Psychiatric disorder associated with fear of AIDS.

The condition known as the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was initially described at the Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, USA, ",2 and the first case of AIDS in the United Kingdom was reported in 1981.3 At the time of writing, only one established case has been reported in Northern Ireland.4 In the absence of effective prevention and treatment, it seems certain that there will be an increased prevalence of the disease for the foreseeable future.