UNITED STATES: New Health Study Focuses on Hepatitis Spread

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 - http://www.lasvegassun.com/

More than 60,000 US patients were advised to seek testing for hepatitis B and C during the past 10 years due to the failure of non-hospital health care providers to follow basic infection control practices, a new CDC report says. The study, the agency’s first full review during the past decade of the link between viral hepatitis outbreaks and health care outside of hospitals, “is a wake-up call,” said Dr. John Ward, director of CDC’s Division of Viral Hepatitis. “Thousands of patients are needlessly exposed to viral hepatitis and other preventable diseases in the very places where they should feel protected.” Transmission of hepatitis B or C through health care in the United States has been considered uncommon. Yet the report identifies 33 such outbreaks that occurred outside hospitals in 15 states during the study period. Outbreaks took place in outpatient clinics (12), hemodialysis centers (six), and long-term care facilities (15), infecting a total of 450 patients with hepatitis B or C. Included in the review was the 2008 hepatitis C outbreak linked to two now-closed Las Vegas endoscopy clinics. “In each setting, the putative mechanism of infection was patient-to-patient transmission through failure of health care personnel to adhere to fundamental principles of infection control and aseptic technique (for example, reuse of syringes or lancing devices,)” according to the report. “Difficult to detect and investigate, these recognized outbreaks indicate a wider and growing problem as health care is increasingly provided in outpatient settings, in which infection control training and oversight may be inadequate. A comprehensive approach involving better viral hepatitis surveillance and case investigation, health care provider education and training, professional oversight, licensing, and public awareness is needed to ensure that patients are always afforded basic levels of protection against viral hepatitis transmission,” the report concludes. The review, “Non-hospital Health Care-Associated Hepatitis B and C Virus Transmission: United States, 1998-2008,” was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (2009;150(1):33-39).

UNITED STATES: Drug Maker Merck Seeks Gardasil Approval for Boys

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 - http://www.ap.org/

On Tuesday, Merck & Co. announced that in late December it submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration seeking approval of its human papillomavirus virus (HPV) vaccine for use in boys. Gardasil prevents infection with the sexually transmitted virus and thus cancers of the genital organs, Merck said. In June 2006, FDA approved use of Gardasil in females ages nine to 26 to prevent cervical cancer. Last June, that approval was expanded to include women ages 27 to 45. Gardasil is one of the most expensive vaccines on the market, costing roughly $360 for the three-shot series. In its December application, Merck included research data from a study of around 4,000 males ages 16 to 26. That study showed Gardasil was 90 percent effective in preventing penile cancer and genital warts caused by four HPV strains. FDA has two months to decide whether the application for use in males meets its standards. Reviews can then take 10 months or longer.

FLORIDA: Abstinence Program Called ‘Failure’

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 - http://www.tampatrib.com

State funding for abstinence-only sex education and crisis pregnancy counseling offering abortion alternatives would be cut under a Florida Senate proposal. Last spring, a Senate proposal to slash the $2 million program was turned back by House leaders. Under Sen. Nan Rich’s (D-Sunrise) plan, the state would cut all the $600,000 in funds remaining for the program from this year’s budget. “There is not one peer-reviewed study that says that program works,” said Rich, vice-chair of the Senate Health Appropriations panel. “It is a dismal failure, and that was the charge from the Senate president: Look for things that don’t work, and let’s take the money and use it in critical-need areas.” The House is now considering cutting the program by 4 percent, while Rich said her committee will propose sweeping all the remaining money into other health spending. However, supporters of the program say they will lobby to protect it. “The services being provided are extremely important,” said John Stemberger, head of the socially conservative Florida Family Policy Council.

UNITED KINGDOM: Rising Problem of Sexual Bullying in Schools

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/

BBC’s “Panorama” recently broadcast “Kids Behaving Badly,” a special on verbal and physical sexual bullying that can occur among students at UK schools. In 2006-2007, there were 3,500 fixed-period exclusions and 140 expulsions in English schools for sexual misconduct spanning from graffiti to assaults, according to government figures. “Certainly over the last four or five years on the Kidscape helpline we used to get maybe one or two calls a year about sexual bullying, but now we are getting two or three calls a week,” said Michele Elliott of Kidscape, the first UK charity created to prevent both such bullying and child sexual abuse. “Sexual bullying has almost become a way of asserting your power over others and for that reason it is disturbing,” Elliott said. “I think it’s really difficult for people generally to think about sexually harmful behavior happening by young people, towards young people in schools,” said Paula Telford of the UK’s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). “But it is an issue, it is happening, and we need to acknowledge it and we need to respond to it.” Of 273 youths ages 11-19 surveyed by “Panorama” and the charity Young Voice, 28 reported they had been forced to do something sexual against their will. One female respondent reported she was forced to perform oral sex, and another said she was raped. The government has promised to respond to such abuses, and England’s Department for Children, Schools and Families is set to publish a sexual bullying policy in the spring.

ISRAEL: Getting HIV from Your Surgeon Highly Unlikely

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 - http://www.reuters.com

A new CDC report confirms that the risk of transmitting HIV from surgeon to patient is very low. In the report, Dr. M.J. Schwaber of the Israel Ministry of Health and colleagues documented the case of a cardiothoracic surgeon who had been in practice for two decades and performed approximately 150 operations annually. In January 2007, he was diagnosed with HIV during a work-up for fever of recent onset, according to the authors. The Ministry of Health was informed of the diagnosis and instructed the hospitals where the doctor worked to offer HIV testing to all patients operated on by the surgeon since 1997. Of the 1,669 patients identified, 545 were located and agreed to take the HIV test. All tested negative for infection. A Ministry of Health-convened expert panel recommended that the surgeon be allowed to return to work without restrictions. It also agreed that the surgeon should not be required to disclose his HIV status to prospective patients, provided that adherence to appropriate infection control measures is maintained. Given that these findings are consistent with previous reports indicating a very low risk of surgeon-to-patient HIV transmission, public health agencies should update their guidelines for medical centers concerning clinicians who are found to be infected with HIV and who perform invasive procedures, the authors concluded. The report, “Investigation of Patients Treated by an HIV-Infected Cardiothoracic Surgeon - Israel, 2007,” was published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2009;57(53):1413-1415).

TENNESSEE: Group Leads HIV Efforts

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 - http://www.theleafchronicle.com

Founded in 2005, the Clarksville Area Ministers Technical Assistance Network is a faith-based organization that aims to strengthen community use of HIV/AIDS prevention services. CAMTAN is one of the few HIV/AIDS resources available locally and has 41 clients. “We have a zeal that those individuals are taken care of, and by being there for them when everyone else has rejected them,” said the Rev. James W. Hill Jr., CAMTAN’s director. CAMTAN grew from a 2003 meeting at which Montgomery County ministers convened to discuss the area’s growing number of HIV/AIDS cases. “We decided to form a minister group to inform the community about the HIV status in Montgomery County,” Hill said, noting that Clarksville was home to about 100 known HIV patients at that time. After undergoing training offered by United Way and the Metropolitan Interdenominational Church Technical Assistance Network, members began writing grants to secure funding and officially established CAMTAN. One of the group’s services is PROTRAN, which provides transportation assistance that helps 20 patients keep appointments with out-of-town doctors. A monthly meal offers clients fellowship and includes the opportunity to receive food bags from Second Harvest Food Bank. CAMTAN has a particular focus on African Americans, Hill said, because they represent more than half Montgomery County’s HIV/AIDS cases. “The church is the number-one information center in the black community,” he said. In the new year, Hill said, CAMTAN is planning to host an event to get more civic, business, and church leaders involved in spreading the word about HIV/AIDS. Funding has been and remains a challenge, but Hill said money matters will not stop the group from doing its work. “The Lord has given us a little to do a lot. Even if I don’t get the money, I’m going to make sure people get to their appointments,” he said For more information, telephone 931-249-4262.

CALIFORNIA: Soft Side of AIDS War

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 - http://www.latimes.com

A well-known HIV/AIDS activist in Los Angeles uses handmade multi-ethnic dolls to build awareness about the infection, and her project has spread around the world. Cynthia Davis, the director of HIV education and outreach programs at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, has relied on her colorful cloth “Dolls of Hope” to educate the public for more than a decade. Davis launched the effort on World AIDS Day in 1998, when she and volunteers made several hundred dolls for women and children infected with HIV/AIDS. The dolls represent the communities in which their makers live, and participating agencies receive dolls in exchange for those they create and contribute. The project is ongoing with US agencies as well as others in Africa and India. Davis finds partners for the project and teaches participants how to make the dolls, which she sells to help fund her work. “I do this because of my passion,” Davis said. “If I can prevent one new infection, it’s a success. It’s more about community mobilization. This is one strategy I use to break the silence around HIV/AIDS and to reduce the stigma.” Alma Castro, who works with the group La Nueva Esperanza in Brooklyn, N.Y., met Davis in 2006 and is starting a Dolls of Hope project. “I just think it’s sitting down and working with your hands that conversations start flowing,” she said. “It’s so non-threatening that people listen.” Dolls from the project are on display at the Friends of William Grant Still Arts Center in Los Angeles through March 29, and Davis will be holding doll-making workshops there on Jan. 10, Feb. 21 and March 21. For more information on Dolls of Hope, e-mail cynthiadavis@cdrewu.edu.

IRAN: Iran Postpones AIDS Doctors’ Verdict

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 - http://www.timesunion.com/

An Iranian court has delayed, most likely until Saturday, the announcement of a verdict in the case of AIDS specialist Dr. Kamiar Alaei and his brother, Dr. Arash Alaei. The two physicians have operated, with tacit government approval, AIDS clinics that focus on treating injecting drug users in Iran. Tried in a secret one-day army proceeding on Dec. 31, the men are charged with conspiracy to overthrow the government and other accusations that prosecutors refused to divulge. Dr. Kamiar Alaei had completed the first year of a two-year doctoral program at the University at Albany. Boston-based Physicians for Human Rights is leading an international campaign demanding the doctors’ release, saying the charges are false and politically motivated. More than 4,000 people from 85 countries have signed an online petition calling on Iran to release the men. For more information, visit www.iranfreethedocs.org.

NEW JERSEY: Governor Seeks Extra $812 Million in Cutbacks

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 - http://www.nj.com/news/ledger

On Monday, Gov. Jon Corzine proposed emergency budget cuts of $812 million spanning across state departments and programs, an unprecedented mid-year change in the budget in response to the economic crisis. Included on the chopping block is a $2.5 million cut for drug treatment for needle exchange participants. Corzine announced earlier the state faces a $2.1 billion shortfall in the budget that took effect July 1.

NEW YORK: Latham Clinic to Be Closed

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 - http://www.timesunion.com/

Citing financial pressures, Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood has announced plans to close its Latham office at an unspecified future date. The facility has been operating only on Tuesdays and Fridays for years; it serves about 1,200 people. Patients are being asked to visit Planned Parenthood’s clinics in Troy and Albany, which together serve about 10,000 patients each year. Although the state Department of Health has not approved the closing of the Latham office, its clients have been told to expect the shutdown. The organization’s services include STD and HIV testing, gynecological exams, birth control, and sex education.

GEORGIA: Health Forum to Kick Off King Center Events

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 - http://www.ajc.com

Atlanta’s King Center will be the site of a health forum this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A variety of free health screenings will be offered, and information will be presented on a range of health issues including HIV/AIDS, diabetes, sickle-cell anemia, and nutrition. The health fair is the first of many local events commemorating the annual Martin Luther King Jr. birthday observance.