When a House Officer Gets AIDS

Abstract

Dr. Aoun's article (Sept. 7 issue)^* addressed a secret fear we practicing physicians all share and have so far either refused to believe in or denied. Perhaps the older generation among us remembers working with sick patients whose illnesses could be caught, but for those who became doctors in the era of modern pharmacology the possibility of accidentally acquiring an infectious disease that has no cure is a shock. Stories such as that of Dr. Aoun will help us to deal with our misgivings and our fear of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Dr. Aoun's story also serves as a reminder that ours is a profession not without risks, and just like soldiers called on to fight a war, we have a responsibility to humanity to serve.