Beral et al's 1990 paper on Kaposi's sarcoma among persons with AIDS: demonstrating the power of descriptive epidemiology

Here we discuss the impact of Beral et al's 1990 paper “Kaposi's sarcoma among persons with AIDS: a sexually transmitted infection?” Not only did this paper galvanise research into the underlying infectious cause of Kaposi's sarcoma, it also demonstrated the power of observational epidemiology in pointing the way towards major discoveries.