ABSTRACT
Epidemics of diseases transmitted by needle-sharing and sexual intercourse spread through physically intimate networks. In a society divided by class, education, race, and other markers of social status, such a disease will flow largelybut not exclusively-within groups outlined by these markers. Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is an important disease for many reasons, but not the least of these is that AIDS is a disease that reveals the ways in which important social markers order U. S. society and structure life chances. At every moment associated with illness, social context is highly influential. An understanding of these contextual issues can and should influence prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, in fact, every aspect of AIDS care within our society.
