In the introductory part of the paper the authors characterize AIDS, the history of this illness, the pathogenesis of the handicaps, causes by HIV infection, the development, classifi- cation and fundamentals of modern HIV/AIDS therapy. In the second part we describe the epide- miological situation of the patients with the HIV virus infection on the worldwide scale and in the Czech Republic since the detection of the HIV virus until the year 1999. We describe therapeutic preventive care of the mentioned patients from the viewpoint of ENT physicans treated for HIV virus in the AIDS Centre in the hospital Prague - Bulovka in 1985 - 1999 (328 HIV positive patients/31 with AIDS manifestation). The authors present a list of clinical handicaps, they encountered in these patients which called for surgical intervention.

        Key words: AIDS (Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), AIDS Center Faculty Hospital Bulovka, Acute retrovirus syndrome, CD4+ lymphocyte.