The latest results of Higgs boson searches from the four LEP experiments,
ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL, are reviewed using the data taken in 1996 at
center-of-mass energies between 161 and 172 GeV. No signal was observed. The
95% CL combined lower mass limit for the Minimal Standard Model (MSM) Higgs
boson has increased from 66 GeV at LEP1 to 77.5 GeV with the first LEP2 data.
In the framework of the Two Higgs Doublet Model, the charged Higgs boson mass
limit has increased from 44 GeV to 54.5 GeV, independent of the decay branching
ratio. Large new (m_h,tan_beta) and (m_h,m_A) parameter regions are excluded in
the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model
(MSSM). Preliminary results from the 1997 data-taking at 183 GeV are presented,
and the prospects for a discovery in the near future are given.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, 22 figures, presented at the 1st Int. Workshop on
Non-Accelerator Physics, Dubna, July 1997, to be published in the
proceedings, and at the Aspen Center for Physics, August 199
