document: Drugs are now available that can put AIDS patients into remission , and recent advances have made clear that a vaccine to protect against AIDS infection is possible , a panel of AIDS experts said Saturday . At the same time , however , the AIDS epidemic is being followed by a suddenly resurgent epidemic of tuberculosis , the scientists said . `` We have now made demonstrable first steps in inducing remission , '' said William Haseltine of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston . `` I think there is evidence that a substantial number of people who would have died are now alive , '' Haseltine said at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science . He cautioned against a premature conclusion that the AIDS epidemic may be coming to an end . A number of treatments for AIDS and AIDS-related infections are available , he said , but many of them are not available to the poor or to developing countries . `` It looks like most of these will be expensive , hard to deliver and require monitoring , '' Haseltine said . `` Unless we develop a vaccine , the future of this epidemic worldwide will be extremely grim , '' he said . A year ago , the prospects for an AIDS vaccine looked doubtful , said James Mullins of Stanford University . But that has changed . `` There has been a transition in the effort to find a vaccine , '' Mullins said . Vaccines to protect animals against AIDS-related viruses have shown some success , he said , encouraging researchers to believe that similar vaccines can be found for humans . `` There 's new hope and interest that a vaccine is possible , '' said John McGowan of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda , Md. . Sten Vermund , also of the Allergy Institute , noted that an epidemic of tuberculosis is emerging in AIDS patients in the inner cities . In New York City , for example , tuberculosis declined between 1960 and 1977 , but is now increasing and has reached the 1960 level again . `` We anticipate in our major cities losing two decades of progress in our tuberculosis control efforts , '' said Vermund . And unlike the AIDS virus , which can not be transmitted through casual contact , tuberculosis is easily transmitted through the air . `` I think we should worry about tuberculosis and the risk to the general population , '' Vermund said . Many of the cases of tuberculosis are occurring when individuals who were exposed to tuberculosis early in life contract AIDS . They lose the ability to continue suppressing the tuberculosis bacteria , which normally would have remained dormant , and tuberculosis appears . `` It 's likely to be yet another health problem imposed on the inner cities , where the health problems are already legion , '' Vermund said . There is no strong evidence yet that tuberculosis is spreading to a significant number of poeple who do not have AIDS , but that is likely , Vermund said . He said the rise in tuberculosis began before the AIDS epidemic , probably because of the rise in the homeless population during the 1970s . Homeless people are at elevated risk of tuberculosis , Vermund said .
extractive_keyphrases: drugs aids epidemic remission aids infection aids vaccine tuberculosis bacteria