The History of AIDS

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has been around for many years. It is the ultimate result of infection by Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The origins of HIV are still uncertain. It is also unknown exactly when the virus first appeared. The virus targets the immune system of the patient, meaning that other, more obvious conditions occur more easily and it is usually these other ailments that get noticed. Before the classification of HIV, therefore, the only thing noticed was an increase in uncommon diseases and infections.

We can start a brief history from 1981 at least, when a rare lung infection known as PCP started occurring far more frequently in both New York and California, and an aggressive new form of a rare and previously benign cancer known as Kaposi’s sarcoma appeared in eight cases where it developed in gay men in New York. In June of that year, a report was published identifying five cases of PCP occurring in Los Angeles without any identifiable cause. A lot of people take this to be the beginning of AIDS.

During this early phase of the disease the knowledge advanced so quickly that nobody was too sure what was happening, and assumptions were made only to be changed a few months later. One such assumption made early on was that only homosexual men were at risk. One of the early names based on this was GRID (gay-related immune deficiency) and when this was shown to be inappropriate due to non-homosexual infections, the name was changed to AIDS in July 1982. HIV was a term given in 1986 to what were previously thought to be two separate viruses: HTLV-3 and LAV.

One thing that has been a constant in the history of AIDS and HIV is their continued success at eluding attempts at both vaccination and cures. The illnesses have claimed the lives of some 20-25 million people and it is estimated that there are around 40 million living with the disease. It is now the most common cause of death worldwide for people aged 15-59.