Friday, Jan. 17, 1986
Nation/World
University Daily Kansan
11
AIDS cases jump 84 percent in'85
United Press International
ATLANTA — The number of AIDS cases in the United States jumped 84 percent in 1965, and the number of AIDS cases linked to blood transfusions more than tripled, federal health officials said yesterday.
Along with the increase in acquired immune deficiency syndrome infections, the national Center for Disease Control said the fatality rate from the disease, for which there is no cure or effective treatment, rose to 51 percent.
The death rate for AIDS victims diagnosed before July 1984 was even greater, increasing to 79 percent. The CDC said 59 percent of the children who have AIDS died of the infection
Cases of AIDS related to blood transfusions increased from 56 in 1984 to 171 last year, despite the starting of a blood screening program that identifies those infected with the AIDS virus.
The CDC said the significance of the blood screening program and deferral of those at increased risk probably weren't reflected in national AIDS reporting because of the long period between infection with the virus and development of the disease.
Dr. Mead Morgan of the CDC's AIDS activity branch said, "We would hope to see a decrease in the next two to three years."
The incubation period for the disease can be as long as seven
Since June 1, 1981, there have been 16,458 AIDS cases reported to the CDC, 16,227 adults and 231 children. Of those, 8,361 have died.
years, the CDC said, and the possibility of longer incubation periods cannot be excluded.
"The number of cases reported each six-month period continues to increase, although not exponentially, as evidenced by the lengthening case-doubling times," the CDC said.
Morgan said that early in the AIDS epidemic, the number of cases appeared to be doubling every five months.
months. We expect doubling times to continue to lengthen," he said.
"More recently, the number of reported AIDS cases have doubled from about 8,000 to over 16,000 in 11
"However, the number of additional cases required for each doubling is increasing rapidly. If the next doubling is going to occur between 12 and 14 months, we're talking about an additional 16,000 cases."
Morgan labeled the lengthening time it takes for AIDS cases to double as good news. If the doubling time had remained at six months there might have been as many as three million cases by 1988, he said.
He said the average survival time for an AIDS victim was a year and three months and "the prospects for the person who develops AIDS are not getting better."
Larger number of children may have AIDS
NEW YORK - Twice as many children may be suffering from AIDS than have been reported to the national Centers for Disease Control, an official of the agency said yesterday in a published report.
United Press International
The first issue of the newsletter AIDS Alert reported that doctors who treated youngsters suffering from the often-fatal ailment said many pediatric AIDS cases were not
reported because of difficulty in diagnosing the disease in children.
Symptoms often do not appear in children for three years, said the newsletter, which is published by the Atlanta-based American Health Consultants.
A strict definition of AIDS by the CDC, requiring that a patient develop an infection as a result of the virus, also kept the numbers low, the newsletter said.
broad enough to ensure the agency has an accurate count of pediatric AIDS cases, although it recently expanded the definition, said Martha Rogers, a CDC medical epidemiologist.
That definition of AIDS may not be
"The case definition is for surveillance purposes, not for diagnosing," she said. "It does underestimate the number of people who are actually sick with the disease. That figure is probably tou-
As of Jan. 13, there were 231 diagnosed cases of AIDS among children, many of whom were born with the ailment, the CDC said. The agency added that 16,227 adults have been diagnosed as having AIDS.
ble what we have reported in children."
Dr. Wade Parks, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Miami Medical School, said there actually were two to four times the number of cases of children with AIDS.
Researchers find part of AIDS key
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Researchers have found the lock-and-key mechanism by which the AIDS virus zeroes in on its target in the body's immune system, raising new hopes for a vaccine against the deadly disease.
In a report published today in Science magazine, the researchers said the finding suggests new ways of stopping or preventing AIDS infections, either by treating immune cells to reject the AIDS virus or by using drugs to attack the part of the virus that directs it toward immune cells.
Scientists have known that the AIDS virus has a preference for a specific white blood cell called the T-4 lymphocyte. The T-4 cells play a critical role in the body's immune system by directing the function of other blood cells.
When the T-4 cells are infected with the AIDS virus, they cannot coordinate the immune system, and the body becomes susceptible to the bizarre infections and unusual cancers seen in AIDS patients.
The new research, by Dr. J. Steven McDougal and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, explained how the AIDS virus was able to discriminate among many white blood cells and infect only the T-4 cells.
The researchers showed that an AIDS infection began when a virus protein called gp110 recognizes and binds to the so-called T-4 protein on the T-4 cells.
Scientists suspected that the T-4 protein and some viral protein were important in AIDS infections but had not confirmed it before, McDougal said. This is the first report to confirm that the T-4 protein is involved and to show that gp110 is the critical viral protein, he said.
Some researchers expressed caution in interpretation of the results, noting that evidence has been presented to show that the AIDS virus can infect the brain and central nervous system and bone marrow cells as well as T-4 cells.
Beta blockers linked with depression cases
United Press International
CHICAGO - Beta blockers, a group of drugs commonly prescribed for high blood pressure, can cause feelings of malaise and even severe depression in many of the people being treated with them. Harvard researchers reported yesterday.
"This is a great drug and one point that has to be made is this (study) should not be interpreted that patients should stop taking their beta blockers." Avorn said.
But despite the possible adverse side effects, people should continue taking the drugs unless their physician advises otherwise, said Dr. Jerry Arron, a specialist in internal medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Beta blockers, so-called because they block the effect of adrenaline on
the body, have been used since the 1960s for a wide variety of illnesses, including hypertension, glaucoma and stage fright.
— were well known, the depressive tendencies of the drug had not been studied scientifically.
Avron said that while some of the side effects — such as the risk of congestive heart failure in some patients — were well known, the depressive
Avron and his colleagues found that 23 percent of the patients who take beta-blockers were treated for depression in a two-year period. He said that number was conservative because many patients might have become depressed after taking the drug but never sought treatment.
"The people who I lose sleep over are the ones who are never told about this and live out their lives in quiet desperation," he said.
K.U.
Kempo Karate
and
Self-Defense Club
Classes Every Mon. & Wed., 5:30-6:30 p.m. Room 130 Robinson For more information contact: Dave King 749-0733 or Rick Cromwell 749-1704
Taco, Burrito Rice, Beans, Nachos plus a Soft Drink only $3.45
2515 W. 6th
841-1323
ALL YOU CAN EAT BBQ RIBS at Whistlers Walk
includes: salad choice of potato rolls only $6.99
Tuesday Nights From 5-9
842-1200
3120 W. 6th
Sunday Special
National March Parade and Celebration
January 20,1986 University of Kansas Observance of Martin Luther King, Jr.s., Birthday "LIVING THE DREAM"
11:30 a.m. March from the Chi Omega Fountain to the School of Religion
12:00 noon "Living the Dream" Program (Room 100 Smith Hall—School of Religion)
Musical selection. . . . "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (Denise Myers)
Dramatic Reading . . . "I Have a Dream" (Rev. Leo Barbee)
Musical Selection . . . "We Shall Overcome" (Black Student Union Gospel Choir)
Jayhawk
Room
"I Have a Dream"
(Discussion Leaders—Marilyn Yarbrough & Robert Shelton)
2:00 p.m.
Jayhawk "The Assassin Year: Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929-1968
Room (Discussion Leaders—Bill Tuttle & Brenda Crawley)
Films & Discussion—Kansas Union
7:00 p.m. "Living the Dream" An Open Forum Alderson (Reflections by Skip Turner & Cedric Gardner—former Civil Auditorium Rights workers)
3:50 p.m.
Jayhawk "I Have a Dream"
Sponsored by The Office of Minority Affairs University of Kansas
the Sanctuary
7th & Michigan 843-0541
residential with over 300 clients
reciprocal with,over 300 clubs
HEALTH, FITNESS and FUN!!! JOIN NOW STUDENT MEMBERSHIP ONLY 75$ on any HEALTH CLUB MEMBERSHIP per semester.
Trailridge Athletic Club designed specifically to meet your fitness needs with a membership program priced with a student budget in mind.
A spacious fitness facility including universal and free weight equipment, whirlpools, saunas, and much more!
Celebrate the arrival of two brand new SUN-TANA Tanning beds with this special student membership program. Offer good thru January 31st 1986.