NATION IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Studies Favor Earlier Use of AIDS Drug

People who take the AIDS-treatment drug AZT before symptoms of the disease appear may be less likely to develop resistance to the drug than those who start AZT when they get sick, researchers from Burroughs Wellcome Co., the maker of the drug, told the Food and Drug Administration’s newly formed Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee. The researchers said new studies indicate people who receive AZT before they become ill have far fewer drug-resistant strains of the AIDS virus than patients who start after signs of acquired immune deficiency syndrome appear. AZT is the only government-approved drug to directly attack the AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus.