ABSTRACT
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a global pandemic. As of January 1988, only seven years after the syndrome was first described by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), almost 100,000 cases have been reported in 132 countries around the world [Brunet & Ancelle, 1985; Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 1986; CDC, 1986; World Health Organization (Who), 1988]. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the actual number of AIDS cases is probably higher due to underreporting (Mahler, 1986). Although most cases have been reported in the United States, AIDS appears to be increasing rapidly in other countries, especially in central Africa, (Kapita, 1986; Mann, Francis, Quinn, et al., 1986; Quinn, Mann, Curran, & Piot, 1986). In addition to cases of AIDS, three to five times as many (300,000 to 500,000) people have symptoms related to infection with the immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Another five to ten million people around the world are believed to be asymptomatic carriers of HIV (Mahler, 1986). U.S. Surgeon General Koop has predicted 100 million deaths worldwide by the end of the century, if no cure or vaccine is found.
