AIDS is a viral disease (human immunodeficiency virus type 1) that has spread worldwide.  It is carried by the HIV virus, and then can turn into full-blown AIDS.  It has an [incubation period] of eight to ten years, although some people never experience the symptoms of AIDS.  The virus is transmitted through body fluids, excepting saliva.  AIDS attacks the T-cells (white blood cells that fight impurities) of the victim and turns the T-cells into factories to make more AIDS cells.  The person can then die from a common cold, fever, or other normally harmless disease because they have no defense against it.
 

   -AIDS has been traced back to monkeys in Africa, and it is believed to have been carried by people throughout the world who had contact with these monkeys.

-By 1994, 19.5 million people were infected with HIV and 4.5 million had full-blown AIDS. (World Health Organization)

-The most at-risk people for AIDS are gays and drug abusers.

-The full name for AIDS is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.