History

The history of HIV is filled with triumphs and failures; life and death. The HIV timeline stretches before us, marking our past and reaching toward our future. But where will that future lead? This HIV/AIDS timeline began early in 1981. In July of that year, the New York Times reported an outbreak of a rare form of cancer among gay men in New York and California. This "gay cancer" as it was called at the time was later identified as Kaposi's Sarcoma, a disease that later became the face of AIDS. About the same time, emergency rooms in New York City began to see a rash of seemingly healthy young men presenting with fevers, flu-like symptoms, and a rare pneumonia called Pneumocystis. This was the beginning of what has become the biggest health care concern in modern history. Twenty-five years later the disease still plagues society. How did we get to this point? Take a look back at 25 years of AIDS.

1959

While we talk about AIDS being 25 years old, in actuality it is believed that the syndrome has been around far longer. In 1959, a man residing in Africa died of a mysterious illness. Only decades later, after examining some blood samples taken from that man, was it confirmed that he actually died from complications related to an HIV infection.

1981

As stated above, 1981 saw the emergence of Kaposi's Sarcoma and Pneumocystis among gay men in New York and California. When the Centers for Disease Control reported the new outbreak they called it "GRID" (gay-related immune deficiency), stigmatizing the gay community as carriers of this deadly disease. However, cases started to be seen in heterosexuals, drug addicts, and people who received blood transfusions, proving the the syndrome knew no boundaries.

1983

Researchers at the Pasteur Institute in France isolated a retrovirus that they believed was related to the outbreak of AIDS. Thirty-three countries around the world confirmed cases of the disease that was once limited to New York and California. A year later controversy arose when the US government announced their scientist, Dr. Robert Gallo had isolated a retrovirus HTLV-III, that he too claimed was responsible for AIDS. Two years later it was confirmed that HTLV-III and the Pasteur retrovirus were indeed the same virus, yet Gallo is still credited with its discovery. An international committee of scientists renamed the virus HIV.

1984

A Canadian flight attendant, nicknamed "patient zero" died of AIDS. Because of his sexual connection to several of the first victims of AIDS, it is believed that he is responsible for introducing the virus into the general population.

·    8000 confirmed cases in the US

·    3700 confirmed deaths

1985

The controversy surrounding the HIV virus continued when Robert Gallo's lab patents an HIV test kit that later is approved by the FDA. The Pasteur Institute sued and was later awarded rights to half of the royalties from the new test. At the same time, HIV and AIDS entered the public eye when Rock Hudson died of AIDS and Ryan White was barred from his elementary school in Indiana.

1987 - A Treatment Arrives

After 6 years of watching people die, a new treatment emerges that is hailed as the first huge step in beating HIV & AIDS. The drug Retrovir (AZT, Zidovudine) is FDA approved and began being used in high doses to treat people infected with HIV; and not a minute too soon. Politically, HIV and AIDS is a topic that most avoid. But in response to public pressure, President Ronald Reagan finally acknowledged the HIV problem and for the first time the term "AIDS" was used in a public speech.

·    100,000 to 150,000 cases of HIV and AIDS

1990

After years of fighting to stay in school, and raging an even harder battle against the ravages of HIV, Ryan White died at the age of 19. That year, The Ryan White Care Act was enacted by Congress to provide government sponsored funds for the care of HIV infected people.

·    The number of people reported to be living with HIV and AIDS reached 1 million

1992 - Combination Therapy Arrives

The FDA approved the first drug to be used in combination with AZT. The addition of the drug Hivid marked the beginning of HIV combination therapies. However, a more disturbing development centered around HIV tainted blood. Three French senior health officials knowingly sold HIV tainted blood, resulting in the infection of hundreds of transfusion recipients, most of whom were hemophiliacs.

1993

People who are infected and scientists alike are confused and concerned when a British study, the Concorde Trials, offered proof that AZT monotherapy did nothing to delay progression to AIDS in asymptomatic patients. As a result, the AZT debate emerged, with one side proclaiming AZT saved lives and the other denouncing AZT as useless; the "rethinker" movement was born.

 

1996 - Protease Inhibitors Arrive

Treatment options took another step forward with the introduction of power HIV-fighting drugs called Protease Inhibitors. The use of these drugs in combination with existing HIV drugs proved effective in controlling HIV. These new "triple-therapies" gave patients and scientists new hope in eliminating HIV. But that hope is dashed when a year later, scientists find HIV "hides" in reservoirs in the body, making total elimination of the virus virtually impossible.

1997

In late 1996, data from AIDS Clinical Trials Group study 076 (ACTG 076) made it clear that Retrovir (AZT) used during pregnancy and at the time of delivery drastically reduces transmission of HIV from mother to child. Those findings led to protocols that now drastically reduce transmission from mother to child from 1 in 4 to less than 3%.

1998

More than 15 years after the prediction there would be an AIDS vaccine within 2 years, the first human trials in the United States of an AIDS vaccine begins. In a desperate attempt to get affordable HIV drugs to the hardest hit areas of Africa, European drug companies ignore US patent laws and begin making generic versions of HIV medications. In response, US drug companies file lawsuits to stop such practices. And tragically, 17 years after AIDS entered our culture, an African AIDS activist is beaten to death by neighbors after publicly admitting she was HIV infected.

2000

The AIDS "rethinker" movement received international attention and support when South African president Thabo Mbeki questioned the use and effectiveness of HIV medications as well as offering doubt that HIV causes AIDS. In response, the international scientific community issued the Durban Declaration, offering proof that HIV and AIDS were indeed connected.

2001

As scientists concern over medication toxicity and effectiveness escalated, US pharmaceutical companies dropped their patent lawsuits, paving the way for European drug companies to manufacture and distribute cheaper HIV medications to the hardest hit areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. Cautious optimism emerged with the release of the first entry inhibitor, Fuzeon. Since 1981, 21 million people worldwide have died of AIDS, including 17 million from Sub-Saharan Africa.

·    31 million people worldwide are reported to be living with HIV , the majority from African nations

2004

As the emphasis on simpler therapies continued, regimen pill burdens were greatly improved with the release of two new combination drugs, Truvada and Epzicom as well as two new protease inhibitors, Reyataz and Lexiva. In December, the first generic formulation of an HIV medication was approved by the FDA, instilling hope that HIV medication prices might soon come down.

2005

HIV statistics became sobering to say the least.

·     4.9 million people were newly infected in 2005

·     40.3 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS.

As the numbers continued to climb, work on an HIV vaccine had for the most part failed. Once thought to be "just around the corner" it had become obvious in 2005 that an HIV vaccine was still years away. Medication advances continued but long term side effects of HIV medication use were becoming more evident. So much so that experts agreed that for many patients, waiting to start HIV medications was the best course of action. Finally, 2005 saw a rise in HIV rates on college campuses while risky behavior among those people already infected was still a problem. Positive prevention messages became a priority as syphilis and other STD rates of infection continued to rise sharply.

2006

Where are we today? Experts have concluded that HIV originated in the jungles of Africa among wild chimps. Experts also report that evidence suggests that the simian form of HIV (SIV) entered the human species and became HIV by way of monkey bites or ingesting monkey meat and brains. While the origins of HIV are more clear, the means to pay for HIV care and medications has become more complicated. A revamping of the Medicare / Medicaid systems has made getting medications difficult for many. The United States Congress has yet to reauthorize the largest source of care funding in the US...the Ryan White Care Act. While nobody expects the Act to disappear, it is evident that funding to almost every program receiving Ryan White Care Act dollars will be cut. Meanwhile the epidemic continues. Recently, India surpassed South Africa as the world's largest HIV population and in the US infection rates of HIV are steady while STDs are on the rise. It is obvious that much work needs to be done in the coming years to finally put a halt to the HIV timeline.

2010

The current estimate of HIV infection stands at well over 40.3 million cases worldwide.

Deaths currently exceed a staggering 25.4 million.