ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the rate of increase in AIDS in the United States over time, from a social behavior perspective. A few years ago many projections for AIDS in the United States were frightening in the extreme, with millions of cases being projected in the very near future. The increase in the rate has slowed more than the cases. Unfortunately, few data permit a comparison of rates of infectious diseases before and after germ theory was formalized. However, since most deaths were due to infectious diseases, trends in overall mortality and life expectancy reflect trends in infectious diseases. Germ theory led to the development of many drugs and vaccines, but substantial declines for most infectious diseases had already occurred before drugs for treating or preventing them had been developed. Because of the prevalence of AIDS in gay population, it was widely believed shortly after the epidemic began that the disease was somehow related to sexual practices of male homosexuals.
