Update on the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in the United States.
During the past 20 years, the epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in the United States has continually evolved. Beginning in the mid-1990s, the numbers of annual AIDS cases and AIDS deaths have decreased, due in large measure to effective combination anti-retroviral therapies, which prolong the survival of people infected with HIV and delay progression to AIDS. This has resulted in an increase in the number of people living with HIV infection or AIDS. Increasing proportions of AIDS cases are occurring among women, racial/ethnic minorities, and people infected through heterosexual transmission. Dental care professionals are faced with the challenge of providing quality dental care to this ever-increasing population.