Submitted on: October 18, 1993
               
  AIDS researcher gives upbeat report


   SAN FRANCISCO  A leading AIDS researcher delivered an upbeat message 
Wednesday at the Sixth National AIDS Update Conference in San Francisco.
   Dr. Paul Volberding, director of the AIDS Program at San Francisco General 
Hospital, said the dark mood that followed last summer's international AIDS 
conference in Berlin has lifted.
   He said there had been widespread discouragement and pessimism following 
numerous reports of discouraging study results for what had been considered 
promising therapies.
   Now, however, the mood has recovered, and scientists are forging ahead with 
their research on how to stop the deadly disease with renewed enthusiasm.
   Of particular interest are studies of long-term survivors who have remained 
symptom-free five to 10 years after infection. They may provide a critical clue 
as to why some people remain healthy while others become deathly sick after 
infection.