Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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The San Francisco Examiner - Wednesday, March 5, 1997
Lisa M. Krieger of the Examiner Staff
Moreover, say Dr. Peter Lurie and his team at the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, legal needle-exchange programs could prevent an additional 11,300 HIV infections in the United States by 2000.
The report, published in the latest issue of the medical journal Lancet, includes data for 16 of the country's largest cities. It estimates that the number of preventable HIV infections from 1987 to 1995 ranges from 2,308 in New York City to 14 in Gary, Ind.
Other estimates are: Washington, D.C., 646; Philadelphia, 641; Chicago, 561; Baltimore, 499; Newark, N.J., 397; Miami, 297; Houston, 260; Atlanta, 186; Boston, 182; Detroit, 152; Los Angeles, 95; Seattle, 48, and Dallas, 39.
San Francisco was not included in the study.
The calculation is based on a formula that accounted for factors such as the effectiveness of a needle-exchange program, how often injecting drug users use the programs, sexual transmission of the virus among these users, and "secondary" HIV transmission to their sex partners and children. Data came from published epidemiological and mathematical studies, government reports, and consultations with drug-abuse experts.
AIDS organization closes
Facing almost $1 million in debt and a loss of $1.5 million in federal contracts, San Diego's oldest and largest AIDS organization abruptly closed, according to the Associated Press.
The AIDS Project's shutdown came after a county audit revealed expenses were claimed more than once, blank checks were found lying around and many checks were issued to vendors without invoices. The audit also discovered the foundation had submitted an improper claim for $3,375 for an employee to wash and wax the agency's cars.
Friday's closure left 2,600 clients to go elsewhere for help.
News briefs
*Nevada is among the few states in the country not funding potent new anti-viral drug combinations. The state has received about $1 million from the federal government to be used for protease inhibitors, but that will only serve about 80 of the 350 AIDS clients in the state drug assistance program.
Doctors say they can't begin treating a client without knowing that ongoing funding will be available. If treatment starts and then stops, a resistant strain of HIV could develop.
*When scientists announced last year that a particular genetic mutation can make some people resist the AIDS virus, they said the protection wasn't perfect.
Now they have proof. Researchers in Australia say they've found a man who got infected despite having the mutation. The mutation isn't always protective because some strains of HIV use a different way to enter the cell, the researchers report in the March issue of the journal Nature Medicine.
*On Sunday, members of the African American community gathered at the Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland for an observation entitled "The National Day of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS." The Bay Area's observance paid particular attention to women with HIV / AIDS and to Walker House, an Oakland-based facility that provides shelter to homeless women with HIV.
*Dr. Jay Levy of UCSF has found a virus believed to cause Kaposi's sarcoma in blood donated by a healthy man, but says the implications of the discovery are unclear.
Scientists do not know whether the virus, called human herpes type 8, can be transmitted through blood transfusions or whether it poses health risk to people with normal immune systems. The unidentified man was barred from making further blood donations at least until federal guidelines are issued on blood containing the virus, according to the journal Lancet.
Study participants sought
UCSF researchers are seeking Northern California couples for a one-year study to find effective ways to prevent HIV transmission among couples with one HIV-positive partner.
Eligible couples must be heterosexual, sexually active together, and at least 18 years old. Researchers are encouraging Spanish-speaking couples. One partner must be HIV-positive and the other must be HIV-negative. Study visits are confidential. Participants will be paid. Call (800) 262-2430.
Events
* "Benefits & HIV: Navigating the System with (and for) Clients," sponsored by AIDS Benefits Counselors, will be Saturday. Fee is $75. Call (415) 558-9845.
* "Positive Women / Positive Art," an art and craft show and sale, plus performance art, will be Saturday and Sunday at the Women's Building, 3543 18th St. Call (415) 332-7370.
Correction
The new number for information about Catholic Charities' Leland House is (415) 281-1200. Last week's column gave an incorrect number.
The toll
Louis A. Botto, 45, who founded the San Francisco men's chorus Chanticleer and helped guide it to international prominence. A gifted tenor and choral conductor, Botto started the group in 1978 as a gathering of friends to sing Renaissance vocal music. Botto also was a member of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys. He was prominent in the world of choral music, serving on funding panels of the National Endowment for the Arts and taking an active role in the national organization Chorus America ... Christopher Boatwright, 45, a San Francisco dancer known across the world for his majestic, versatile technique. He danced professionally for 22 years, including as principal dancer for the Stuttgart Ballet of West Germany and the San Francisco Ballet.
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