ABSTRACT
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is caused by infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World Health Organization, 36.1 million adults and 1.4 million children were living with HIV at the end of 2000 (1). AIDS deaths since the beginning of the epidemic total 21.8 million. During 2000, some 5.3 million people became infected with HIV, with 3 million deaths from HIV/AIDS. Deaths among those already infected will continue to increase (1). In the United States, about 40,000 new HIV infections occurred in the year 2000, with 688,000 cases of AIDS reported since 1981 (2).
