Subject: CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update 11/04/2009
CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update
For Wednesday, November 04, 2009
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 NCHSTP Daily News Summary should be cited as the source of the information. Copyright ? 2009, Information Inc., Bethesda, MD.
NATIONAL NEWS
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
MEDICAL NEWS
NEWS BRIEFS
NATIONAL NEWS
UNITED STATES: With Highest Rate of Cases, Navy Sees HIV Infections Rise
Kate Wiltrout
Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk) (11.02.09) - Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Last year, the Navy, whose HIV rate was already higher than that of any other branch of the US military, made 36 HIV diagnoses per 100,000 sailors tested. This was more than double the Navy's 1999 rate. Officials are not sure why the figure has risen, but they do know that most infected sailors acquired HIV through unprotected sex, not IV drug use.
Mirroring the general population, military personnel are no longer as frightened of HIV as they were during the epidemic's early years, said Dr. Rick Shaffer, who heads the Department of Defense's HIV/AIDS program in San Diego. Whether less fearful of infection or more optimistic HIV can be controlled, people may also be less willing to use condoms, he said.
Across the military, the rate of condom use is about 50 percent, according to Pentagon figures. In 2005, a survey found just under half of sexually active, unmarried sailors used a condom with their last partner. Among unmarried officers, condom use had declined from 40 percent in 2002 to 30 percent in 2005. Navy women reported a slight decrease in condom use in the same period.
Alcohol use is being studied for its connection with HIV infections in the military. Service members who are "sort of drunk" are especially worrisome, because they tend to lose inhibitions about risk, whereas the "overly drunk" have more limited sexual function, Shaffer said.
While the Navy does not keep data on its HIV-associated costs, it has cited a study's estimate that a year of treatment costs $14,000-$37,000. With about 560 sailors in HIV care last year, the Navy's cost would be $7.8 million-$20.7 million.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
GLOBAL: Non-Governmental Organizations Praise End to HIV Travel Ban
Jim Lobe
Inter Press Service (10.30.09) - Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Domestically and abroad, health advocates are applauding the Obama administration's repeal of the policy banning non-nationals with HIV from visiting or immigrating to the United States. On Friday, Obama announced that the final rule ending the 22-year-old restriction would be published on Monday, and that it would go into effect "just after the New Year."
"We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic, yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people with HIV from entering our own country," Obama noted at the White House.
"The US travel ban was stigmatizing to people living with HIV/AIDS, and many countries around the world modeled their own stigmatizing travel bans on the US law," said Paul Zeitz, head of the Global AIDS Alliance. "So this will help lift the stigma that many HIV-positive people experience around the world."
Describing the ban as "scientifically baseless" and "contemptible," Asia Russell, director of the Health Global Access Project, added, "We call on the remaining countries with travel bans to join the US in eliminating those restrictions."
"This long-overdue move brings the US in line with current scientific and international standards of public health and will lessen the painful stigma and discrimination suffered by HIV-positive people," said Arlene Bardeguez, who is stepping down as director of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
"The HIV travel ban made the United States a pariah in human rights circles, and harmed our reputation as a world leader of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care," said Frank Donaghue, head of Boston-based Physicians for Human Rights. "Starting in 2010, people living with HIV will no longer be prevented from entering this country, no longer turned away at customs, no longer forced to hide their condition and interrupt medical treatment, and no longer be treated by our government with contempt."
SWAZILAND: Swaziland Battles Twin Plagues of HIV, TB
Tabelo Timse
Agence France Presse (10.30.09) - Wednesday, November 04, 2009
The companion scourges of TB and HIV have so devastated the population of Swaziland that they threaten to destabilize the nation, participants at a recent three-day local conference on the epidemics learned.
"This double epidemic of HIV and TB means that life expectancy has fallen to under 32 years in Swaziland," said Aymeric Peguillan, head of mission for Doctors Without Borders (DWB).
Annually, about 14,000 new TB cases are diagnosed in Swaziland's population of 1.1 million, Peguillan said. Eighty percent of the country's TB patients also have HIV, according to the organization.
Swaziland has few resources to combat the epidemic. Some 80 percent of its residents live in impoverished rural areas. The country has few physicians and no medical school.
DWB nurse Joyce Sibanda is one of four nurses at a Nhlangano clinic serving more than 100 patients every day.
"The workload is a lot, there are many registers and forms to fill in," Sibanda said. "We have also started the integration process where if someone has TB and [is] also HIV-positive they can take medication in one place, unlike before where people had to go to different places to get medication."
SOUTH AFRICA: Harnessing World Cup to Change Children's Lives
Reuters (10.28.09) - Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Alongside next year's World Cup, the "Football for Hope" festival will be training children and teens in South Africa how to play soccer, and how to avoid HIV/AIDS. More than 30 organizations chosen for their success in addressing social issues will take part in FFH, which was launched by soccer's ruling body FIFA and streetfootballworld, a non-governmental organization.
"It uses the fact that kids are motivated, engaged, and inspired by the power of football to teach them these very important education messages," said Mike Geddes, FFH's communications manager.
In Alexandra Township, more than 100 boys and girls belong to Play Soccer, one of FFH's 80-odd member groups. One of the games played is "Risk Field," in which children dribble between cones that represent risks such as unsafe sex and multiple partners. If a cone is hit, the player must do pushups, and hitting one a second time means the whole team joins the player.
"This teaches them that their actions have consequences not just for them but for other people," said Geddes. "Using these games really brings it alive for these children and makes the education messages that much stronger."
During the second half of the month-long World Cup, FFH will feature one week of dialogue followed by a tournament between teams composed equally of girls and boys ages 15-18. There will be no referees, so the players will have to resolve any dispute with persuasion, a method Geddes said he has seen work.
"These kids will play soccer until there is no light on the streets, and we figure let's provide a safe environment for them to do exactly that but teach a thing or two in the process that will help them for life," said Sibu Sibaka, Play Soccer's director.
MEDICAL NEWS
UNITED STATES: Implementation of and Barriers to Routine HIV Screening for Adolescents
Timothy D. Minniear, MD; Barry Gilmore, MD; Sandra R. Arnold, MD; Patricia M. Flynn, MD; Katherine M. Knapp, MD; Aditya H. Gaur, MD
Pediatrics Vol. 124; No. 4: P. 1076-1084 (10..09) - Wednesday, November 04, 2009
In the current study, researchers developed and implemented a process to facilitate routine HIV screening among adolescents ages 13-18 in a large urban pediatric emergency department (ED).
The authors surveyed health care providers about their knowledge and beliefs about HIV, and they developed a protocol for free, opt-out HIV screening of patients. Five months after the study's launch, researchers deployed an automatic prompt in the electronic chart to address low testing rates.
In total, 118 health workers responded to the survey: 78 percent were unaware of CDC's revised HIV testing guidelines, and 58 percent predicted consent would be declined by the patient or guardian. Among 5,399 qualified patients, 37 percent (2002) were offered opt-out screening, and only 13 percent declined testing. Those offered screening were likelier than other patients to be older (age 15 or older; P=.002), female (P=.003), and nonwhite (P=.006). Patients age 15 and older were less likely to decline testing (P=.002). Testing rates improved with the automatic prompt. Among 1,735 tests, one yielded a positive result for HIV (0.57 per 1,000 tests).
"Adolescents and their guardians accept routine, opt-out HIV screening, regardless of gender or race, and a computerized reminder enhances screening," the authors concluded.
UNITED STATES: Costs and Effectiveness of Partner Counseling and Referral Services with Rapid Testing for HIV in Colorado and Louisiana, United States
Ram K. Shrestha; Elin B. Begley; Angela B. Hutchinson; Stephanie L. Sansom; Binwei Song; Kelly Voorhees; Amy Busby; Jack Carrel; Samuel Burgess
Sexually Transmitted Diseases Vol. 36; No. 10: P. 637-641 (10..09) - Wednesday, November 04, 2009
The researchers assessed the costs and effectiveness of partner counseling and referral services (PCRS) with rapid HIV testing in Colorado and Louisiana between April 2004 and January 2006. In Colorado, PCRS is provided to index patients and partners statewide. In Louisiana, PCRS is provided to those in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The authors obtained program costs for personnel, travel, utilities, supplies, equipment, and facility space. Key effectiveness measures were the number of partners tested and the number of partners informed of a new HIV diagnosis after rapid testing.
Colorado's efforts identified a yearly average of 328 index patients and 253 partners; 43 partners underwent testing. Louisiana identified an annual average of 81 index patients and 138 partners; 83 partners underwent testing. Among partners tested, the rate of those previously undiagnosed was 6.6 percent in Colorado and 9.9 percent in Louisiana. The average costs per partner tested and per partner informed of a new HIV diagnosis were $1,459 and $22,243 in Colorado; the costs in Louisiana were $714 and $7,231.
"Program costs varied by location," the authors concluded. "Our analysis helps program managers and health care providers to understand the resources needed for implementing the PCRS in diverse settings."
NEWS BRIEFS
WISCONSIN: Wisconsin Assembly Takes Up Birth Control Education
Scott Bauer
Associated Press (11.04.09) - Wednesday, November 04, 2009
The Wisconsin Assembly on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would require schools teaching sex education to present instruction on preventing unplanned pregnancies and STDs. According to the Department of Public Instruction, nearly all schools in the state offer at least one type of sex education class between grades six and 12: 94 percent taught human sexuality and 88 percent taught pregnancy prevention in 2007. The bill would not change a 2007 law requiring state teachers to stress abstinence as the preferred behavior for unmarried students and the best way to avoid pregnancy and STDs. Republicans blocked a final vote on the bill, delaying further action until Thursday. If the bill passes the Assembly, it must also clear the Senate before being sent to Gov. Jim Doyle (D). The governor's office did not respond to a request asking if he would sign the measure.
ILLINOIS: Educators, Others Learn About HIV
Byron Flitsch
Windy City Times (Chicago) (10.28.09) - Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Educators, program facilitators, and others were among those taking part in a recent forum, "HIV: Hey, It's Viral!" hosted by United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. A key topic of discussion was the need for city schools to implement a modernized sex education curriculum. The meeting included a screening of a 20-minute documentary by the group Beyondmedia that presents HIV-related facts for at-risk youths ages 12 to 18. For more information, visit www.beyondmedia.org.
Copyright ? 2009 - Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD. 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.
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Originally Posted: 11/4/2009 10:27:50 PM
Last Edited: 11/4/2009 10:27:50 PM
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