Max Essex

In North America and Europe, heterosexual intercourse accounts for a small percentage of HIV infections. However, it is responsible for the majority of cases in Africa and Asia. In the following viewpoint, Max Essex maintains that the HIV subtypes that have caused heterosexual HIV epidemics in Africa and Asia have been detected in North America and Europe and could produce similar epidemics there. In particular, Essex contends, the United States’ inadequate monitoring of HIV infection rates and HIV subtypes hinders efforts to detect and prevent the beginning of a heterosexual epidemic. Essex is the chairman of the Harvard AIDS Institute, a research and information organization in Boston.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. How many HIV subtypes have been identified, according to Essex?
2. What is the significance of...