The Washington Blade; Friday, December 5, 1997
Lisa Keen

The findings were reported by researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin who conducted the study in Gay communities in eight small cities in four states: New York, Wisconsin, Washington, and West Virginia. The researchers asked the staff and patrons of Gay bars in those cities to identify which patrons were most popular with others, and then the researchers recruited those men to go through an AIDS education training course, and then talk with their friends about what they learned. One year later, the researchers went back to those communities and surveyed over 1,000 of the bar patrons. They found that there was a 50 percent increase in the use of condoms and a 30 percent decrease in reports of unsafe sex.

The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

Post-exposure therapy gets another boost

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported last week that it has found additional evidence that post-exposure therapy with AZT can reduce the risk of HIV infection, at least among health care workers exposed through needlestick injuries.

The latest report came in the Nov. 19 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, where CDC reported on a study of 698 health care workers that found that the use of AZT immediately after exposure reduced the risk of infection by 80 percent. A previous study of 256 health care workers found the risk reduced by 79 percent; that earlier study prompted CDC to recommend health care workers take AZT immediately after exposure.

CDC convened a special meeting in July to discuss whether to recommend people exposed through sex to take such post-exposure therapy, too. The agency said then that it expected to come up with some draft recommendations within six months.

Canada unveils 'invisible condom'

Canadian researchers announced Nov. 13 that they have developed a liquid which can be spread onto a body part and which solidifies at body temperature to form an "invisible condom." According to Reuters news service, the Laval University research center expects the new condom material to be available in about two years. The report said the liquid could be spread on a woman's genital area or a man's anal area to provide protection.

"We call it invisible because it can be used without telling the partner who doesn't' want to use a latex condom," said one of the researchers. In brief ...

FLU WATCH IN MARYLAND: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in its Nov. 21 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that while the level of flu activity has been "low" and "typical" this fall, an outbreak has been reported in Maryland. Most of the flu detected has been type A, a type associated with increased morbidity and mortality among people with high risk for complications.

EXPERTS ON PUBLIC TV: Johns Hopkins researcher Robert Siliciano, who made news recently when he reported that the time needed to eradicate HIV from the body is likely six to ten years or more, will be on Maryland Public Television Monday night. Siliciano will appear on Newsnight Maryland, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. to discuss how patients must struggle to maintain adherence to the cumbersome triple-drug therapies.

D.C. WATER REPORT: The administrator of the mid-Atlantic office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told a House subcommittee Nov. 12 that the District's drinking water and waste water operation have earned generally good marks during the past year. But he added, "environmental programs still under the control of the District are foundering." Administrator W. Michael McCabe told the House subcommittee on the District of Columbia that the water systems serving D.C. are much improved over their condition two years ago, when area residents had to be warned against drinking local water for several days.

FDA REFORM SIGNED: President Clinton signed a bill Nov. 21 to reform the Food and Drug Administration. The reform, among other things, is supposed to speed up the time it takes to get experimental AIDS treatments to patients. AIDS advocacy groups welcome that aspect of the new law. But the AIDS Action Council has expressed disappointment that the reform legislation also means that drug companies are no longer routinely required to do studies on the effectiveness of drugs once they are approved for marketing. Now such studies will be required only at the discretion of the FDA administrator.

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