Preface
The contemporary story began silently in the early to mid-
1970s when the global spread of a virus appears to have started.
In the summer of 1981 the Center for Disease Control (CDC)
cited in its weekly newsletter five cases of an unusual pneumo-
nia in young homosexual men in Los Angeles. Some of these
patients also had a cancer rarely seen in younger persons. By the
early months of 1982 the CDC was referring to cases with these
symptoms as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome， which
quickly was understood by its acronym， AIDS.
Since that time the AIDS story has become a part of our
common experience. In the intervening years， the international
press and electronic media have chronicled the spread of a dis-
ease which has become a pandemic. Despite the medical sophis-
tication which characterizes our technologically advanced so-
cieties in these final decades of the twentieth century， AIDS
presents us with frightening challenges. Although there are
promising technical and scientific advances， at this time there is
no cure for AIDS and no vaccine to prevent AIDS. AIDS has
mobilized the international scientific community not only to
seek a cure for the disease， but also to prevent and control its
spread.
The worldwide medical community was slow to recognize
the broad spectrum of ways in which AIDS would affect individu-
als， families， and societies. Now in the latter years of the 1980s
we are beginning to assess accurately the costs in terms of hu-
man suffering， health care， and social impact. People who have
been exposed to the virus are uncertain about their future
IV
4h
healt
disru
clinic
with
year
tries 1
inter~
is str~
t
tude;
tional
to th~
tradit:
and sl
P
(AID~
provic
had p:
those
tice. l
emoti~
AIDS
ticulal
need.
A
ence a
many
growtt
the mc
havion
(1944)
momel
import~
ing of 1
cessity
new or:
In
toral as
guidan~
|
内容加载中，请稍后...
商品评论（0条）