It's been 25 years since the first case of HIV/AIDS was discovered in the United States. Five men in Los Angeles were diagnosed with this “new” disease, June 5, 1981. For over a decade, it was seen as a homosexual disease, but the numbers and the names tell a different story. One of the deadliest pandemics of all time, AIDS remains an incurable, yet 100 percent preventable disease. Despite growing knowledge about the epidemic, millions become infected annually.
So, what has changed in the last 25 years? What have we learned? And how close are we to a cure?
1. Current Statistics: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate that 25 million people have died since the outbreak of AIDS -- more than 500,000 in the United States.
Worldwide, the estimate is 2.8 million deaths per year.
Close to 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV/AIDS.
65 million people are living with the virus worldwide.
An average of 40,000 new cases are reported each year.2. Geography of AIDS: Today, 96 percent of AIDS cases are in sub-Saharan Africa. Close to a million new incidents of the disease were reported in in that region over a two-year period between 2003 and 2005.
More than 22 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are currently living with HIV.
South and Southeast Asia have the second highest total of 7.4 million.
Latin America is third with 1.6 million. 3. Stereotypes/Myths: When AIDS was diagnosed in America in 1981, five homosexual men had contracted the disease, and the misconception persisted for many years that it was a gay man's disease. Today, nearly one-third of those infected are heterosexual.
Some other common stereotypes have to do with transmission. In the early days of this pandemic, people afflicted with the disease were ostracized because others thought they could catch it by being near a person who had AIDS. Another misconception included the belief that kissing someone with AIDS or sharing a drinking glass put you at risk.
4. How HIV is Transmitted: The HIV virus, which causes AIDS, is contracted through the exchange of blood or semen through an opening in the body, i.e., through unprotected sexual intercourse or needle sharing. Drug users comprise a high percentage of individuals with the disease because of the use of "dirty needles," or needles previously used by individuals infected with HIV. HIV can also be transmitted through blood transfusions.
5. Treatment: The first drug used to combat HIV/AIDS was Zidovudine (AZT). The drug was shown to slow the progression of the virus, but the effect was not long lasting. After short periods of remission, the virus returned, apparently in a mutated version that could withstand the drug’s presence.
Scientists later experimented with a combination of drugs, and in 1996, the first two
protease inhibitors were approved. The result, a “triple cocktail” that has proved to substantially extend the lives of patients with full blown AIDS. The "cocktail" consists of AZT, lamivudine (3TC) and efavirenz (EFV). Dr. David Ho, credited with pioneering this new drug, was named TIME “Man of the Year” in 1996 for his work.
Today, protected sex and HIV/AIDS testing are being encouraged. It is estimated that more than one million people in the United States have HIV and don't know it.
A major breakthrough in an AIDS "cure" has been the perinatal treatment that keeps mothers from spreading the disease to their unborn children. Today in the United States, less than 100 babies per year are born with the disease.
6. Cases Prior to 1981: A blood sample from 1959 shows the presence of the HIV virus in a man from the Congo. However, that sample also provides proof of the existence of the virus in humans as early as 1931, when it appears to have been transferred from a chimpanzee.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids/virus/origins.html7. Celebrity Advocates: Bono, Whoopie Goldberg, Tom Hanks, Elton John, Alicia Keys, Will Smith, Sharon Stone and Elizabeth Taylor are among the many celebrity advocates who are bringing AIDS awareness to the world, as well as generating funding for critical research and medical care.
8. Doctors and Researchers:
Dr. David Ho's creation of the "triple cocktail" has made the disease a livable one, even if incurable.
Dr. Roy Gulick, director of the Cornell HIV Clinical Trials Unit, led the "triple cocktail" study, and Dr. John Mellors also contributed research.
Dr. Anthony Fauci heads the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Sources:
http://www.avert.org/historyi.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/At-A-Glance.htm (site recently removed)
for a similar site try http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/basic/index.htm
http://www.avert.org/usastaty.htm
http://globalhealth.org/view_top.php3?id=227
"AIDS." Columbia Encyclopedia. Accessed June 18, 2007. http://reference.aol.com/columbia/_a/aids/20051205141709990006
The red ribbon has become the international symbol for AIDS.
