Karen, grown up in a very traditional family in the western United States, maintained high moral（道德的） standards throughout her youth.. In 1984,at the age of 23,she married Bill. They were blessed with two children, a boy and a girl.
By 1991 their love had deepened, and they were happy. Later that year, Bill developed a white spot on his tongue. He visited a doctor.
One day shortly after that, Bill called Karen to sit beside him. He said with tears in his eyes that he loved her and wanted to live forever with her. The doctor suspected that he had been infected with HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS.
The family was tested．Bill and Karen’s results were positive. Bill had become infected before he met Karen; then he passed the virus on to Karen. The children’s results were negative. Within three years, Bill was dead．“I don’t know how to express what it is like to watch the once handsome man you love and intend to live with forever dying slowly. I cried many nights. He died three months short of ten years of our marriage,”says Karen. Though a doctor told Karen that she would soon follow her husband into death, she is still alive. The infection has progressed to the early stages of AIDS.
Karen is but one of about 30 million people now living with HIV/AIDS, a figure larger than the combined populations of Australia． Ireland and Paraguay. According to one UN report, Africa has 21 million of these victims. By the turn of the century that number could reach 40 million and the disease will bring on the greatest disaster in human history. Of the world’s sexually active adults aged 15 to 49,1 in 100 has already been infected with HIV. Of these, only 1 in 10 realizes that he or she is infected． In some parts of Africa,25 percent of the adults are infected．
Since the beginning of the spread of AIDS in 1981,about 11.7 million people have died of it. It is roughly calculated that in 1997 alone, about 2,3 million people died of it. Nevertheless, there are fresh reasons for optimism in the battle against AIDS. During the past few years, there has been a drop in new AIDS cases in wealthy nations. In addition, promising drugs hold out hope of better health and longer life.

凯伦在美国西部的一个非常传统的家庭长大，在她整个青少年时期都保有着高度的道德情操。1984年，她23岁时嫁给了比尔，上帝赐给了他们两个孩子，一个男孩一个女孩。
到了1991年，他们的爱越发的深了，他们非常幸福。那一年的后期，比尔的舌头上长出了一个小白点，他去看了医生。
不久后的一天，比尔叫凯伦坐在他身边。他含着泪说他爱她，想永远和她生活在一起。医生怀疑他感染了能够导致艾滋病的HIV病毒。
家里人都做了化验。比尔和凯伦的化验结果呈阳性。在认识凯伦前，比尔就已经感染上了，然后他又把病毒传染给了凯伦。孩子们的结果呈阴性。还不到三年，比尔就死去了。凯伦说：“看着自己所爱的，曾经很帅气的并且想和他共渡一生的人慢慢的死去，我真的不知道该如何表达这种感受。许多个夜晚我都会哭泣，在我们结婚还差三个月就满十周年的时候，他就去世了”。尽管医生说她也会很快追随他的丈夫而死去，但她现在还活着。感染已经发展到了艾滋病初期。
大约有3000万人感染HIV/艾滋病毒，凯伦只不过是其中之一 ，这一数字比澳大利亚，爱尔兰和巴拉圭三国的人口总和还要大。据联合国的一项报告，非洲有2100百万受害者。在新的世纪到来之际，这一数字将达到4000万，这一疾病将成为人类历史上最大的灾难。全世界15到49岁的处于性兴奋期的人们，每100人当中就有1人已感染HIV病毒，而这些人，每十人当中才有一人意识到他/她已经被感染了。在非洲的某些地区，有25%的成年人已被感染。
自从1981年艾滋病开始漫延以来，已有11700万人死于艾滋病。仅1997年一年的粗略计算，就有2300万人死于此病。 然而，在对抗艾滋病的斗争中，也总是会有新的情况令人感到乐观。在过去的几年里，一些富有国家艾滋病的新病例已经有所减少。另外，新的药物也为人们能够生活的更健康更长寿而带来希望。