ABSTRACT
It is estimated that as many as 150,000 people in New Jersey may already have been infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (New Jersey State Department of Health 1987a). State Health Commissioner Molly Coye, in her "AIDS Toll Forecast," has indicated that approximately 1 in every 75 New Jerseyans may be infected (Star-Ledger 1987). Many of these exposed individuals unknowingly carry and transmit HIV to other persons. In New Jersey, HIV transmission is primarily through intravenous (IV) drug use or sexual intercourse among needle-sharing addicts. Unfortunately, symptoms of HIV exposure may not appear until 5 or more years after contamination. It is therefore possible for HIV carriers to show no signs or symptoms of AIDS for extended periods, but still transmit the virus (New Jersey State Department of Health 1987a). Based upon the present pattern of this disease, the total number of reported AIDS cases in New Jersey is likely to reach 20,000 by late 1991 (StarLedger 1987).
