What to say to persons with HIV disease

I believe that the circumstances in which one learns of being infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can form a pattern that may either hasten or postpone the physical and psychologic progress of HIV to full-blown AIDS. The experience of learning about one's seropositivity from one's physician sets the stage for the patient to determine who else needs to be told. This paper discusses the steps in communicating the diagnosis of seropositivity.