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Focuses on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States. STD rates in the US; Consequences of STDs; STDs' impact on women, infants, young people and minorities; STD prevention works.

Reports on AIDS organizations' call on the organizers of the 1997 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections to expand the event. Background on the organizers' policy to restrict attendance; Recommendations made to conference organizers; Details of the campaign.

Discloses that Mycobacterium bovis tuberculosis that is resistant to 11 drugs has emerged in Spain and is being transmitted between hospitals. Outbreak of the disease at Madrid's Ramon y Cajal Hospital; Details on the transmission of the disease between hospitals.

Highlights a proposal to provide government compensation to individuals who contracted HIV from tainted blood supplies. Provision for hemophiliacs; Endowment for victims and their survivors; Financing from manufacturers of blood-clotting products.

Features the Positive Care Clinic, a facility which opened its doors to HIV patients who were in a former general medicine ward at Stanford University Hospital in California. Management of AIDS as a chronic disease; Shift from acute-care environment to a community setting; Use of new drugs to delay the onset of complications and death.

Reveals that immunosuppressed patients with intravenous immunoglobulin-acquired hepatitis C virus infection tend to have worse outcomes compared with patients who have intact immune systems. Failure of patients' kidneys; Complication from transfusion of blood products; Possibility of coinfection with other unidentified viral agents.

Reports on the participation of several Olympian athletes in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon scheduled for September 7, 1997. Involvement of Amanda Beard, Dave Johnson, Ruth Wysocki, Steve Scott, Steve Hegg and Connie Young; Support for the battle against AIDS; Proceeds to benefit the Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Highlights the debate of conservative groups and AIDS activists about needle exchange programs in the United States. Concern on encouraging drug use; Benefit of focusing on drug treatment; Opposition to the use of federal funds.

Focuses on a pilot needle exchange program in New Hampshire. Prevention of the spread of disease; Implementation in urban areas; Provision for clean needles and safety disposal of used ones.

Forecasts the decline of HIV and AIDS infections in Australia. Effectivity of safe sex campaigns and syringe exchange programs for heroin users; Evidence from statistics since 1994; Measures for controlling HIV infections in Aborigine communities.

Announces a Home Access Health Corp. offer of free HIV test kits to American consumers. Result of a competitor's decision to withdraw their product from the market; Contact information.

Reveals the discovery of a human gene for the active component of telomerase, an enzyme which directs the lengthening of chromosomes. Impact on cancer diagnosis and treatment; Activity of telomerase in cancer cells; Research on understanding of properties and inhibition.

Reports on pseudotyping a murine leukemia virus with the envelope glycoproteins of HIV to generate a retroviral vector with specificity of infection for CD4-expressing cells. Efficiency in transfecting genes into target cells; Delivery of therapeutic genes; Study of HIV infection mediated by glycoproteins.

Reports on a grant won by Duke University Medical Center specialist, Carol Hamilton and her colleagues to develop strategies in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in the United States. Threat of the disease to the American public health; Inadequacy of healthcare providers' equipment to diagnose and treat patients; Improvement of management information.

Reports on the grant received by Gryphon Sciences for using its proprietary chemical protein synthesis to advance the understanding of proteins as targets for drug discovery. Development of a protease inhibitor for AIDS treatment; Understanding of a new protein's structure and function; Collaboration with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Presents the results of a study made by researcher Santiago Moreno and colleagues on the effectivity of a nine to 12-month course of isoniazid for long-term protection against tuberculosis. Survival of patients already infected with HIV; Occurrence of deaths during investigations; Prevention against reinfection risks.

Reports on the findings of a study on the association of maternal hepatitis C virus infection with increased HIV transmission in the womb. Drug use as a risk factor; Transmission through sharing of contaminated needles; Occurrence of homosexual and perinatal transmissions.

Highlights the association of an upsurge in tuberculosis (TB) cases in Uganda to the HIV epidemic. Increase of TB incidence from 1991-1996; Death of patients; Lack of resources for diagnosis and treatment.

Reports on a new assay which provides a standard method for evaluating the potency of anti-HIV antibodies. Difference in antibody activity from the effects of HIV inhibitory chemokines in human sera; Prevention syncytium formation in cells infected with the recombinant virus; Lack of restriction in inhibiting epitopes.

Presents the results of a survey on the increased AIDS risks of gay men in San Francisco, California because they think it is less of a health threat. Effect of advances in treatment to sexual behavior; Decrease in the number of HIV particles detectable in the blood; Evidence on ability of multi-drug cocktails to buy time not cure the disease.

Focuses on the increasing complications in AIDS treatment decisions. Effectiveness of protease inhibitors; Possibility of a drug's loss of potency; Side effects and toxic interactions from medications.

Reports on complications of HIV infections. Frequency of pneumonia; Development of neurologic impairments; Damage to the neuron and glial cells.

Presents the results of a study on T cells depletion from tonsil biopsies of people at various stages of HIV disease. Evidence against the popular idea that HIV causes AIDS; Depletion of T cells when viral load reaches threshold level in lymphoid tissue; Replacement and loss in the balance between tonsillar CD4 cells.

Reports that preclinical results of heteroconjugate technology combined with HGP-30 peptide were presented by Cel-Sci Corp. at the 1997 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held in Washington D.C. Background on the study conducted by the company's researchers.

Reports on Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s presentation of results from the company's HIV protease inhibitor Viracept research at the 1997 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held in Washington D.C. Background on the company's clinical trials and evaluation of the drug.

Reports that preliminary data suggest that the combination of the antiretroviral agents 1592U89 and 141W94 may be able to treat HIV infection, according to a study presented at the 1997 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held in Washington D.C. Background on the study.

Presents a statement from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director David Satcher regarding the status of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States. CDC's support for national efforts to prevent STDs; CDC's commitment to STD prevention.

Reports that HIV did not develop resistance to 141W94/VX-478 inhibitor designed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., according to the study performed by researchers from Glaxo Wellcome and presented during the 1997 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held in Washington D.C. Background on the research conducted.

Reports that Abbott Laboratories has submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a label recommendation for the use of Norvir ritonavir in the treatment of children with HIV and AIDS. Company's presentation of data supporting the submission during the 1997 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held in Washington D.C.

Reports that research scientists from Gilead Sciences Inc. presented several abstracts of the company's research on antiviral nucleotides during the 1997 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held in Washington D.C. Highlights of the company's abstracts.

Reports that physicians with previous experience in treatment of patients with HIV are more aggressive in treating HIV infections, according to a study conducted by the Community Consortium and presented during the 1997 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held in Washington D.C. Background on the study.

Reports on Indiana's state-funded programs for people with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Funding stagnation; Comments by health activists.

Focuses on the link between HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) application of research to prevent major STDs; Links between STD detection and treatment, and reduction of HIV transmission.

Reports on Mosaic Technologies Inc.'s product-development agreement with Boston University's Center for Photonics Research. Terms of the agreement.

Reports that protease inhibitors Invirase and Viracept showed favorable interaction according to the study presented by Ottawa General Hospital researcher Steven Kravcik during the 1997 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held in Washington D.C. Background on the study.

Reports on United Nations AIDS program director Peter Piot's address to the 1997 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held in Washington D.C. Piot's assertion that only a vaccine can stop the AIDS pandemic; UNAIDS' agenda for HIV vaccine research.

Focuses on New York-based Saint Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center researcher D.P. Kotler and colleagues' report of their findings at the 1997 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held in Washington D.C. Reduction of HIV infections in mucosal lymphoid tissues during combination antiretroviral therapies.

Reports on Seattle, Washington-based University of Washington researcher Lawrence Corey and colleagues' report on the AIDS Vaccine Evaluation Group's (AVEG) study on recombinant canarypox vaccine during the 1997 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held in Washington D.C. Canarypox vaccine's features.

Highlights the report of John W. Mellors at the 3rd Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, held January 28-February 1, 1996 on the results of clinical studies on the effectiveness of the branched DNA (bDNA) test developed by Chiron Diagnostics in predicting HIV disease progression. Background on the test; Viral load measurement from HIV RNA quantification by bDNA.

Reports the lawsuit filed by an American employee infected with AIDS against Nippon Express U.S.A. Details on the alleged harassment; Comment from John Hendrickson, regional attorney, on the case; Statement of a Nippon Express spokesman on the issue.

Focuses on the marketing of a rapid saliva HIV test in Great Britain. Approval from the US Department of Health for professional use; Sensitivity and reliability of results.

Focuses on the difficulty of convincing American teenagers to get tested for HIV. Result of a lack of information on the spread and treatment of the disease.

Presents a speech by Jorge Perez, an official from Cuba's Tropical Medical Institute on the benefits of an American economic embargo in controlling the spread of HIV infection in the country. Advantage of restricted travel by Americans; Implementation of mass testing and isolation measures.

Highlights measures adopted by Vietnam to improve its ability to detect and control HIV infection. Establishment of centers for treating patients; Information for families of sufferers.

Reports on a pact signed by the five states of Africa's Great Lakes region to cooperate in halting epidemics such as cholera and malaria. Agreement to pool stocks of drugs and vaccines; Meetings on public health issues.

Reports on a license granted to Visible Genetics Inc. to include a polymerase chain reaction technology in its OpenGene DNA analysis system. Approval for the development, marketing and sale of diagnostic kits.

Highlights an agreement signed by Behring Diagnostics and Abbott Laboratories for patents and patent applications covering HIV virus group O. Strategy of the companies to develop reliable diagnostic tests.

Features AmBisome liposome injection, a therapy for fungal infections or mycoses in patients with depressed immune function and fever of unknown origin. Approval by the US Food and Drug Administration; Application in patients with visceral leishmaniasis; Safety and efficacy.

Reports on the shelf life upgrade for Saliva Diagnostic Systems Inc.'s rapid HIV tests. Opportunity for the products to be ordered at larger quantities.

Presents the results of a study associating a common genetic mutation with delaying the onset of AIDS. Tests on people who never get the syndrome despite their exposure.