According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services
             (1992), there are two reasons to investigate connections between alcohol,
             HIV infection, and AIDS: alcohol may have a negative effect on the immune
             system, and alcohol may trigger high-risk sexual behavior.
             Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the cause of acquired
             immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV can be transmitted through sexual
             relations with an infected individual, through exchange of infected blood
             or blood products, or to a newborn from an HIV-positive mother.
             HIV-infected persons may have the virus for many years before clinical
             signs of disease appear. Eventually, HIV breaks down the body's immune
             system, mainly by damaging a class of white blood cells that are
             As a result, people who have AIDS are in danger of developing lung
             infections, brain abscesses, and a many other infections caused by
             microorganisms that usually do not produce disease in healthy people.
             People who have AIDS also are prone to cancers such as Kaposi's sarcoma, a
             skin cancer rarely seen in non-HIV-infected populations. The diagnosis of
             AIDS depends in part on the presence of one or many of these infections and
             Approximately one million Americans are infected with HIV. At least 40,000
             new HIV infections are believed to occur among adults and adolescents, and
             an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 new HIV infections are thought to occur among
             Currently, approximately 8 to 10 million people worldwide are infected with
             HIV. Of these, 50 percent are likely to develop AIDS within 10 years, and
             90 percent may develop AIDS within 20 years of initial infection. The
             prognosis for persons with AIDS is nota positive one: AIDS-associated
             mortality may approach 85 percent within 5 years of diagnosis.
             Many health and research professionals working on the AIDS research firmly
             believe that alcohol plays a serious role in the world's AIDS epidemic.
             Althoug...