When was hiv first described

Black gay and lesbian organizations, meanwhile, fought back through poster campaigns against misconceptions that AIDS primarily affected White gay men.

Scientists struggled to understand AIDS. Scientists and physicians were struggling to understand what caused the disease and how it spread -- making the process of finding a treatment all the more challenging. Anthony Fauci, who became director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the height of the AIDS epidemic, refers to that period of his career as the "dark years.

It was an experience shared by many clinicians who cared for early AIDS patients: Feeling as though there was nothing they could do to stop the suffering. Therapies came in the late '80s and '90s. The tide started to turn in the late '80s and '90s, as more effective therapies became available and transformed what it meant for an individual to live with HIV. Another important change also happened that year.

After pressure from activists fighting for their community's survival, the FDA issued new regulations around clinical drug trials -- making it possible for patients to access experimental, potentially life-saving therapies without having to wait years for official agency approval. One of those activists was Ryan White , an Indiana teenager who contracted AIDS in through contaminated needles while being treated for hemophilia.

He experienced discrimination in his community after his diagnosis, even being denied entry to his middle school. As White spoke publicly about his experiences and his family challenged his treatment in court, he became one of the early public faces of the disease. Another scientific breakthrough came in , when the FDA approved the first protease inhibitors.

Hope changed to belief, and belief changed to joy," he recalled. In , researchers announced yet another exciting development: A study had found that taking a daily dose of HIV drugs reduced the risk of infection for men who had sex with other men. It is discovered that HIV can be passed from mother to child through breast-feeding. The red ribbon became the international symbol of AIDS awareness, intended to be a symbol of compassion for people living with HIV and their carers.

An estimated 33 million people were living with HIV, and 14 million people were recognized to have died from AIDS since the start of the epidemic. Share Tweet Email. Share: Share Tweet Email. On June 5, , a curious report appeared in the Center for Disease Control's weekly public health digest: Five young, gay men across Los Angeles had been diagnosed with an unusual lung infection known as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia PCP -- and two of them had died.

It was the first time that acquired immunodeficiency syndrome AIDS -- the devastating advanced-stage of HIV infection that would go on to claim the lives of more than 32 million people globally -- was reported in the US. By the year , 40 million persons may be infected with HIV 3.

AIDS will remain a major public health challenge worldwide in the 21st century. MMWR ; World Health Organization.