Karen, grown up in a very traditional family in the western United States, maintained high moral 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.
凯伦在美国西部一个非常传统的家庭长大，年轻时保持着很高的道德标准。1984年，23岁的她嫁给了比尔。他们有两个孩子，一个男孩和一个女孩。
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.
1991年，他们的爱情美满，很幸福。那年晚些时候，比尔的舌头上长了一个白斑。他去看了医生。
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。
不久之后的一天，比尔叫凯伦坐在他旁边。他泪流满面地说，他爱她，想永远和她生活在一起。医生怀疑他感染了HIV ，这种病毒会导致艾滋病。
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 a 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.
全家接受了测试。比尔和凯伦的结果是阳性。比尔在遇到凯伦之前已经感染；然后把病毒传给了凯伦。孩子们的结果是阴性。三年内，比尔去世了。凯伦说：“我无法表达看着一个曾经英俊的男人慢慢死去的感觉。他曾经是你爱的人，打算和你一起永远生活。我哭了很多个晚上。他在我们结婚十年后的三个月内去世了。”尽管一位医生告诉凯伦，她很快就会跟随丈夫走向死亡，但她仍然活着。感染已发展为艾滋病早期。
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.
凯伦只是目前约3000万HIV/艾滋病感染者中的一员，这一数字超过了澳大利亚、爱尔兰和巴拉圭的总人口。根据一份联合国报告，非洲有2100万受害者。到本世纪初，这一数字可能达到4000万，该疾病将带来人类历史上最大的灾难。在世界上15至49岁的性活跃成年人中，每100人中就有1人感染了HIV。其中，只有十分之一的人意识到自己被感染了。在非洲的一些地区，25%的成年人受到感染。
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.
自1981年艾滋病开始传播以来，已有约1170万人死于艾滋病。据粗略计算，仅在1997年，就有230万人死于该病。然而，在与艾滋病的斗争中有新的乐观理由。在过去几年中，富裕国家的新生艾滋病病例有所下降。此外，药物有希望带来更好的健康和更长的寿命。
