The Nation - News from March 6, 1988

Pentagon data indicated a sharp decline in the rate of AIDS infection among recruits, and Dr. Timothy Dondero, chief of the AIDS Surveillance Branch of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, said the figures were being reviewed to see if the change is “statistically valid or just a fluke.” The proportion of military applicants with the HIV, or AIDS, virus fell from 1.55 per thousand in the first three months of 1987 to 1.19 per thousand for the last quarter of that year--a 23% decrease that was “across the board” in terms of race and sex, Dondero said. He speculated that many men and women who know they are infected with the virus may not be seeking to sign up.