
(<400 copies/mL) compared with 52% and 54% of patients in the
two and three drug ritonavir containing groups. At study week 48, 42% of children
receiving ritonavir plus 2 nucleosides, compared with 27% of those
receiving ritonavir and a single nucleoside had undetectable HIV
RNA levels. It is clear from the information
provided by this study that superior virologic response was
obtained by changing previous antiretroviral therapy to a regimen
containing ritonavir and 2 nucleosides, and that more children at
week 48 of this study who received ritonavir plus 2 nucleosides
than those in either of the other two groups remained at
undetectable HIV RNA levels (<400 copies m/L). The study's objective was to "evaluate
safety, tolerance, and virologic response produced in
antiretroviral therapy in HIV infected children who were
clinically and imunologically stable while receiving previous
therapy." Side effects were experienced but were within
normal parameters. The study used children from a few months to 17
years, and the dosage was 350mg BID rather than the adult dose of
600mg BID This was the first large randomized
clinical trial to evaluate the use of ritonavir in HIV-infected
children, who in this study numbered almost 300. The authors of
the study say that although results may seem to have a relatively
low success rate compared to adult clinical tials of similar
nature. Children tend to have higher plasma HIV RNA
levels han adults,and the higher the viral load, the lower the
succcess rate seems, and all the children in this study were
antiretroviral-treatment experienced and often changed 2 drugs,
not 3. Add to this the difficulty in ensuring
adherence to the multiple drug regimen, and it can be seen that it
is difficult to draw definitive conclusions. There were no significant changes in CD4 cell
counts between the 2 ritonavir containing regimens; however, a
greater increase in CD4 percentage was seen in children receiving
triple therapy. The authors of this study suggest that
children who are nucleoside experienced should be switched to a
protease-containing regimen, and that to extend durability of
viral suppression, 2 nucleosides rather than 1 should be part of
the combination.
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Ritonavir
cause of Hepatotoxicity by Ray
King - HIV1 Results from
a new study published in JAMA, January 5, 2000 - Vol 283, No 1
by Mark S. Sulkowski, MD, David J. Thomas, MD, MPH, Richard E.
Chaisson MD, and Richard D Moore, MD, indicate that use of
ritonovir may increase risk of severe hepatotoxicity. Although
hepatotoxicity may be more common in persons with chronic
viral hepatitis, their data do not support witholding protease
inhibitor therapy from persons coinfected with hepatitis B or
C virus. Abnormal levels of liver enzymes are common
among persons infected with HIV and may be caused by many
different factors. These include medication toxicity and
coinfection with hepatitis C virus or hepatitis B virus.
Coinfection with HCV and HIV is most common occurring in 50% -
80% of indviduals who acquired HIV through parenteral
exposures. Chronic HBV infection occurs in 10% - 15% of
persons infected with HIV. Evidence suggests that chronic
viral hepatitis, particularly during the use of protease
inhibitors, may be associated with increased risk of
antiretroviral associated hepatotoxicity. The authors of the
study comment that their data indicate
hepatotoxicity does occur in association with
antiretroviral therapy, and that the risk varies substantially
by medication, and that the risk of severe hepatotoxicity was
5 fold higher for patients taking retonovir, which accounted
for half of all cases. Study results show that severe
hepatotoxicity was observed in 10.4% of 298 patients.
Ritonovir use was associated with a significantly higher rate
of toxicity however at 30%. The results also show that no
significant difference was detected in hepatotoxicity
incidence in the other treatment groups ie. nucleoside
analogs, nelfinavir, saquinavir and indinavir.
Although chronic viral hepatitis was associated with an
increased risk of severe hepatotoxicity among patients
prescribed nonritonovir regimens, most patients with chronic
hepatitis C or B virus infection, 88%, did not experience any
toxic effects. Severe toxicity
with use of any protease inhibitor in patients with hepatitis
C virus infection was 12.2%. Only retonovir together with an
increase in CD4 count remained associated with severe
hepatotoxicity. Significantly, they found that incidence of
severe hepatotoxicity in persons taking ritonovir was not
increased if they had chronic HCV infection, suggesting that
the effect is largely due to the medication. Ritonovir is a potent inhibitor of the cytochrome P450 system, which may have pharmacokinetic and metabolic effects possibly contributing to hapatotoxicity by increasing drug concentrations or interfering with liver function. They conclude that ritonovir was associated with the greatest hepatotoxicity risk, but continue to affirm that their data suggest that antiretroviral therapies should not be witheld from persons infected with HIV and chronic viral hepatitis. The same study found that severe hyperbilirubinemia was seen in 3.4% of 298 patients who took antiretrovirals. Indinavir use was associated with 60% of cases and that severe hyperbilirubinemia occured in 5.2% of 116 indinavir users vs 2.2% of 179 persons taking other antiretroviral drugs. Severe hyperbilirubinemia occured in 3 patients, 2 of whom received indinovir. The report goes on to say that most indinavir associated and all nonindinavir associated episodes occured in persons infected with HCV or HBV.
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New
Study Claims Adherence and Suboptimal Drug Potency Cause of
Virologic Failure. by Ray
King - HIV1 A new study
entitled " Mechanisms of Virologic Failure in Previously
Untreated HIV-Infected Patients From a Trial of Induction-Maintemance
Therapy ". by Trilege ( Agence Nationale de Recherches
sur le SIDA 072 ) Study Team, shows that early and late
virologic failure in their study was due to adherence and
suboptimal drug potency rather than to selection of resistant
mutant viruses. Antiretroviral naive patients were given
induction treatment of triple therapy consisting of zidovudine,
lamivudine and indinavir. Patients whose HIV RNA levels fell
to less than 500 copies/mL after 3 months were randomized into
three treatment groups. Continued triple
therapy of zidovudine, lamivudine and indinavir, 8 patients;
zidovudine and lamivudine, 29 patients; and zidovudine and
indinavir, 21 patients. The case patients were randomly
matched with 58 control patients with sustained viral
suppression. Antiretroviral therapy failure has been
attributed to low antiviral potency, selection of
drug-resistant variants, poor treatment adherence, and
pharmacokinetic interactions. The main aim of this study was
to identify mechanisms of virologic failure during the
maintenance phase of the trial by screening for genotypic
resistance, estimating treatment adherence and assessing
degree of viral rebound. The study
shows that virologic failure during the maintenance phase was
not associated with key zidovudine or indinavir resistance
mutations. No such mutations were found at viral rebound or
baseline. The only primary resistance mutation detected in the
reverse transcriptase gene was the M184V substitution, present
in most patients receiving a lamivudine containing maintenance
regimen. The key codon 215 zidovudine resistance mutation was
not detected. In comparison with baseline data, the
protease genotype showed only secondary indinavir associated
mutations. Of the successfully amplified specimens, the M184V
mutation was found in 11 of 13
samples taken corresponding
to initial virologic failure and in 10 of 11 samples taken six
weeks after initial virologic failure. The Trilage trial
protocol included treatment adherence assessment via pill
count and plasma drug measurement. The Study Group
comment that few studies have simultaneously examined the
roles of resistance and adherence in anti-HIV therapeutic
failure, and that it has been stated that not all treatment
failure was due to viral resistance, in either naive or in
heavily pretreated patients. Failure seemed to be
related more to low adherence and suboptimal antiretroviral
potency, or a combination of
both than to selection of resistant mutants. These results have
a major practical implication for antiretroviral drug
management; treatment adherence should be thoroughly
investigated in virologic failure before switching therapy.
It is clear from the results of this study that patient
adherence to triple antiretroviral therapy at regular doses is
the key to continued viral suppression, and that 2-drug
maintenance therapy is less successful. Drug
regimen adherence, once considered only a problem with long
term antiretroviral therapy patients, seems to be a major
problem with the newly infected or antiretroviral naive
patient just
starting antiretroviral therapy.
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HIV/AIDS Among Racial/Ethnic Minority Men Who Have Sex with Men -- United States, 1989-1998
PEER-REVIEWED
JOURNALS
"Continued
Risky Behavior in HIV-Infected Youth"
GENERAL MEDIA
"Gore
Vows AIDS Initiative"
"Clinton
Wants Bigger Budget to Fight Diseases"
"Supreme
Court Roundup: AIDS Insurance Cap"
"Ailing
Immigrants: New Era, New Rules"
"Influenza
Virus Enhances CXCR4-Dependent HIV-1 Infection"
"USAID
Announces 12 African Nations to Receive Funding"
"Health--Congo:
AIDS the Number One Cause of Death"
"AMA
to Study Pap Smear Liability Issues"
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS
"Continued
Risky Behavior in HIV-Infected Youth"
American Journal of Public
Health (01/00) Vol. 90, No. 1, P. 115; Diamond, Catherine; Buskin, Susan
New research indicates that both adolescents and adults continue to
engage in risky activities even after they were diagnosed with HIV.
Researchers from the University of Washington School of Public Health
and the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health reviewed data
for more than 3,000 HIV-infected youths and adults in an effort to
describe and compared the risk behaviors of the two groups. The data was
obtained from the Seattle-King County Adult/Adolescent Spectrum of
HIV-Related Diseases Study, conducted between January 1990 and February
1998. The results show that both female and male youths were over two
times as likely as adults to engage in risky behavior, including
engaging in unsafe sex and sharing injection drug paraphernalia. The
authors note, however, that both the youths and the adults participated
in risky activities after HIV diagnosis, showing the need for public
health campaigns targeting individuals infected with HIV as well as
those at risk for HIV/AIDS.
TOP
GENERAL MEDIA
"Gore Vows AIDS
Initiative"
Washington Post (01/11/00) P.
A11; Lynch, Colum
Vice President Al Gore pledged on Monday to seek $150 million from
Congress to combat HIV and other infectious diseases in Africa and Asia,
noting that AIDS is as significant a threat to global security as war.
If approved, the new funds would raise the total for fighting AIDS
overseas to $325 million. The funding would mostly go towards
sub-Saharan Africa, where AIDS is the leading cause of death. At the
meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Namibian health minister
Libertine Amathila and others warned that AIDS is ruining national
health budgets in Africa. Amathila noted, "Africa has the least
access to drugs but the greatest access to arms." Vice President
Gore also reported that the White House plans to request $50 million
from Congress to finance research and to buy and distribute drugs that
attack other major killers, including tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and
yellow fever.
TOP
"Clinton
Wants Bigger Budget to Fight Diseases"
Reuters (01/10/00)
President Clinton has proposed spending an extra $20 million in 2001 to
battle infectious diseases and to form a national electronic disease
surveillance network. The new network, which would allow for rapid
transmission of information from doctors to state health departments, is
being created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a
fact sheet detailing the plan, the White House noted that there has been
substantial improvement in the United States' ability to identify
outbreaks of infectious diseases, although diseases like AIDS and toxic
shock syndrome still pose serious health threats. If approved by
Congress, the additional funding would add to the CDC's existing budget
of $44.3 million for the project.
TOP
"Supreme
Court Roundup: AIDS Insurance Cap"
New York Times (01/11/00) P.
A14; Greenhouse, Linda
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal against an
insurance company's cap on lifetime benefits for AIDS treatment.
Policies from Mutual of Omaha give maximum benefits at $25,000 or
$100,000, not $1 million or more as provided for non-AIDS-related
conditions. The limit on benefits was challenged by two HIV-infected
policyholders who had won a 1998 decision in Chicago that was overturned
last summer. The appeals court ruled that while the Americans with
Disabilities Act ensures access to insurance, it does not regulate the
content of insurance policies.
TOP
"Ailing
Immigrants: New Era, New Rules"
New York Times (01/11/00) P.
D7; Chiles, Nick
In the early 1900s, immigrants entering the United States were inspected
at places like Ellis Island for signs of coughing or other illness. If
tuberculosis (TB) was suspected and the disease had not progressed too
much, they were sent back home. X-rays were used after 1910 to be sure
of a diagnosis during a time when tuberculosis was highly feared. Today,
TB is once again causing fear among public health experts, as TB rates
increase in developing nations and immigration rates from those
countries has never been higher. While the circumstances now are
different from the early 1900s, when officials had to make diagnoses in
a matter of seconds and effective antibiotics and treatments were not
available for many diseases, today there are other concerns, including
AIDS and drug-resistant TB. Thousands of immigrants enter the country
without medical screening, bringing TB, skin infections, and colds.
Borders have become easier to cross, and TB rates among the foreign-born
population are high. For individuals born in the United States, the rate
of TB is about five cases per 100,000 people, compared to about 30 per
100,000 among foreign-born individuals in the country.
TOP
"Influenza Virus
Enhances CXCR4-Dependent HIV-1 Infection"
Reuters Health Information
Services (01/10/00)
Researchers, led by Dr. Ana Puri of the National Cancer Institute, have
found that influenza infection raises the susceptibility of cells to
infection by HIV-1 isolates that use the CXCR4 coreceptor. The team,
which reported its findings in the January 1 issue of AIDS Research and
Human Retroviruses (2000;16:19-25), conducted an in vitro study to
determine the impact of the influenza strain A/PR/8 on HIV-1's
replicative ability. The researchers conclude that the influenza virus
increases CXCR4 expression and thus influences HIV-1 infection.
TOP
"USAID
Announces 12 African Nations to Receive Funding"
Africa News Service
(01/10/00)
Twelve African countries--including Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, and
Uganda--will receive additional fiscal year 2000 funding under President
Clinton's LIFE (Leadership and Investment Fighting an Epidemic)
initiative, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The money is given based on the governments' commitment to stopping the
spread of HIV and will be used for prevention efforts. The funds will
also support those sick with AIDS, help children orphaned by the
disease, treat pregnant women with HIV/AIDS, and help build health
infrastructure in the countries. Since 1986, USAID has given over $1.2
billion to help fight AIDS in the developing world.
TOP
"Health--Congo:
AIDS the Number One Cause of Death"
IPS Wire (01/10/00)
AIDS is the chief cause of death among Congolese Armed Forces
servicemen, of whom 14 percent are infected with HIV, according to armed
forces health officials. AIDS caused over 60 percent of army deaths
between 1989 and 1993, according to Col. Prosper Kinzonzi, director of
the First Military Zone's health service. The armed forces are at risk
because they travel, are young, and are sexually active. Kinzonzi lists
unsafe commercial sex is key cause of the rise in AIDS cases in the
military. Rape is also a factor in the increase, as sexual violence
becomes more common among soldiers.
TOP
"AMA to Study
Pap Smear Liability Issues"
American Medical News
(12/27/99) Vol. 42, No. 48, P. 29; Stapleton, Stephanie
The American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates has asked its
Council on Scientific Affairs to study the use of the Pap smear, the
limitations of the test, and the effects of false-negative test results.
The action came in response to the request from numerous healthcare
professionals that the AMA have guidelines to review Pap smears in terms
of potential legal action. The AMA Board of Trustees reports that there
has been a substantial increase in lawsuits filed based on
false-negative Pap test results. In some areas, a false-negative result
is considered proof of substandard care, ignoring the fact that no test
is 100 percent accurate. While the AMA realizes Pap smears have
decreased cervical cancer mortality rates, the group noted there are
concerns about supporting the type of liability protection in question.
Currently, no guidelines have been set.
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS "Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B Vaccinations: Immunogenicity of Combined Vaccine and of Simultaneously or Separately Applied Single Vaccines" GENERAL MEDIA "City Official Protests Blood Bank's Refusal of Gay, HIV-Negative Men" "Africa Seeks AIDS Vaccine" "More Than 1 in 8 Americans Do Not Receive HIV Test Results" "Protease Inhibitor Drugs Underprescribed in Italy" "The War on Warts Virus Can Be Deadly, Ignorance Is Widespread, Experts Say" "Chlamydia Infection Linked to Cervical Cancer" "Clinic Gets $800,000 Grant to Treat Patients With HIV" "New Web Site for Teens" PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS "Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B Vaccinations: Immunogenicity of Combined Vaccine and of Simultaneously or Separately Applied Single Vaccines" Vaccine Online (01/06/00) Vol. 18, Nos. 11 and 12, P. 1074; Czeschinski, Peter A.; Binding, Norbert; Witting, Ute German researchers compared the efficacy of combined hepatitis A and B vaccination in healthcare workers to either simultaneous or single immunizations against the two diseases. The study involved two groups, each comprising 75 individuals. The results indicate that both the combined and simultaneous vaccinations were tolerated and led to higher anti-hepatitis A titers than single shots. In addition, only one individual failed to produce an anti-HB titer after combined vaccination. Based on their findings and the greater acceptance of only needing one injection, the researchers recommend that workers at risk for hepatitis A and hepatitis B be given the combined vaccine. TOP GENERAL MEDIA "City Official Protests Blood Bank's Refusal of Gay, HIV-Negative Men" San Jose Mercury News Online (01/07/00) A San Francisco city official is protesting a regulation that prohibits HIV-negative homosexual men from donating blood. A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule bars blood centers from accepting donations from men who have had sex with other men since 1977. On Thursday, Supervisor Mark Leno led a group of HIV-negative gay men to a Blood Centers of the Pacific office in order to protest the refusal of the group's blood donations. The president of the center, Nora Hirschler, said she agreed with Leno, but she added that the facility would be closed if they did not comply with the federal mandate. Hirschler also voiced concerns that the protest could draw attention away from the severe blood shortage in the region. TOP "Africa Seeks AIDS Vaccine" Boston Globe Online (01/07/00) P. A2; Shillinger, Kurt In Africa, a number of governments are pursuing the development of an effective AIDS vaccine, some collaborating with foreign researchers to test potential vaccines. The vaccine initiative stems from frustration with the high cost for foreign anti-AIDS drugs and imbalances in AIDS research throughout the world. However, experts note that placing high expectations on a vaccine overlooks measures that could be taken now to reduce HIV infections and end HIV stigmas. Many African countries are looking towards a future cure without considering treatments available now, including nevirapine and AZT, whose costs--even when reduced by the manufacturer--are too high for most regional health budgets. Still, UNICEF Director Carol Bellamy notes that "it is true that even a $4 drug treatment will challenge the health budgets of many African countries--but the cost of failing to introduce [nevirapine] will be incalculably higher." TOP "More Than 1 in 8 Americans Do Not Receive HIV Test Results" Reuters Health Information Services (01/06/00) New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that about 13 percent of U.S. adults who were tested for HIV in 1994 and 1995 never received their test results. According to the report, published in the December 1 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (1999;22:395-400), the reason for testing predicted the likelihood of receiving test results, and those who did not ask for testing were less likely to obtain their results. The study used data from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey, which involved more than 19,000 adults in 1994 and nearly 17,000 adults in 1995. Those surveyed were classified according to their reason for being tested, including compulsory, recommended, or self-initiated. TOP "Protease Inhibitor Drugs Underprescribed in Italy" Reuters Health Information Services (01/06/00) A study conducted by Dr. Rita Murri of the Catholic University Of Rome and colleagues found that over one third of HIV-infected people in Italy who can receive antiretroviral therapy are not treated with protease inhibitors. The study involved 684 HIV-positive individuals who obtained care at one of seven Italian HIV treatment centers. The researchers discovered that protease inhibitors were prescribed to only 61 percent of the patients, even though access to the drugs is free in Italy. The findings were published in the December 15 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (1999;22:461-466). TOP "The War on Warts Virus Can Be Deadly, Ignorance Is Widespread, Experts Say" Edmonton Sun (01/06/00) P. 34; Decker, Shelly Sexually transmitted strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) account for 99 percent of cervical cancer cases. The virus can lay dormant for more than a year, and warts are the only symptom. Experts note that ignorance about HPV is widespread, and Dr. Barbara Romanowski of the University of Alberta, adds that the virus is becoming more prevalent. Romanowski recently launched a clinical trial to test a vaccine for two strains of sexually transmitted HPV not associated with cancer. TOP "Chlamydia Infection Linked to Cervical Cancer" Reuters Health Information Services (01/06/00) Researchers from Finland have found evidence that previous infection with chlamydia is a risk factor for invasive squamous-cell cervical cancer. The study used data from blood samples of 530,000 Nordic women, 182 of whom developed invasive cervical cancer over an average follow-up of five years. Infection with chlamydia works independently of two other risk factors for cervical cancer, smoking and infection with human papillomavirus, the team report in the January 1 issue of the International Journal of Cancer (2000;85:35-39). According to the researchers, the data show that infection with chlamydia could possibly be a cause of invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. TOP "Clinic Gets $800,000 Grant to Treat Patients With HIV" Lancaster Intelligencer Journal Online (01/07/00); Christopher, Brian The Comprehensive Care Clinic for HIV in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has been awarded more than $800,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The $812,000 grant will be distributed over a three-year period. The funds will be used to hire a full-time social worker, as well as to pay for drug treatments, blood tests, and other medical needs of the 175 patients the clinic treats. TOP "New Web Site for Teens" Infectious Diseases in Children (12/99) Vol. 12, No. 12, P. 59; Palmer, Heather A new Web site, www.Teen-Growth.com, was designed by teenagers and healthcare experts to address issues for young people. The site features a chat room as well advice on subjects ranging from sexually transmitted diseases to acne. TOP  CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update |