ion about the disease and methods of transmission appears to be the only real defense against it at the present time.
It is estimated that the number of people infected with the AIDS virus in the United States is about 1.5 million. There are different levels in the course of the disease. The AIDS virus does not lead immediately to the opportunistic conditions which are the life-threatening consequences of the syndrome. Those with AIDS are afflicted with ineffective immunological systems that are unable to ward off infections, cancers, and pneumonia. Some remain well after infection with the AIDS virus, though the length of time for which this is true is uncertain. Others develop a condition known as AIDS-related complex (ARC) and display milder symptoms than full-blown AIDS patients. It is estimated that over 50 percent of those who develop ARC will develop a full-blown case of AIDS, meaning the sufferers will be unable to ward off the opportunistic infections that eventually cause death.
AIDS is spread through contact with bodily fluids, primarily blood and semen, and the primary methods of transmission are sexual, blood transference, and congenital. Those most at risk have been homosexual men, intravenous drug users, and people who engage in sexual intercourse with numerous partners and who do not protect themselves with an effective condom. AIDS began as a disease in the homosexual population but has since entered the heterosexual community, and no one who engages in high-risk behavior is immune from possible infection. In spite of public fears to the contrary, AIDS cannot be transmitted through casual contact.
The mortality rate is 57.42 percent. The bulk of the cases were first diagnosed in the metropolitan areas of New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, but the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta have predicted that within a short time 80 percent of all cases will be found outside New York and Californi...