[procaare] HIV/AIDS: U.S. Scientists Praise New Studies, Warn Of Drug Resistance

["Dr. Leela McCullough" <procaare@healthnet.org>]

HIV/AIDS: U.S. Scientists Praise New Studies, Warn Of Drug Resistance
- Dr. Leela McCullough, USA
********************

Researchers at the http://www.retroconference.org/2003/>10th Conference on Retroviruses
and Opportunistic Infections, which was being held in Boston, have praised the high number
of HIV/AIDS medicines in development, saying new drugs are urgently needed as patients
develop resistance to powerful drug cocktails that have prolonged their lives.

Scientists provided details of at least 10 drugs they said could substantially expand the
choices for treatment and make it more difficult for patients to develop drug resistance.

One leading researcher warned, however, that these studies could take several more years
to gain federal approval and may still produce unanticipated side effects. "It's wonderful
to see the drug industry looking and to see some of these results," said Calvin Cohen,
research director of http://www.crine.org/>Community Research Initia- tive of New England
and http://www.harvardvanguard.org/>Harvard Van- guard Medical Associates. "But it's also
important not to rely on new drugs to get us out of this mess."

AIDS specialists also cautioned that the virus appears to be spreading in the United
States for the first time since 1993, with a 1 percent increase reported in 2001. Although
the increase was small, they said, communities are affected at disproportionate rates.
"It's very important to keep reminding the American public that HIV/AIDS is still a
serious problem in our own country," said Ronald Valdiserri, a top AIDS specialist at the
U.S. http://www.cdc.gov/>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Stephen Smith,
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/043/nation/Scientists_see_new_hope_in
_treating_AIDS.shtml> Boston Globe, Feb. 12).

A U.S. health official at the conference pushed yesterday for wider use of a rapid HIV
test to identify newly infected people quickly and reduce their chances of transmitting
the virus to others. The test, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in November,
can provide results in 20 minutes, whereas results from the standard HIV test can take up
to several days to receive, with many patients failing to return for the results at all.

An estimated 800,000 to 900,000 Americans are living with HIV, the
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/12/health/12IMMU.html New York Times reports, but about
280,000 do not know that they are infected (Lawrence Altman, New York Times, Feb. 12).
http://www.unwire.org/unwire/current.asp#32015current.asp#contents

Dr. Leela McCullough
Director of Information Services
SATELLIFE
30 California Street,
Watertown,
MA 02472,
USA
Tel: 617-926-9400
Fax: 617-926-1212
mailto:leela@usa.healthnet.org http://www.healthnet.org

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