25 years of AIDS
BMJ 2006; 333 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0612444 (Published 01 December 2006) Cite this as: BMJ 2006;333:0612444
- Anthony S Fauci, director1
- 1National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
In June 1981 the first cases of what is now known as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were reported in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Many researchers speculated that the profound immunodeficiency in these patients was because of some environmental factor, perhaps even recreational drug misuse. Initially an infectious agent seemed unlikely to be the cause of this syndrome-otherwise why had it not been seen before? The idea that the problem could be resolved quickly was early optimism.
UNAIDS/O'HANLON
Global treatment-not beyond reach
Soon it became clear that hopes for an easy solution were unfounded. Cases of AIDS were soon reported in diverse populations of men and women and in children born to women with AIDS or women who had a history of drug misuse. Accumulating epidemiological data showed soon that a virulent micro-organism was to blame, …
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