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In June 1981, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report that has made medical history. Cases of a mysterious disease were described for the first time – five young gay men from Los Angeles were diagnosed with atypical pneumonia, two of them died.
Pictured: March 1983 at the Gay Pride parade in New York carrying a banner that reads “AIDS: We need research, not hysteria!”, June XNUMX / photo by Barbara Alper, Getty Images
- On June 5, 1981, the CDC reported the first cases of AIDS. I consider this date to be the beginning of the disease epidemic, although it is known that the virus was present much earlier
- The HIV epidemic has already claimed over 32 million victims
- Although current treatments have turned AIDS into a chronic disease, there is still no effective vaccine against HIV.
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Where did AIDS come from? 40 years from the first cases
Probably back then no one thought that the new disease would stay with us for a long time and would take so many lives. 40 years have passed since the first cases of AIDS, the disease caused by HIV, were described. It is estimated that over 32 million people worldwide died as a result of the infection.
A few days after the report was published, the CDC knew that there were many more cases of the disease among homosexual men. Patients had pneumocytosis (a type of pneumonia), but also other problems caused by the infection, including Kaposi’s sarcomas.
More documented cases of the new disease emerged in the weeks that followed. Since then, the number of AIDS patients has increased at an accelerating pace. The peak incidence was recorded in the 90s. In 1997, over 3,7 million new infections were registered.
At the beginning, men were dominant among the sick, but with time the proportions became equal. Over the years and subsequent studies on HIV, it has also turned out that the disease does not only affect homosexuals. Africa has the largest number of cases of AIDS.
According to the data of the National Institute of Hygiene, from the implementation of the research in 1985 to the end of 2019, HIV infection was found in over 25 thousand. Poles, there were over 3,7 thousand. AIDS cases, and almost 1,5 thousand. patients died.
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AIDS – there is treatment, there is still no vaccine
Initially, a diagnosis of AIDS was tantamount to a death sentence.
– In the 80s, this virus was a mystery to us. The discovery of how it works is a matter of the past 20 years – said Dr. n. med. Maciej Przybylski virologist from the Chair and Department of Medical Microbiology at the Medical University of Warsaw.
- The editorial board recommends: Scientists have been working on an HIV vaccine for 40 years
The situation began to change at the turn of the 80s and 90s. The first antiretroviral therapies and drugs appeared.
The world was waiting for one thing – an effective vaccine. At the first international conference on AIDS in 1985, it was announced that the vaccine would appear within 2-3 years. 36 years have passed, and scientists have still not managed to create an effective formula, despite the fact that huge funds have been devoted to research. Why? One of the reasons is the high variability of the HIV virus.
– The problem with HIV is that it attacks the cells responsible for recognizing and fighting pathogens. So we are dealing with a virus that, firstly, we cannot remove from infected cells, and secondly, it stays there for a long time, constantly replicating and infecting new cells. In addition, it attacks our immune system and undergoes constant mutations – explains Dr. Przybylski.
The greatest success in the fight against the AIDS epidemic is therefore still the drugs that have turned a death sentence into a chronic disease that can be lived with for many years.
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