list eventually, but no one predicted which year. The dramatic rise is due to the accumulating toll from AIDS and is almost certain to continue because AIDS deaths reflect infections from H.I.V., the AIDS virus, that were acquired several years earlier", (Altman, 1995, p. C7).
The tabulations by the C.D.C. were based on preliminary analysis of data for 1993, the latest year available. More than 440,000 cases of AIDS, including more than 6,000 among children, have been reported to the centers since the epidemic was first recognized in 1981. More than 250,000 have died from AIDS or AIDS-related causes. About 75 percent of the cases have been reported in the 25-to-44 age group.
By 1992 AIDS had become the leading cause of death among men 25 to 44. It remains fourth among women, behind cancer, unintentional injuries and heart disease, but is expected to replace heart disease and rise to second place in the next few years. In 1992, heterosexual transmission became the leading route of transmission of HIV in women. Jaffe said,"'The one clear take-home message in all areas is the increasing importance of the heterosexual AIDS epidemic in this country"' (Altman, 1995, p. C7).
Also according to Jaffe, although the AIDS epidemic seems to have stabilized among gay men in some areas of the United States, there is evidence of a future second wave in that group. He cited recent studies in San Francisco, Denver and Chicago showing an incidence of 2 percent to 3 percent a year for new infections in gay men, a high number. Meanwhile, in the northeastern United States, where the rate of infection is higher among intravenous drug users than it is among gay men, the incidence of AIDS continues to rise (Altman, 1995, p. C7).
What is astonishing about AIDS is that, although there have certainly been medical advances, particularly in the area of opportunistic infections, there is real lack of progress. More than a decade after Dr. R...