UNITED STATES: "Hepatitis C Deaths Up, Baby Boomers Most at Risk"back to top Associated Press , (02.21.2012) Lauran Neergaard
Two-thirds of Americans with hepatitis C virus were born between 1945 and 1965, and federal health officials are considering whether to recommend one-time HCV testing for this group. “One of every 33 baby boomers are living with hepatitis C infection,” said Dr. John Ward, director of CDC’s Division of Viral Hepatitis. “Most people will be surprised, because it’s a silent epidemic.”
Recorded deaths from HCV have surpassed those from HIV, a new CDC study of mortality data between 1999 and 2007 found. Deaths from HCV had increased significantly to 15,106 in 2007, while HIV deaths fell to 12,734. Three-fourths of hepatitis deaths occurred in people ages 45-64.
An estimated 3.2 million Americans have chronic HCV, but at least half may not know it. Before 1992, when widespread HCV testing of the blood supply began, the virus commonly was spread through blood transfusions. A one-time experiment with drugs, even if it was decades ago, also could have led to an infection. “Asking someone about a risk that happened 20 to 30 years ago is a lot to ask,” Ward said.
Current CDC guidelines recommend testing those known to be at high risk, but federal health officials are considering whether anyone born between 1945 and 1965 should get a one-time HCV blood test. A second CDC-funded study analyzing that option concluded it had the potential to save 82,000 lives.
“Mortality will continue to grow for the next 10 to 15 years at least, unless we do something different” to find and treat silent HCV infections, Ward said.
Research suggests that adding to standard HCV treatment one of two new drugs could boost cure rates as high as 75 percent, with some patients able to complete therapy in just six months. A third study from Stanford University found the new triple HCV therapy would be cost-effective for people with advanced disease, and genetic testing could be used to help identify those with mild disease needing such treatment.
The studies, “The Increasing Burden of Mortality from Viral Hepatitis in the United States Between 1999 and 2007,” “The Cost-Effectiveness of Birth-Cohort Screening for Hepatitis C Antibody in US Primary Care Settings” and “New Protease Inhibitors for the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis,” were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (2012;156(4):271-278, 263-270 and 279-290, respectively).
Lack of funding is causing some 85,000 people with HIV in Myanmar to go without treatment, Doctors Without Borders reported Wednesday. Myanmar’s situation could grow even worse, since the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria recently suspended new grant-making activities due to a shortfall in donations, DWB said. The expected Global Fund grants could have supplied HIV medicine to 46,500 people in Myanmar and treated another 10,000 patients stricken with drug-resistant TB.
Myanmar’s tuberculosis rate is nearly triple the global rate, and drug-resistant strains continue to surge. TB is a leading cause of death for the country’s HIV patients. About 18,000 people die from HIV/AIDS annually in Myanmar, the UN estimates.
DWB provides antiretroviral drugs to nearly 23,000 people at 23 clinics throughout Myanmar, funding more than half of all HIV treatment being provided to 43,000 patients, said Peter Paul de Groote, leader of DWB’s Myanmar operation.
Although a civilian government assumed office last year, international assistance to Myanmar has remained minimal due to its previous rule by a reclusive military government.
“Regardless of what is happening in the country, the people that are in need of treatment need treatment,” said de Groote. “Of course, we all hope that the developments as they seem to be going in that direction will lead to more money into the country, but, in general, I think this money should be coming in regardless of what the situation is.”
Last year, students at Kenya’s Strathmore University began software development on a database system to help speed up the delivery of HIV test results for infants in remote areas. Diagnosis within six weeks of birth ensures the timely initiation of antiretroviral therapy.
With the system already implemented in 75 of Kenya’s most remote health centers, blood samples are logged into one of the four central Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) CDC laboratories. A text message is sent to the rural health center confirming the sample’s receipt. Upon diagnosis, another text confirmation is generated to the rural center, which notifies parents the results are ready.
“As a policy, all positive results on the [polymerase chain reaction] equipment have to be re-run for confirmation in order to avoid false positives that might be due to contamination,” said Oscar Mulondanome, a lab technologist at the Alupe Center testing laboratory.
Use of the system is cutting down the time spent waiting for a diagnosis, delays that can span up to 18 weeks. An additional 50 facilities will be connected to the testing sites in trial phases, said Silvia Kadima, a researcher with KEMRI. By April, the software will be further customized and officially rolled out by the government, Kadima said.
A study of Indiana high schools similar in enrollment, community size and racial demographics finds those that offered a specific abstinence education program demonstrated better overall academic achievement.
Purdue University Sociology Professor Kenneth Ferraro analyzed 42 high schools, one-half of which offered the Peers Educating and Encouraging Relationship Skills (PEERS) Project, an abstinence-based curriculum that uses peer educators to discuss risky behaviors. Under the program, high school students are recruited to talk to pupils in grades six through eight in science or health and wellness classes.
“We were interested in whether abstinence education programs were good, bad or benign for academic performance,” said Ferraro. “We found that school corporations with a specific abstinence education program had a higher percentage of their high school sophomores pass the math portion of the ISTEP+ Graduation Qualifying Exam in 2008-09 than was the case for matched controls.”
The longer the schools used PEERS, the better the results, said Ferraro. “We saw greater gains in the percent passing the math exam when the program was sustained for several years,” he said. However, there was no association between PEERS and attendance rates at the schools.
PEERS Executive Director Eve Jackson said the program benefits both younger and older students. High school students who serve as mentors tend to grow more confident in their own positive values as they promote them to younger students, she said. “When exemplary role models explain why it is important to set future goals and make healthy choices as well as abstain from all risky behavior, including sexual activity, middle school students pay attention,” she noted. Overall, “Students abstaining from risky behavior do better in school,” she added.
The study, “Do Abstinence Education Programs Influence High School Academic Performance?” was published in the American Journal of Health Studies (2011;26(4)).
Local and Community News
FLORIDA: "Miami Gardens Teen Rally Advocates Abstinence"back to top Miami Herald , (02.16.2012) Latoya Burgess
Peacemakers Family Center held its second annual PlanBe rally on Feb. 11 at a Miami Gardens church to focus on reducing teen pregnancy and STDs in Miami-Dade County.
Retired Miami Heat NBA player Tim Hardaway participated in the rally and advised the hundreds of teens that, in real life, “You need to buy milk, clothes, wipes — you have to understand that having fun comes with consequences.” The father of three continued, “It’s about being healthy and not having diseases and not getting pregnant.”
Rally participant Freddelle Menard — a senior at William H. Turner Technical Arts High School — reenacted a Maury Show episode on television about teen moms struggling to verify paternity. “Nowadays so many teens are promiscuous and end up on shows like Maury or Jerry Springer,” said Menard. “This is a way to show them to focus mainly on education and what God wants.”
Founded by the Miami-based Trinity Church, Peacemakers provides social service programs to disadvantaged local residents. PlanBe regularly visits urban high schools, educating students about HIV, safe sex and teen pregnancy through a 16-lesson curriculum emphasizing abstinence, said Crystal Agnew, director of the program, which aims aims to reach 1,200 middle and high schools by 2016. PlanBe is federally funded through a $4.9 million, five-year grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health.
“We educate [students] on HIV prevention and the risks of engaging in any kind of sexual activities,” said Agnew. “It’s extremely important because Miami-Dade County has one of the highest HIV rates in the country.”
New rules will make it easier for low-income HIV patients to receive needed medications through the Illinois AIDS Drug Assistance Program. Changes advocated by AIDS Foundation of Chicago and AIDS Legal Council of Chicago should ease the cumbersome paperwork requirements for the program’s 4,200 clients. Among the new rules, ADAP will no longer require existing recipients to complete an entirely new application every six months; they will be recertified instead.
On Feb. 16, US District Judge William Haynes granted a preliminary injunction against a Tennessee Department of Health decision to halt funding for Planned Parenthood’s HIV and syphilis testing program. Planned Parenthood is suing the state over $150,000 in dropped grants, arguing the group is being punished for providing “comprehensive women’s health care” that includes abortion. “This [ruling] will allow us to continue our lifesaving work of providing high-quality health care and accurate health information,” said Elokin CaPece, director of education at Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region. “HIV and STD testing and prevention counseling saves lives.” A portion of the testing grant was directed to PPGMR affiliates including the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center.
March 1 is the registration deadline for the HIV Provider Network’s second annual HIV Conference. The free and open-to-the-public event will be held March 10 at the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower Medical Center, 43-000 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; breakfast and lunch will be provided as part of the 9 a.m.-4 p.m. event. For more information, telephone 760-282-4481 or visit www.sites.google.com/site/hivprovidernetwork.
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