AIDS in the United States
For an epidemic that has exploded around the world and is claiming thousands of lives everyday, AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) surfaced very quietly in the United States. On June 4, 1981, a weekly newsletter published by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta reported five unusual cases of pneumonia that had been diagnosed in Los Angeles residents over the previous few months. All the patients were homosexual males who had come down with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, a rare lung infection usually found only in severely malnourished individuals that had been undergoing intensive chemotherapy. Before getting ill, all five men were well nourished and considered to be very healthy with strong immune systems (Odets, 20-23).
Within the year, similar cases were reported from all over the country. Adults that seemed perfectly healthy were suddenly coming down with rare infections and malignancies. Most cases were reported in New York City, California, Florida and Texas, but unlike the men in the Los Angeles cases, not all were homosexual males. Many were people who used intravenous drugs, men with hemophilia, and immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean. All of these people had one thing in common: they had a major absence in the number of white blood cells in their bodies (Odets, 67). These cells, commonly referred to as “t-cells” help keep the immune system functioning properly. Because of the lack of t-cells, the patient’s immune systems became very weak which left them vulnerable to one health problem after another. It was not until 1984 that it
was concluded that the human immunodeficiency virus, commonly referred to as HIV, was to blame for this mysterious syndrome. Many people use the terms HIV and AIDS interchangeably which is not exactly accurate. AIDS is defined as the most advanced stages of HIV infection (Russel, 86).
It was discovered in the mid-eighties that HIV can be transmitted from one person to another through sexual contact, contact with infected blood or from mother to baby in breast milk. It then settles into the t-cells of the body and progressively destroys them. In 1985 a major study was done so that scientists could get a better idea of the structure of the virus and the exact effects it would have on infected individuals. The news was not good. Scientists found that the virus was shaped like an iceberg, with a small visible tip and a huge unseen base.
In the early 1980’s, reports were appearing in California and New York of a small number of men who appeared to have rare forms of cancer and pneumonia (Blumberg). The men were young and in very good health (Blumberg). These men were alike because they were homosexual (Blumberg). They had a disease known as AIDS, which is caused by HIV (Blumberg). The virus slowly attacks the immune system which makes the human body more prone to infections (Blumberg). They did not know what the disease was for a while (Blumberg). It was believed to be “gay-related” because homosexuals were many of the first reported cases (Blumberg). That belief was abolished when scientist found out that heterosexuals could be infected too (Blumberg).
AIDS/HIV was first recognized as a new disease in the US when clinicians in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco began to see young, homosexual men with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) and Kaposi 's sarcoma (KS), unusual diseases for young adults which were not known to be immunosuppressed. These discoveries led to increased fear throughout the US since many people didn’t know what caused AIDS, how it could be contracted, or even what to call it.
Carl Zimmer the guest speaker of this broadcast states that in 1981 doctors described for the first time a new disease, a new syndrome which affected mostly homosexual men. The young men in Los Angeles were dying and the number of cases was growing faster and faster. The number of deaths was increasing from eighty to six hundred and twenty five in just the first few months. After the first few cases in LA, AIDS was declared to be one of the deadliest pandemics the world had ever seen after the plague in the Middle Ages.
The CDC published a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on June 5, 1981 describing cases of a rare lung infection, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), accompanied by other unusual infections, in five young, previously healthy, gay men in Los Angeles. By the time the report was published, two of the men had died. This marked the first official reporting of what is now known as the AIDS epidemic. It wasn’t until September 24, 1982, however, when the CDC used the term AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) for the first time. The San Francisco Chronicle covered the story the very next day; just days later, Doctors around the nation swarmed the CDC with reports of similar cases. It wasn’t until November of 1985, after the epidemic had claimed
Different people define success in many different ways. What is considered success by one person may be viewed as failure by another person. Randy Shilts, a homosexual newspaper reporter / author, attempts to make fundamental changes in America’s opinion on AIDS. In Randy Shilts’s essay, "Talking AIDS to Death," he speaks of his experiences as an "AIDS celebrity." At the core of Shilts’s essay is the statement, "Never before have I succeeded so well; never before have I failed so miserably"(221). Shilts can see his accomplishments from two points of view- as a success and as a failure. Despite instant fame, Shilts is not satisfied with the effects his writings has on the general public. Shilts’s "success" and reasons for failure can both be considered when one decides whether or not his efforts were performed in vain.
AIDS is slowly becoming the number one killer across the globe. Throughout numerous small countries, AIDS has destroyed lives, taken away mothers, and has left hopeless children as orphans. The problem remains that funding for the diseases’ medical research is limited to none. In the country Brazil, HIV/AIDS has been compared to the bubonic plague, one of the oldest yet, most deadly diseases to spread rapidly across Europe (Fiedler 524). Due to this issue, Brazil’s government has promised that everyone who has been diagnosed with either HIV or AIDS will receive free treatment; however, this treatment does not include help in purchasing HIV medications, that “carry astronomical price tags” (Fiedler 525). Generic drug companies have been able to produce effective HIV medications that are not as costly if compared to the prices given by the huge pharmaceutical companies. In contrast, the U.S. government has now intervened with these generic companies hindering them from making HIV medications, which may not be as efficient if made by the pharmaceutical companies. Not only are these drug companies losing thousands of dollars against generic drug companies, but also tremendous profit that is demanded for marketing these expensive drugs as well. “How many people must die without treatment until the companies are willing to lower their prices, or to surrender their patients so generic makers can enter market? (Fiedler 525).” With this question in mind, what ways can we eliminate the HIV/AIDS epidemic across the world? With research, education, testing, and funding we can prevent the spread of HIV to others and hopefully find a cure.
The medical community had much trouble in the progress of researching the disease. In the beginning and for a period of time, the disease had no name. This was partly because no one really wanted to announce that a new disease had been discovered. After being dubbed “GRID”, an acronym singling out gays, it was changed when it was finally discovered that AIDS could be transmitted though blood transfusions and IV drug use. There was also an amazing display of medical misconduct as the head of one laboratory in the US engaged in a competition-like struggle with a lab in Paris in the research of the disease. When he finally agreed to collaborate with the French, he announced discoveries ahead of time and took all the credit for himself. This led to a long legal action that delayed much of the research of AIDS and caused many people to “die of red tape.”
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized as a new disease in 1981 when increasing numbers of young homosexual men succumbed to unusual opportunistic infections and rare malignancies (Gallant49).During this time, many people were contacting this disease because it was not discovered yet and people did not have knowledge about it.Scientists believe HIV came from a particular kind of chimpanzee in Western Africa. Humans contracted this disease when they hunted and ate infected animals. A first clue came in 1986 when a morphologically similar but antigenically distinct virus was found to cause AIDS in patients in western Africa (Goosby24). During this time, scientists had more evidence to support their claim about this disease. Once discovered this disease was identified as a cause of what has since become one of the most devastating infectious diseases to have emerged in recent history (Goosby101). This disease was deadly because it was similar to the Black Death, it was killing majority of the population. Since its first identification almost three decades ago, the pandemic form of HIV-1 has infected at least 60 million people and caused more than 25 million deaths ...
HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus; this virus can lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. Accoring to Avert, 2.6 million people became infected with HIV in 2009, there are now an estimated 33.3 million people around the world who are living with HIV. HIV is transmitted by the exchange of bodily fluids via sharing contaminated syringes, from infected mother to the child, and sexual contact. Contact with blood, semen, vaginal secretions, breast milk, or saliva that is contaminated with HIV, puts an individual at higher risk for contracting HIV. However, HIV cannot be transmitted by touch, coughing, or by bits from insect vectors.
While the chapter only covered one disease it is how this one disease has affected so many people from patients to health care employees. Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome better known as AIDS first appeared in 1981. There are more than 21 million people that have died from the infection of AIDS. A highly contagious blood borne virus caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a fatal disease that destroys the body’s immune system. With the body having a defenseless immune system bacteria and viruses are free to affect the body. I chose to cover the topic of HIV and the effects is has on the health care environment.
...xually transmitted diseases, AIDS in particular. Of the 11 million cases of sexually transmitted diseases reported in America in 1987, only 15,000 were AIDS, while there were 500,000 cases of herpes and 1,800,000 cases of gonorrhea. However, since AIDS was 100% fatal, it was the main concern, and by that year, 50,000 Americans had contracted it, with 73% of these being homosexual or bisexual men, 17% intravenous drug users, and 4% heterosexuals. Only 6.6% of AIDS victims were female.
I have researched this topic through various sources and compiled pertinent information to provide adequate information on this. topic. The sym First of all, AIDS is caused by the retrovirus HIV. HIV stands for human immunodef- iciency virus. AIDS itself stands for acquired immune deficiency.
When HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) was first discovered as a disease in 1980, the affected individuals were stigmatized to the extreme. HIV/AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) was first reported with homosexuals and IV drug users, which led the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to label the disease as Gay-related Immune Deficiency, as “gay” individuals were synonymous “drug users” due to their similar activities in the 1980’s (Stine 22). However, it soon became clear that female population were just as susceptible to contracting HIV as males.
In the early 80's, the incurable human immunodeficiency virus outbreak spread and affected the bodies of different groups in the United States over the decades. When a person is diagnosed with the human immunodeficiency virus the virus infects the body's immune CD4 cell and the T-cell makes the body to have a difficult to fight off the infections and disease. Half a million people are living with the virus and the other half are unaware of their condition. When the human immunodeficiency virus spread in the United States more than seven million died. "African Americans are most affected by 19,540 people, then White Men with 12,025 people or Hispanics with 10,201 (Hiv and...). Men are most likely to be affected by the virus with sexual intercourse
In 1981, a new fatal, infectious disease was diagnosed--AIDS (Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome). It began in major cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco. People, mostly homosexual men and intravenous drug users, were dying from very rare lung infections or from a cancer known as Kaposi’s sarcoma. They have not seen people getting these diseases in numerous years. Soon, it also affected hemophiliacs, blood recipients, prostitutes and their customers, and babies born from AIDS-infected women. AIDS was soon recognized as a worldwide health emergency, and as a fatal disease with no known cure, that quickly became an epidemic. When high-profile victims began to contract the virus, such as basketball star Magic Johnson, the feeling spread quickly that anyone, not just particular groups of people, could be at risk. AIDS impairs the human body’s immune system and leaves the victim susceptible to various infections. With new research, scientists think that the disease was first contracted through a certain type of green monkey in Africa, then somehow mutated into a virus that a human could get. AIDS is a complicated illness that may involve several phases. It is caused by a virus that can be passed from person to person. This virus is called HIV, or Human Immuno-deficiency Virus. In order for HIV to become full-blown AIDS, your T-cell count (number of a special type of white-blood cells that fight off diseases) has to drop below 200, or you have to get one of the symptoms of an AIDS-induced infection.