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Recent News (click on blue to read more)

  


                       
                                                    
 
 
                                                        
                                                                                                                                               

                
                     President Obama Signs into Law the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act 2009.
 Passage of the Act into U.S. law in concert with the removal of the HIV travel and Immigration ban - effective in January 2010.
U.S. JAILS TO EXPAND IMMIGRATION CHECKS

Jail and Immigration CheckWashington D.C. - President Obama is seeking funds to expand programs that will enable local jails to check the immigration status of inmates. Individuals incarcerated in federal and state programs already undergo immigration checks, but plans are underway to ensure that the immigration status is checked of inmates in all local jails throughout the United States. This program is expected to result in a marked increase of deportations of illegal immigrants who have committed crimes and were previously ordered to leave the country. The program is currently operating in Miami, Boston, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, and Los Angeles. President Obama is asking for approximately $200 million to fund the expansion of the program, enabling it to receive $1.1 billion in funding by 2013.

U.S. TO BEGIN IMMIGRATION REFORM MEETINGS

Immigration ReformWashington, D.C. - Plans are underway to begin discussions in regards to comprehensive immigration reform legislation. President Obama has set a June 8 meeting at the White House for Senate and House leaders to begin discussing immigration reform. According to a White House spokesman, the Obama administration is hoping to propose immigration reform legislation by the end of this year. Fueling the debate is the decrease in arrests at the Mexican -U.S. border. Arrests in this area are down by 27% from prior years. This figure is in part due to the decline in illegal immigration to the United States, which is attributed to the downturn in the U.S. economy. The increase in immigration enforcement is also believed to be contributing to the decrease in illegal immigration to the United States. The United States has nearly doubled its employment of border patrol agents since 2001. In addition, to date, over 600 miles of border fencing has been completed of the proposed 2000 mile fence.
E-VERIFY DEMONSTRATES IMPROVEMENTS, BUT STILL NOT PERFECT

E-verifyDallas, TX - E-Verify, an electronic eligibility verification system that is designed to assist employers in verifying the immigration status of potential employees, has recently underwent several improvements. The system allows employers to verify the identity and immigration status of new employees by checking with government databases, so that individuals unauthorized to work in the United States, such as illegal immigrants, are not hired. E-verify has remained a focal point of comprehensive immigration reform, and has received much funding . The use of E-verify has tripled from 2006 to 2008, and is used to screen 1 out of every 10 newly hired employees in the United States. As of last month, over 117,000 employers have registered to use the system. This can be compared to only 9,000 employers who registered in 2006. Current US law mandates that all US employers check potential new employee's documentation and fill out an I-9 form, to ensure work eligibility in the U.S. However, only certain employers are required to use E-Verify such as employers in certain US states, certain federal employers, and employers who have previously been convicted of hiring illegal immigrants. Recent improvements have allowed for the majority of queries (approximately 96 %) to receive a response within 24 hours, and non-confirmations have decreased. However, many believe that E-Verify still needs to see even more improvements, as a number of individuals who have reportedly been unauthorized to work in the United States have received employee verification and have been hired.
Senate Majority Leader promises Immigration Overhaul

Senate Majority Leader promises Immigration OverhaulLas Vegas, NV: Legislators will start working on reforming America’s immigration system as soon as they are back from the Congressional recess, the U.S. Senate majority leader said at an immigration rally in early April. Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada who is currently campaigning to be re-elected as a U.S. Senator, spoke to more than 6,000 people, most of them immigrants, at the immigration rally in down-town Las Vegas. “We need to do this this year,” he said. “We cannot wait.” Senator Reid’s promise to start work on immigration reform came as a surprise to many as the Senate is already divided after the health care reform was passed recently. The immigration rally in Las Vegas was the largest of several demonstrations around the country, with immigrants demanding immigration reform this year. Many immigrants are angry with president Obama for having postponed immigration reform. One Las Vegas immigrant said, “I’m very unhappy with President Obama because he said this would be the first thing he did when he was elected.” Two other senators, Lindsey Graham, a Republican from California, And Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat from New York, have been working on an immigration bill. But Graham has said that he doesn’t think there is enough support from Republicans.
Immigration Policies Complicate Employment

Immigration Policies Complicate EmploymentAurora, CO: Business owners who rely on seasonal workers to get through the busy season say immigration rules are complicated and wastes resources. They are not confident that policies will change for the better any time soon either. Mike Leman, owner of Singing Hills Landscape, Inc in Aurora, has relied on seasonal workers from Mexico since the mid 90s. The reason is that it is hard to get American workers or workers with permanent residency that are willing to take seasonal jobs. He says the H-2B program that allows the workers to come to the U.S. to work should be simplified. For example, people who have been working the busy season for Singing Hill every year for decades still have to spend two days each year to do background checks and interviews. And each year the workers have to take the driver’s test again, because the license expires along with the visa.
Democrats Proposes Immigration Reform

Democrats Proposes Immigration ReformWashington, D.C.: Democrat leaders in the Senate has revealed the outlines of a new immigration law that will seek to strengthen the U.S. border security first, and later offer a way for illegal immigrants to become residents. The Democrats says they will seek Republican support for the proposed legislature with the help of President Obama. Obama, on the other hand has said that Congress might not have “appetite” for an immigration reform at this stage. But he still thinks the proposal is “a very important step” and says he will work to get the support of both Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats are led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from Nevada, who is up for reelection in a state where 15 percent of the voters are Hispanic. He claims Democrats and republicans agree that the “immigration system is broken and needs to fixed.” But some Republicans have said that the proposal is just a try to gain voter support in the upcoming elections, and even that the proposal “poisons the well” for those who work for more secure border.

 
International News
 
UNITED KINGDOM:   "Hepatitis C Testing in Sexual Health Services in England, 2002-07: Results from Sentinel Surveillance"
Sexually Transmitted Infections Vol. 86: P. 126-130    (04..10):: Emily Tweed; Lisa Brant; Martin Hurrelle; Paul Klapper; Mary Ramsay; the Hepatitis Sentinel Surveillance Study Group

The study's goal was to describe testing for hepatitis C virus (HCV) in sexual health services in England from 2002 to 2007, using data from a sentinel surveillance study of hepatitis testing.

Data on all anti-HCV tests conducted during the study period were collected from 20 participating laboratories. Test requests originating in sexual health services were identified, allowing analysis of the demographic and clinical characteristics of persons tested in this setting. The proportion of new genitourinary medicine clinic attendees tested for HCV each year was estimated using KC60 statutory returns data.

Of 90,424 persons tested for anti-HCV in 100 sexual health clinics, 2,858 (3.2 percent) were found to be positive. Multivariable analysis found anti-HCV status was associated with male sex and a reported history of injecting drug use. In those clinics for which data on trends were available, testing for anti-HCV increased over the 2002-07 period and the percentage testing positive decreased. KC60 data indicated that most clinics tested less than 20 percent of new patients for anti-HCV, although the proportion of patients tested increased over time.

"Sexual health services have become increasingly important locations for hepatitis C testing in England, although the proportion of patients testing positive is low compared with other settings," the study authors concluded. "We suggest that testing in this setting could be better targeted to those most at risk of infection by thorough investigation of risk factors among service users."

LATVIA:   "HIV Prevention in Latvia Nearly Non-Existent Due to Multiple Reorganizations"
Baltic News Service     (07.20.10)
Organizational changes and staff shortages are hampering the fight against HIV/AIDS in Latvia, a local expert there says. And both problems have been partly responsible for the lack of outreach to high-risk groups documented in a recent UNICEF report, said Iveta Skripste, a public health methodologist with the Latvian Center of Infectious Diseases. The report highlights the need for HIV prevention services among vulnerable youth in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, especially those involved with the sex trade and drug use.

Since 2008, intravenous drug use has fallen as the top mode of HIV infection in Latvia, Skripste said. Last year, 49 percent of new cases were linked to heterosexual sex, and 27 percent were acquired through drug use. "But those infected through heterosexual contacts are closely related to the community of drug users," said Skripste.

Lack of resources at both the national and local levels has hindered the effective division of labor in tackling HIV, Skripste said. The state provides prevention supplies such as HIV testing strips and disposable syringes, but local authorities have the responsibility of paying for rent, salaries, and other operational expenses for HIV prevention outreach efforts.

"In the given economic situation, the local governments have very few such employees, therefore the scope of work is much smaller than in previous years," Skripste said. Prevention efforts also have suffered from the reorganizations of several health institutions, including the liquidation of the Public Health Agency, she said.

CHINA:   "Chinese Youth Turn to Internet for Information About Sex: Survey"
Xinhua News Agency     (08.04.10)
In a recent survey of 3,000 Chinese teenagers, more than three-fourths identified the Internet as their most important source of information on sex. Books and friends followed, with school and parents ranked as the least important resources. Even so, 71 percent said the web's obscene content is disturbing for teens. The chief of the Institute for Research on Sexuality and Gender at Renmin University of China said sex education should be compulsory. "We should not focus on what we can tell teenagers," said Pan Suiming. "We should focus on what they want to know." "There is a severe lack of formal sex education in China, so many teenagers turn to the Internet," said Ye Qing, a post-graduate student at the Second Military Medical University who operates an online sex education site for youths. The China Youth Daily newspaper conducted the poll.
FIJI:   "Growing HIV/AIDS Cases in Fiji Worrying"
Xinhua News Agency     (07.29.10)
Fiji registered 21 new HIV cases through June this year, prompting Health Ministry officials to call on the entire nation - including religious groups, parents, and teachers - to do more to fight AIDS. Forty-three cases were logged in all of 2009 in Fiji, whose population stands at just over 850,000. Dr. Josaia Samuela said Fiji is not eligible for help from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria because the World Bank now classifies it as a high middle-income country. It will, however, continue to seek support from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (formerly, the Pacific Island Commission). One approach under discussion is presenting sex education and HIV prevention information to younger students.

ESTONIA:   "222 Persons Diagnosed with HIV in Seven Months"
Baltic News Service     (08.02.10)
Data from the National Health Board show that Estonia registered 222 new HIV cases in the first seven months of 2010, including 28 in July. Most of the newly diagnosed patients live in East-Viru County. New HIV cases have been trending downward in recent years: The nation logged its highest count, 1,474 new cases, in 2001. The total dropped to 545 in 2008 and 411 in 2009.

 
 
 GLOBAL:   "It Works, but Female Condom Neglected in Anti-AIDS Battle"
Agence France Presse     (07.20.10)
"The public still knows very little about" the female condom, despite its "incredibly high rate of acceptability" among both men and women, Oxfam's Jim Clarken said at the recent 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna. The CEO of Oxfam Ireland joined other AIDS campaigners in calling for efforts to raise the profile of female condoms in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Worldwide in 2008, 2.4 billion male condoms were distributed, compared with 18.2 million female condoms, said Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity in Washington, D.C. "A female condom is 50 cents, compared to a male condom, which is for one cent," said Carol Nawina Nyirenda of the Zambia-based CITAM+ (Community Initiative for Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Malaria).

"The female condom has been available for 15 years and for 15 years it has been joked about," said Lucie van Mens, coordinator of the group Universal Access to Female Condoms. And, while there are numerous variations of male condom styles sold in shops, "There is only one model available" for female condoms.

Central to female condom promotion should be control, said Clarken. "It's also a key component to facilitate women having control over their own reproductive health," he said.

Female condoms are better received when presented as a means of contraception or even a sex toy rather than a way of protecting oneself from HIV infection, van Mens noted. "It's also important to give women the right to have fun with sex," she noted.

SOUTH AFRICA:   "South Africa Recruiting Men to Combat AIDS"
Detroit Free Press     (08.04.10)
The ideal South African man, according to a new anti-AIDS campaign, is monogamous, uses condoms, and does not hit women.

"There is a new man in South Africa," announces the tag line in radio, television, billboard, and newspaper ads. Sober, responsible faces depict men in all types of jobs, including a miner and a businessman. Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is among the models.

The goal of "Brothers for Life" is to encourage safe-sex practices. It is organized by the South African National AIDS Council with support from the South African and US governments as well as numerous non-governmental organizations.

After the media campaign is launched in a community, "Brothers for Life" brings its message to men in small group settings. They discuss issues such as abuse against women - South Africa reports 130 rapes per day and has one of the highest rates in the world.

A recent workshop in the mining town of Welkom in the Free State province drew 200 participants. More than 30 percent of the pregnant women in the area are HIV-positive.

"If men can make a difference, we can save the whole nation," peer educator Pule Mokoena told his mostly unemployed audience. The response is wary.

"What if I want to have sex with my wife and she doesn't want to, is it OK for her to deny me point-blank?" asks one man.

Changing gender roles, particularly the entry of more South African women into the workforce, are creating tensions in this nation, said Stori Ralepeli, managing director of the Welkom health agency Lesedi-Lechabile.

"Men here grow up believing one day they'll be like gods in their own households. Now there's a new breed of woman and very confused men who don't know what their role is," Ralepeli said.


UNITED STATES:   "Problematic Alcohol Use and HIV Risk Among Black Men Who Have Sex with Men in Massachusetts"
AIDS Care Vol. 22; No. 5: P. 577-587    (05..10):: Sari L. Reisner; Matthew J. Mimiaga; Sean Bland; Margie Skeer; Kevin Cranston; Deborah Isenberg; Maura Driscoll; Kenneth H. Mayer

Black men who have sex with men (MSM) and engage in HIV risk behaviors may be more likely to have concurrent problematic alcohol use, according to the current study.

Between January and July 2008, 197 black MSM were recruited via modified respondent-driven sampling in Massachusetts. Participants completed an interviewer-administered survey that included questions on HIV sexual behavior, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the CAGE alcohol screener. The association of behavioral HIV risk factors and other psychosocial variables with problematic alcohol use (CAGE score 3 or 4) was examined using bivariate and multivariable logistic regression procedures.

Twenty-nine percent of respondents were found to abuse alcohol. In a multivariable model adjusting for demographic and behavioral variables, factors associated with increased odds of problem drinking were depressive symptoms (CES-D 16+); one or more episodes of serodiscordant unprotected anal sex during the last sexual encounter with a casual male partner; and one or more episodes of unprotected anal or vaginal sex with a female partner in the preceding 12 months.

"HIV prevention interventions with black MSM may benefit from incorporating screening and/or treatment for alcohol problems, as well as screening for co-morbid depressive symptoms," the authors concluded.


FRANCE:   "Impact of Individual Antiretroviral Drugs on the Risk of Myocardial Infarction in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Patients"
Archives of Internal Medicine Vol. 170; No. 14: P. 1228-1238    (07.26.10):: Sylvie Lang, MSc; Murielle Mary-Krause, PhD; Laurent Cotte, MD; Jacques Gilquin, MD; Marialuisa Partisani, MD; Ann Simon, MD; Franck Boccara, MD, PhD; Dominique Costagliola, PhD; for the Clinical Epidemiology Group for the French Hospital Database on HIV

The authors noted that the role of exposure to specific antiretroviral drugs on the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in HIV-positive patients has been a subject of debate in medical literature.

"To assess whether we confirmed the association between exposure to abacavir and risk of [MI] and to estimate the impact of exposure to other nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), protease inhibitors (PIs) and non-NRTIs on risk of MI, we conducted a case-control study nested within the French Hospital Database on HIV," the researchers wrote.

The study's 289 case subjects were patients who had a prospectively recorded first definite or probable MI between January 2000 and December 2006. Up to five controls (a total of 884 individuals) - matched for age, sex, and clinical center - were selected at random with replacement among patients with no history of MI already enrolled in the database when MI was diagnosed in the corresponding case. To adjust for potential confounders, conditional logistic regression models were used.

The results showed that short-term/recent exposure to abacavir was associated with an increased risk of MI in the overall sample (odds ratio [OR] 2.01; 95 percent confidence interval [CI] 1.11-3.64) but not in the subset of matched cases and controls (81 percent) who did not use cocaine or intravenous drugs (1.27, 0.64-2.49). Except for saquinavir, cumulative exposure to all PIs was associated with an increased risk of MI significant for amprenavir/fosamprenavir with or without ritonavir (OR, 1.53; 95 percent CI 1.21-1.94 per year) and lopinavir with ritonavir (1.33; 1.09-1.61 per year). Exposure to all non-NRTIs was not found to be associated with MI risk.

"The risk of MI was increased by cumulative exposure to all the studied PIs except saquinavir and particularly to amprenavir/fosamprenavir with or without ritonavir and lopinavir with ritonavir, whereas the association with abacavir cannot be considered causal," the authors concluded.

UNITED STATES:   "Federal Government Announces $42 Million in HIV Prevention Grants"
The Hill (Washington, D.C.)     (08.03.10):: Julian Pecquet

On Tuesday, CDC announced it has awarded $42 million in grants to 133 community-based organizations (CBOs) fighting HIV/AIDS in 28 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy unveiled last month at the White House emphasizes targeting those at greatest risk: men who have sex with men (MSM), African Americans, Latinos, and injection drug users (IDUs).

"This funding is a critical part of CDC's national HIV prevention efforts and is in line with the priorities identified in the recently released National HIV/AIDS Strategy," said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. "Governments on the federal and state levels cannot end this epidemic alone, and these resources will help give many communities the tools they need to fight HIV locally."

"Because community-based organizations have the cultural knowledge and local perspective to reach people who might not otherwise access HIV testing or other prevention services, partnership with these organizations represents a critical part of CDC's fight against HIV," CDC said in the release.

The average grant is approximately $323,000 per year for five years. The awards will be used for implementing effective prevention programs and increasing HIV testing and people's awareness of their HIV status. A limited amount will be given to some CBOs to help monitor impact and behavioral outcomes.

By risk group, 49 percent of the CBOs target MSM, 38 percent heterosexual men and women, 5 percent IDUs, and the remaining on combinations of these groups, CDC said.

For more information, including a full list of grantees, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/cboaward.html.

UNITED STATES:   "Merck Reports Encouraging Results for Hepatitis C Treatment"
Wall Street Journal     (08.04.10):: Peter Loftus

On Wednesday, Merck & Co. reported promising news about its experimental hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment boceprevir, a protease inhibitor. In two late-stage clinical trials, patients taking boceprevir in addition to standard pegylated interferon and ribavirin had higher rates of sustained virological response than those taking standard therapy alone, Merck said. Sustained virological response (SVR) is defined as undetectable HCV 24 weeks after treatment ends.

The "Respond-2" study enrolled 403 patients who had previously failed HCV therapy and divided them into three groups: standard therapy plus boceprevir for 48 weeks; the same combination but treatment shortened to 36 weeks if HCV fell to certain levels; and those on standard therapy plus placebo.

SVR was achieved by 66 percent of patients in the boceprevir 48-week group, 59 percent in the short-term boceprevir group, and 21 percent taking the standard drugs with placebo.

The "Sprint-2" trial enrolled 1,097 patients with no prior treatment history. Though divided by similar groups, patients in the short-term arm could stop taking the boceprevir combination therapy after 28 weeks. SVR was achieved by 66 percent of patients in the 48-week arm, 63 percent of the short-term group, and 38 percent of the standard therapy group.

The results mean some HCV patients could shorten treatment by 12-20 weeks, said Peter Kim, president of Merck's research unit.

The most common side effects in the trials were fatigue, headache, and nausea.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Johnson & Johnson also are developing an HCV protease inhibitor, telaprevir, which had a 75 percent SVR rate among treatment-naïve patients. The firm has not yet announced late-stage data for treatment-experienced patients. Vertex could seek US approval of telaprevir this year. Boceprevir's SVR rate among previously untreated patients was 66 percent.

Merck plans to present its data in more detail at a medical conference in November, and anticipates submitting boceprevir for regulatory approval in the United States and Europe this year.

Local and Community News
 
 KENTUCKY:   "Church, Hope Center Band Together Against HIV/AIDS"
Lexington Herald-Leader     (08.04.10)
An HIV/AIDS awareness event will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 14 at Lexington's Douglass Park. The outreach is being presented by St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Hope Center, a community agency assisting homeless and at-risk persons. In addition to food, live music, and inflatables for the kids, the outreach will feature rapid-result HIV testing. In 2008, the Hope Center received a five-year grant from the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration to expand free testing, prevention education, and treatment for blacks, Hispanics, and substance abusers, said Amber Cronen, project director for its HIV grants.
CALIFORNIA:   "Emerging AIDS Treatment Forum"
Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco)     (08.05.10):: Cynthia Laird

At a community forum in San Francisco on Wednesday, Aug. 11, experts will present key developments from the recent 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna. The Stop AIDS Project and the San Francisco Department of Public Health are sponsoring the event, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Stop AIDS' Jen Hecht will be the moderator; panelists include Matt Sharp of Project Inform and Drs. Al Liu, Susan Buchbinder, and Grant Colfax of SFDPH. The forum will be held at the Bank of America Community Space, Castro and 18th streets. Persons needing special accommodations are encouraged to notify the meeting organizers. For more information, telephone Gavin Morrow-Hall at 415-437-4696 or e-mail gavin.morrow-hall@sfdph.org, or visit stopaids.org.


CALIFORNIA:   "Shanti Volunteer Training"
Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco)     (08.05.10):: Cynthia Laird

San Francisco's Shanti Project will kick-off its next round of volunteer training on Friday, Aug. 13. Persons who complete the 25-hour course are paired with a client with HIV/AIDS or breast cancer, for whom they provide emotional support, practical assistance, and companionship. For more information, contact Megan Obrien at 415-674-4708 or e-mail mobrien@shanti.org.


PENNSYLVANIA:   "Philly Health Unit Says Gonorrhea on the Rise"
Philadelphia Inquirer     (08.04.10):: Josh Goldstein

In an advisory sent Monday to health care providers, Philadelphia health officials warned that reported gonorrhea cases rose 26 percent in the first half of 2010 compared with the same period in 2009.

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health said 2,876 gonorrhea cases were diagnosed in the first six months of this year. Even though the spike could be the result of increased testing efforts, it is a public health concern, said Caroline C. Johnson, director of DPH's Division of Disease Control. The city saw modest declines in the STD for several years through 2009.

Up to 30 percent of cases are resistant to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, said Johnson. Treatment failures related to cipro could be contributing to the increase in drug resistance, she noted. The Philadelphia health advisory recommends using the alternative antibiotics ceftriaxone or cefixime.

Patients being treated for gonorrhea should be treated concurrently for chlamydia infection unless they have tested negative for it, the advisory states.

Thomas Fekete, chief of the division of infectious diseases at the Temple University School of Medicine, said an estimated 10 percent of infected men and considerably more infected women do not know they have gonorrhea - another factor contributing to its spread.

Major risk factors for contracting gonorrhea and other STDs include:
*being under 25
*history of previous STDs
*having multiple sex partners
*not using condoms consistently
*history of drug use or sex work.

NORTH CAROLINA:   "Brunswick County Students Will Begin STD, Contraceptives Education in the Fall"
WETC.com (Wilmington)     (08.04.10)
On Tuesday, the Brunswick County School Board voted 3-2 to approve offering a more comprehensive sex education curriculum for middle school students.

Under a new state law signed by Gov. Beverly Perdue, school districts are required to offer more than abstinence-only sex education. Students must be taught about STDs, contraceptives, and sexual abuse prevention. It is up to each district how to implement the health education act's mandates.

The main choice before the board was whether to make sex education an opt-in or opt-out program. An opt-in approach would require parents to sign a release before a student could participate. Instead, the board voted to make it an opt-out course, so parents who do not want their child to learn about contraceptives, STDs, and sexual abuse will have to request that their students be excused.

"I know it's a touchy subject," said Bud Thorsen, who chairs the board. Ideally, parents would educate their children about sex, but many cannot be counted on to do that, he said. Schools are left to fill in the blanks, and an opt-out strategy will allow the schools to educate more children, he said.


News Briefs
 
MISSOURI:   "Sterilization Lapse at St. Louis VA to Spur Probe"
Associated Press     (07.06.10)
William Schoenhard, a Veterans Health Administration deputy undersecretary, said Tuesday he will appoint a three-person board this week to investigate possible instrument sterilization problems in the dental clinic of the VA's St. Louis hospital. Last week, the VA informed 1,812 veterans who underwent dental procedures there between February 2009 and March 11, 2010, that errors may have exposed them to HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. As of Tuesday, 480 of these patients had taken advantage of the VA's offer of free screenings for the infections. The risk of exposure to the viruses is "very low," Schoenhard said. The problem occurred because workers cleaning equipment failed to use detergent when prewashing it before sterilization, said VA Undersecretary for Health Dr. Robert Petzel. The chance that the mistake led to ineffective sterilization is "phenomenally remote," Petzel said.


UNITED STATES:   "History of Forced Sex and Recent Sexual Risk Indicators Among Young Adult Males"
Perspectives on Sexual & Reproductive Health Vol. 42; No. 2; doi: 10.1363/4208710    (06..10):: Laureen H. Smith; Jodi Ford

The authors undertook the current study to learn whether young men who have been forced to have sex are at heightened risk of sexual risk-taking and whether that risk varies according to the gender of the perpetrator.

The study was based upon data from 1,400 males, ages 18-24, who participated in the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. This information was used to determine the prevalence of a history of forced sex and the context of each respondent's most recent experience of sexual assault. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between having been a victim and having a recent indicator of sexual risk (e.g., having had sex in the past year with five or more female partners, a female drug injector or a female with HIV). Separate analyses were performed for coercion by females and by males.

Of the men, 6 percent said a female perpetrator had forced them to have vaginal intercourse; 1 percent said a male perpetrator had forced them to have oral or anal sex. The results indicated men had an elevated likelihood of reporting one or more recent sexual risk indicators if they had been forced into sex by a male (odds ratio, 6.9) or a female (3.3). Verbal and physical coercion and providing alcohol and drugs were commonly employed by female as well as male perpetrators.

"A better understanding of the pathways linking sexual victimization to sexual risk-taking among men is needed," the authors concluded. "Clinicians working with young men should screen them for victimization and provide STD testing and referrals for counseling if abuse is suspected or disclosed."

MISSOURI:   "4 VA Patients Have Hepatitis"
St. Louis Post-Dispatch     (07.31.10):: Tim O'Neil

A Veterans Health Administration spokesperson said Friday that four patients of the dental clinic at the VA's John A. Cochrane Medical Center in St. Louis have tested positive for hepatitis. Two have tested positive for hepatitis B and two for hepatitis C. In June, the facility began informing 1,812 clinic patients that lapses in instrument cleaning may have exposed them to hepatitis and HIV. The spokesperson said it is not known whether the four contracted the viruses at the VA, which will continue to test and treat them. "It is very good to hear that the VA will be taking care of these individuals," said Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.). "We should expect nothing less." Of the 1,812 patients, 1,022 so far have been notified of their test results. No one has tested positive for HIV.

 

FLORIDA:   "Miami VA: Remaining Veterans Notified of Disease Exposure"
Miami Herald     (07.29.10):: Fred Tasker

The Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Miami said Wednesday it had succeeding in contacting all 79 veterans it failed to notify last year regarding a potential viral exposure. In March 2009, the facility said mistakes in the sterilization of colonoscopy equipment between 2004 and 2009 may have exposed more than 2,400 patients to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. This July, the VA found its initial contact efforts had missed 79 vets. The VA has not said whether all have since been tested; it reported that 48 had received their test results, with other results pending. One of the newly screened patients was found to have hepatitis B. The VA's Administrative Investigation Board is looking into the notification lapse.

NEW YORK:   "More Visitors to STD Clinic, but Cases Drop"
Buffalo News     (07.23.10):: Thomas J. Prohaska

A new report to the Niagara County Board of Health indicates the number of visitors to the county's STD clinic is up, though the number of diagnosed cases is generally down.

Wanda Smiley, director of patient services for the county Health Department, reported 1,538 people in 2009 visited the free clinic in the Trott Access Center, which operates only on Mondays and Wednesdays. That compares with 1,515 in 2008 and 1,421 in 2007. Attendance by both women and men was up.

From 2007 to 2009, the clinic logged fewer cases of gonorrhea, human papillomavirus, and urethritis. But chlamydia cases increased during the time period, from 103 in 2007 to 173 last year. Ten syphilis cases were diagnosed in 2009, compared with four in 2008 and none in 2007.

Last year, 767 HIV tests were administered at the clinic, and three turned up positive; in 2008, one case out of 756 tests was positive, and in 2007, there were two cases in 669 tests.

Since 2007, a grant has supported STD awareness efforts at local high schools. Health Department nurses and staff from the county Youth Bureau have visited Lockport, Starpoint, Newfane, Niagara Falls and North Tonawanda high schools, said Smiley. The grant expires Sept. 30, but Smiley said the Youth Bureau is applying for new funding that would move the STD education initiative into middle schools. 


 

 
  
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