In January it was reported that some people with AIDS already had resistance to the drug Zidovudine (AZT) even though they themselves had never taken the drug.
"Some of the patients may have gotten the virus from other patients who have been taking AZT and who are now transmitting the resistant virus."
Researchers said there was an urgent need to develop new drugs to combat the epidemic.1
On January 6th the Russian ballet star Rudolf Nureyev died. His doctor said that "he died from a cardiac complication following a cruel illness", but it was widely reported that he had died from AIDS.2 3 He was buried in his evening clothes with his medals and his favourite beret.4
During January, 116 new cases of AIDS were reported in the UK, bringing the cumulative total to 7,045. One in 6 of these new cases were acquired through heterosexual intercourse.5
In Romania, despite the progress made since the overthrow of the Causescu regime, the number of children infected with HIV had increased. There were an estimated 98,000 infected orphans.6
China had reported one thousand cases of HIV infection, mostly in injecting drug users, but it was believed that this greatly understated the scale of the country's HIV epidemic.7 8 The Ministry of Health in China announced that soon only approved government blood donation centres would be able to collect and sell blood.9
In February the tennis player Arthur Ashe died, less than a year after announcing that he had been infected with HIV.10
In March, the House of Representatives in the USA voted overwhelmingly to retain the ban on the entry into the country of HIV positive people. 11
In South Africa, the National Health Department reported that the number of recorded HIV infections had grown by 60% in the previous two years and was expected to double in 1993. A survey of women attending health clinics indicated that nationally some 322,000 people were infected.
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