Includes bibliographical references and index.

Discovering AIDS, naming the disease -- What causes AIDS: origin of the AIDS virus -- Biological characteristics of the AIDS virus -- Anti-HIV therapy -- The immunology of HIV disease/AIDS -- Opportunistic infections and cancers associated with HIV disease/AIDS -- A profile of biological indicators for HIV disease and progression to AIDS -- Epidemiology and transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus -- Preventing the transmission of HIV -- Prevalence of HIV infections, AIDS cases, and deaths among select groups in the United States and AIDS in other countries -- Prevalence of HIV infection and AIDS cases among women, children, and teenagers in the United States -- Testing for human immunodeficiency virus -- AIDS and society: knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.