""Don, re your "whereas, in all previous cases, infection has increased exponentially within a population."

In no previous cases outside Africa has AIDS increased exponentially within a straight population.
Or do you know of one?""

All right, since you aren't smart enough.......

Did I say previous cases of AIDS?......NO! I didn't.

In all previous cases of Diseases spreading through a population, prior to the arrival on the scene of HIV/AIDS, the infections have shown an exponential increase, not a linear one.

Why would HIV/AIDS not do the same, as Royston stated, until it kills enough victims to inhibit transmission.

The fact that it appears linear may well be due to the small number of cases, but, as the pool of victims increases in size, the differences will become significant, and the exponential nature will be much more apparent.

The anomalies of having the number of new infections actually decrease in some years could easily (and if you are a scientist, you should know this) be a result of the small numbers involved, and should not be assumed to be a statistically significant feature, at least until the total number of victims reaches a point where those changes become a trend.

Bad math doesn't strengthen your case, and a head in the sand attitude to what you call a miniscule problem doesn't either.

Would you rather deal with hundreds now, or millions later?

Don T.