Epidemic of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome: A Need for Economic and Social Planning

Excerpt

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, reviewed in detail in the UCLA Conference in this issue (1), is an apparently new disorder that appeared in North America in 1979. The syndrome consists of profound and perhaps irreversible abnormalities in cellular immune function associated with opportunistic infections and aggressive neoplasms (2-4). Homosexual men, particularly those with numerous, anonymous sexual contacts, were the first group recognized to be at high risk for the syndrome (5, 6). This association engendered many hypotheses on the cause or causes of the disorder including recreational drug abuse, autoimmune reaction to allogeneic sperm, and immune attrition secondary to repeated