An article about a particularly fast-acting strain of HIV gives some informative numbers for the rate of typical HIV progression.
The normal time of progression from infection to full-blown AIDS in an untreated patient is about nine years, with death following within 18 months, said Carly Stanton, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. For someone treated with anti-viral drugs, the average progression to disease from infection is 11 years, with death occurring within an average six years, Stanton said.
For much more detailed information about every stage of the disease, see this HIV/AIDS primer.
The good thing about a really fast acting AIDS is that, well, we can be done with the whole mess in 10 years or so -- everyone at risk will likely have caught it and died, without having 9 whole years of gestation during which they can pass it around to freinds and family.
The bad news is, well, a whole boatload of people are going to have to die, having ignored the lessons of the first epidemic.
Marty: Good point, part of the reason HIV is so deadly is that it incubates for so long.