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Page 2
HEALTH & SCIENCE
Wednesday* July 6, ] 994
Nasty needles no longer necessary
RISEAftCH
HERPES STUDY
Individuals with genital herpes
infections are being recruited for a
52-week research study of an
investigational anti-viral medication.
A current herpes outbreak is not
necessary. $300 will be paid to
qualified volunteers who enroll and
complete this study.
For more information, call:
VIP Research, Inc.
(409) 776-1417
Program focuses on HIV prevention
by stressing information, sanitation
By Mark Evans the spread of AIDS,” he said.
I i r r' T2 a 'T" r at i r"\x t T~> l 1 _ J 1 1 T> 1
lliiiP
FREE
PRACTICE
LSAT
Programs that provide clean needles to
drug addicts are proving effective in stop
ping the spread of HIV without encourag
ing drug use, but in Texas, they have re
ceived a lukewarm response.
One-third of AIDS cases in the United
States occur among adults and teenagers
who are injection drug users, according to
a recent study in the Journal of the
American Medical Association.
“As many as 4.5 million men and
women are in the direct line of fire - as IV
(intravenous) drug users or their sexual
partners - for HIV infection,” says an arti
cle in the journal.
See related editorial, Page 5
Saturday, July 9th
9:00 am -12:30 pm
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Several communities across the United
States, such as New Haven, Conn, and
San Francisco, Calif., have already start
ed programs that allow drug users to ex
change dirty needles for clean ones as a
way of stopping the spread of HIV.
In New Haven, the city’s health de
partment exchanges clean syringes for
dirty syringes from a van that travels be
tween five neighborhoods, four days a
week.
The program started in 1990 and has
since seen a 33 percent decline in the
number of AIDS cases in New Haven. In
addition, the program has referred 20
percent of its clients to drug treatment
programs.
George Bucheli, a needle exchange out
reach worker, estimates that workers
hand out 150-350 needles a day. Workers
also hand out food, clothes, condoms, and
information about needle disposal.
“Basically, all of the information that
comes out of the van is to try to stop the
the spread of AIDS,” he said.
But when the program started, Buche
li said, some people were more concerned
about the program’s effect on drug abuse
rates than its effectiveness in stopping
the spread of HIV.
“Everyone thought that we were pro
moting drug use, that we were going to
make people use more drugs,” he said.
“All of that has turned out to be false.
But we had to change laws to get it done.”
Since 1990, Connecticut has become
one of the few states to allow people to
buy syringes over-the-counter in pharma
cies. Meanwhile, almost all of the 50
states restrict the sale and possession of
syringes to patients with diseases, such
as diabetes.
Dr. Richard Needle, head of communi
ty research for the National Institute on
Drug Abuse, said that for maximum ben
efit, needle exchange programs should be
combined with other strategies, such as
education or drug treatment.
“What you’d like to have is a compre
hensive community-based program that
has a number of different features,” he
said. “It is in that context that needle
exchange becomes an alternative.”
Outreach workers, through their con
tacts with drug users, have plenty of op
portunities, not only to provide them
with clean needles, but also to encourage
them to kick the drug habit by offering
them help.
Dr. David McMurray, a professor at
Texas A&M University’s medical school,
said that to combat the spread of HIV,
health officials must start taking needle
exchange programs seriously.
“As far as I’m concerned, I don’t think
we can ignore the drug users and solve
the HIV problem,” he said. “They’re part
7 H ..
of the same problem and must be solved
together.”
In parts of the country where law and
order are big issues, McMurray said, sy
ringe exchange programs have been too
easily dismissed as nonsense because
people see them as promoting drug use.
In Texas, 12 percent of people with
AIDS have been infected through contam
inated needles, according to the Texas
Department of Health. The state cur
rently outlaws any program that would
offer free needles to drug users.
Lee Trevino, Texas Department of
Health manager for HIV counseling and
testing, said he does not believe that the
state will ever allow needle exchange pro
grams.
Texas legislators are very conserva
tive, he said, and they fear the political
backlash that could result if they offer
needles to drug users.
“I suspect that what they’ll do is never
allow the issue to be brought up for a
vote, as a way of pushing it under the
rug,” he said.
Trevino said he is not convinced that
needle exchange programs are effective.
And, he said, studies done on needle ex
change programs in California and Con
necticut may not be applicable to Texas.
“In Texas, can we say that we have the
same kind of incidence of HIV infection
and needle-using substance abusers as
we see on the East or West Coast?” Trevi
no said. “I don’t know. But if we don’t,
then these kind of programs may not
work here.”
Tom Elatchford, speaker’s bureau coor
dinator for the AIDS Foundation of Hous
ton, disagrees and said that with the
Please see Needles, Page 6
The Princeton Review is not affiliated with
LSAS or Princeton Universit
IT
Food poisoning targets 81
million Americans a year
Tuberculosis on the rise
By Michelle E. Morat
A. P. Beutel Health Center
Texas has third highest number of cases,
trails behind California and New York
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What people tnay have been calling a 24-hour flu may be a case of food
borne illness. Each year up to 81 million Americans suffer from food borne ill
ness. Remarkably, only a few types of bacteria are responsible for a majority of
these illnesses. These are Salmonella, Staphylococcus and Perfringins.
Salmonella symptoms may appear anywhere from 8 to 72 hours to 8 to 15
days after contact depending on the type of strain. Symptoms can include di
arrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting. Food reservoirs of salmonella include
poultry, eggs and red meat.
In addition, people can be carriers of salmonella and pass it through food to
other people if they do not practice safe food handling. Salmonella is the most
reported food borne illness to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Staphylococcus symptoms can appear anywhere from 1 to 8 hours and
can include nausea, vomiting at 5 to 20 minute intervals for 1 to 8 hours,
abdominal and leg cramps, diarrhea 1 to 7 times per hour, high pulse, cold
sweats and dehydration. Perfringins symptoms can appear anywhere be
tween 2 to 24 hours and can include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and
explosive diarrhea.
This is considered a mild food borne illness and probably the one most often
called the 24-hour flu because symptoms disappear within a day. This is the
third most reported food borne illness, but it may be the most common food
borne illness because of the lack of reporting it.
Another bacteria that causes food borne illness and that has been in the me
dia a lot lately is E. Coli.
E. Coli is initially found in the feces of cattle. When the animals are slaugh
tered, bacteria in the digestive tract may come in contact with meat.
Cow feces may come in contact with other foods and cause food borne ill
ness. For example, an apple that falls on the ground in a cow pasture and is
then picked up and eaten without adequate washing can cause the bacteria.
Bacteria are like any living thing. They need food, water and the right cli
mate conditions to survive. For illness to occur, food must be contaminated
(contamination is impossible to eliminate), food must support growth (contain
protein, adequate water, and the right pH) and food must be left in the wrong
temperature (not hot or cold enough to kill bacteria or prevent its growth.)
Factors that can cause food borne illness are slow cooling of foods, inade
quate cooking, improper hat-holding, cross-contamination and infected food
handlers.
People should follow these tips to help prevent sickness:
1. Keep potentially hazardous foods out of the “Temperature Danger Zone.”
Some examples of potentially hazardous foods are beef, chicken, fish, eggs,
cooked pasta, cooked grains and cooked vegetables. The “Temperature Danger
Zone” is the temperature range from 40 to 140 degrees at which bacteria repro
duce rapidly. People should keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold until they
are ready to eat and refrigerate leftovers immediately.
2. Clean and sanitize food preparation equipment and cutting boards be
tween each use.
3. To prevent cross-contaminating foods, people should wash their hands
every time they come in contact with raw foods or any unsanitary surfaces
such as tables, dirty dishes and restroom facilities.
4. Cook potentially hazardous foods such as ground meats, poultry, fish and
eggs thoroughly to kill any bacteria that may cause food home illness.
By Sara Israwi
The Battalion. ..
Brazos County and the, state ©f Texas
are facing major concerns as the numbers
of cases of tuberculosis increase through
out the state.
Texas has the third highest number of
tuberculosis cases in the United States,
behind California and New York.
Eight cases of the disease have been
confirmed in Brazos County this year, and
2,393 new cases were reported in Texas in
1993.
Joyce Cowles,
reporting and
data analysis
manager for the
Texas Depart
ment of Health,
said the figures
for 1993 were low
tion to d.ecrease. their chances of develop
ing active tuberculosis.
“The other thing is when someone is di
agnosed with active tuberculosis we test
all of their close contacts to see if they are
infected or might have the disease,” she
said.
Dr. David McMurry, a professor of med
ical microbiology and immunology, said
there is a vaccine used around the world
but it has not been effective in treating
the disease.
“Anyone who has not been immunized
is susceptible to
Active tuberculosis is highly con
tagious and does not require
face-to-face contact.
tuberculosis, and
in the United
States that is vir
tually everyone,”
McMurry said.
“People with HIV,
the elderly and
compared to cases nationwide in 1992, but
they appear to be rising again.
“As of now we are 10 to 15 percent
ahead of 1993; and if that’s the case, we’ll
be back up to 2,400 or 2,500 in 1994,” she
said.
Sharon Arnold, a registered nurse at
A.P. Beutel Health Center, said tuberculo
sis, which affects the immune system, can
be fatal if not treated.
Beutel offers tuberculosis testing, but
only requires international students to
take the test.
“We recommend it for all students be
cause we are really seeing an increase in
tuberculosis and tuberculosis skin tests,”
Arnold said.
Many students’ skin tests come out
negative but could test positive later,
Arnold said.
“If this happens, Beutel will do a chest
X-ray, and if it confirms they do not have
tuberculosis, then the student is given
medication to prevent it,” she said. “If X-
rays are positive, the student is then re
ferred to the health department.”
Shirley Kostohryz, nursing supervisor
at Brazos County Health Department,
said people with a positive skin test are
not contagious and can be put on medica-
pregnant women are also in high-risk
groups.”
Active tuberculosis is highly contagious
and does not require face-to-face contact,
he said.
“The organism can survive in the air,
and can be carried through air ducts,” Mc
Murry said. “It starts out in the respira
tory route of an infected person.”
Kostohryz said the disease can only be
transmitted through the air.
“The ones at risk are those who are
sharing air space with someone who has
the active disease,” she said.
Research in the College of Medicine is
currently testing how vaccines protect ani
mals from tuberculosis because their sys
tem is similar to the human body system.
McMurry said some progress has been
made.
Certain nutrients lacking in a diet
makes the system less protected by the
vaccine, he said. Protein is important, as
well as nationwide vitamin D and zinc.
“It is important to note that there are a
lot of fundamental things we don’t know
about controlling tuberculosis,” McMurry
said. “The current epidemic caught us by
surprise, and now we have to start back at
square one.”
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