Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 1992)
H E 1 MM■ AIDS is a virus that attacks, mutates and destroys the defense system against disease, leaving a person unprotected against infection. There is no known cure tor AIDS. The AIDS virus has been detected in blood samples froqlfinca taken in the 1950s. Scientists estimate that the virus tflpnated in eastern Zaire near the northern tip of Lake TanganyflqRnhe actual genesis of the virus is still unknown. One theory suggests that the virus was transferred to humans from the upMl monkey. People in Africa live in close contact with this monHKBpause it tends to forage in garbage and tends to bite or scratff when people try to chase it away. People in this region also frequently eat these monkeys. AIDS now is found in almost every country of the It appears to have spread from Zaire to the rest of Africa in tMMfirly 1970s and from Africa to Haiti by the end of the decade,from Haiti the virus was spread to the United States and Europ^fc-,# Miow Is AIDS spread? Any transfer of bodily fluids can spread th< virus. HIV has been found in blood, semen, breast milk a I secretions. The virus can be transferred by vaginal or x, contaminated needles (including tattooing) and breast f< . There have been no documented cases of transmission thri casual contact such as coughing, sneezing, shaking hands di _ _ from water fountains, using public toilets, kissing, crying or eating food prepared by someone with HIV or AIDS. How does AIDS UU? I & .MBWi AIDS kills a person by gradually that person's immune system and leaving the body open to ons. Because the body has no defense against the infections,^ become fatal. Con AIDS be edited a piastre? 11| | In most countries of the world, AIDS is entially, i.e. during each unit of time the incidence o' s doubling, 1, 2, 4, 8.16, 32. In doing this, ftp inciden of the disease was so minuscule when it first occu ithin a country that it often was overlooked. The disease the ad rapidly and became a major problem before govemi re prepared to deal with it. Because of this, several nt researchers have termed AIDS a modern plague. When does a person HIV AIDS is a progressive disease. A person with HIV can live fa£^^ 10 years before developing AIDS, depending on diet, physicm-g condition and mental attitude. The newest definition desqdfc^fDS as when a person's T-4 cell count fallabeiow 200. A norn(Bjnt is about 1,500. T-4 cells are the cells VR tioftt i and Ire what the HIV virus attacks. Casas reported to the Nebra Total number of cases are 21 I Graphics by Scott Maurer Agency working to redefine AIDS From Staff Reports By redefining AIDS, the federal Centers for Disease Control could speed up prevention, treatment and medical benefits for people with HIV/AIDS, a CDC spokesman said. Chuck Fallis, spokesman for the CDC, said an AIDS definition change, sched uled to take place in April, would give the CDC a better idea of the scope of the epidemic. The current definition of AIDS requires the presence of an AIDS indicator condi tion such as wasting syndrome or Ka posi’s Sarcoma before a physician can make an AIDS diagnosis. “There are many people who are im paired,” he said, “but don’t have immune system problems.” The new definition would allow physi cians to base their diagnoses on an indi viduals’ CD-4 lymphocyte, or T-4 cell, counts. The T-4 cell is the cell that helps the body fight infection. AIDS would be diagnosed if an individ ual’s count was 200 or less. A healthy person’s count is between 1,000 and 1,500. Preparation for the increased caseload was causing some delay in making the definition change, Fallis said. Fallis said he could not estimate how many more AIDS cases there would be after the change. ~ . ■ . ' Under 5-2 5-12-0 13-19-0 49-19 rmn-168 Injectable drug users-22 Both homotnuaVUNnial tn|»ct«bte drug umt»-20 _ Hemophiliac -8 PmmW-2 Unddimdnid 12 HiteroMXual contact-8 product>-11 ADC - AIDS dementia complex. AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, and impairment of the body's ability to fight disease. ARC - AIDS-related complex, precursor symptoms to AIDS. AZT - Now called Zidvudine or Retrovir, an antiviral medication taken by some people with AIDS. Blood count - A laboratory test to determine the number of red cells, white cells and platelets in the blood. CD-4 colls - Cells that acts as a dock for HIV. CDC - United States Center for Disease Control, which handles all infectious diseases. Epidemic - A disease that affects many people in a particular area at the same time. GLSA - Gay and Lesbian Student Association, student group on the UNL campus. HIV- Human Immunodeficiency Virus, a name for the AIDS virus, created as a compromise between the different names for the virus. Several types of HIV have been discovered, but the most common is HIV-1. Kaposi’s Sarcoma - Rare cancer of the skin found in about one-third of AIDS patients. Names Quilt - A touring quilt made of panels created in remembrance of people who have died from AIDS. NAP- Nebraska AIDS Project, a non-profit AIDS education and support services agency. PFLAG - Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, a support group. Opportunistic Infection - What AIDS patients are susceptible to, infection by a micro-organism that may be common in the enviroment but causes disease only in a host with a poorly functioning immune system. PWA - People with AIDS, a name cregfltt btcau&e of the stigma associated with being called a patient or AIDS victim, when diw was neither i, SSD - Supplementary Seanty disability, a feder am to provide payments to the disabled who have been employed and rove paid into Social Security. SSI - Supplementary Security Income, a federal program to provide payments to the indigent. T-helper cell - Same as CD-4 cells. T-4 cells - Same as CD-4 cells. T-cells - White blood cells, including both T-helper and T-suppressor cells, an immfknt part of the immune system Virus - A microscopic nonceJMBfcgaanism that a living host cell for survival such as the common cold, mea pox. . i iini *■■■■■■ Omaha waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai Nebraska AIDS Project 3624 Leavenworth St. . (402) 342-4233 Charles Drew Health Center 2201 North 30th St. (402) 453-1433 Douglas County Health Dept. 1201 South 42nd St. (402) 444-6875 Equilibria Medical Center 544 South 24th St. (402) 345-2252 Lincoln-Lancaster Co. Health Dept. 2200 St. Mary's Ave. (402) 471 8065 Multicultural Awareness Center 1100 Military Rd. (402) 474-5231 Nebraska Dept, of Health 200 South Silber St. (308) 535-8133 TSgSg* 3423 2nd Ave. (308) 234-8709 SmahaCofSSDep? 1824 N St. (402) 274-4549 Scotts Bluff Co. Health Dept. County Administration Bldg. (308) 635-3866 Scotts Bluff County Jail County Administration Bldg. (308) 436-7300 Homestead Halfway House (Women) 513 W. 24th (308) 635-2731 (Men) 1624 Avenue A (308) 632-7484 Eppley Treatment Center Regional West Medical Center 4021 Avenue B-South Unit (308) 635-3866 Grand Island/Hall Co. Healthfijfe^ 105 East 1st St. agt (308)381-5175 ^F ▼ St. Francis Alcoholism g ' Treatment Center Jfl 640 N. Darr Ave. # % IU (308) 389-5427 w ^ v Hall County Jail * 131 South Locust (308) 381 -5200 STD Clinic - ^' 217 West 2nd St. For more information on (308) 384-7625 MV or AIDS, please contact: MV/AIDS Program Nebrsata^De^rtment of Health Linnnln Math fiAKMLiSM? mm. oooue-5007 Page 9 New AIDS virus spreading to U.S. SEATTLE (AP) — Only a few U.S. blood centers are testing for a rare but spreading strain of the AIDS virus despite fears that it could slip into the nation’s blood supply. More than 50,000 people in Europe, Africa, India, the former Soviet Union, and North and South America are in fected with human immunodeficiency virus Type 2, the second virus known to cause AIDS, according to the World Health Organization. HIV-2 has been identified in at least 37 countries. The mutation is widespread in Africa, where it primarily is spread heterosexu ally and has had an incubation period of up to 19 years. At least 43 cases of HIV-2 have been identified in the United States and Canada. Though rare, many experts say there is reason to believe HIV-2 will spread. “HIV-2 could be a bigger heterosexual transmission threat” than HIV-1, the first AIDS virus discovered, said Michael Wandell, an epidemiologist and director of regulatorv and clinical affairs for Genetic Systems. The Redmond-based company is the only federally licensed maker of HIV-2 tests. While U.S. blood centers are required to test donated blood for HIV-1, testing for the rarer HIV-2 is not required. Ex perts disagree whether HIV-1 tests al ways will detect HIV-2. The federal Food and Drug Commis c:on is evaluating a September recom mendation by its Blood Products Advi sory Committee that mandatory univer sal HIV-2 testing be adopted nationwide by June 1. iviany fiiv-1 tests now used are cross reactive with HIV-2, and the committee’s recommendation is being considered “purely for precautionary reasons,” FDA spokesman Brad Stone said. “There’s no reason to believe . . . that HIV-2 repre sents a significant risk to the blood sup ply” The American Red Cross, the federal Centers for Disease Control and the FDA in 1990 said HIV-2 was too rare to spend time and money on testing. The CDC estimated testing every blood donor for HIV-2 would cost $60 million annually. “In view of the extremely low preva lence of HIV-2 infections in the U.S. population, there appears to be no public health need at this time to screen donors ofblood or source plasma for antibodies to HIV-2 with this test,” the FDA told blood centers. Fewer than 20 of the nation’s 2,400 blood banks and plasma centers—repre senting 5 percent, by volume, of all the blood collected — test for HIV-2, accord ing to Donna DeLong, Genetic Systems’ marketing and business development director. “I think it is very possible that HIV-2 infected people are donating today in the U.S. and that blood has the potential to slip through and be transfused into an unsuspecting person,” Wandell said. A person with either strain of HIV may not show detectable signs of infection for up to six months. The CDC found that half of the reported HIV-2 cases in the United States in 1989 tested negative for HIV-1. A 1991 study by Richard T. Schuma cher, of Boston Biomedica Inc., with Portugal’s National Health Institute revealed FDA-licensed HIV-1 tests de tected HIV-2 in only 8 percent to 62 percent of specimens. “We have an opportunity to prevent a public health problem. It might be in the blood supply. Why wait?” asked National Hemophilia Foundation Executive Direc tor Alan P. Brownstein. “When HIV-1 came to the U.S., we didn’t know what it was,” Brown stein said. “Now we see HIV-2 com ing our way.... Haven’t we learned?” '■ ■ • ■■■ . / xVx" r . -XX-/X ■ X. X, - ^ ^ . ,^XX,.^ ,,..* . V fl ■ - • -.— - “ 1 • ■ •