The Epidemic Of The Aids Epidemic - 1438 Words

The AIDS Epidemic â€Å"According to the New England Journal, by September 1987, more than 40,000 cases of AIDS had been recognized in the United States and 50,000 cases in different countries.†(Swenson par. 1) The events that took place in the late 1980s and early 1990s changed the world as we knew it. It also challenged some of the greatest medical minds of that time, as they continually searched for a cure worldwide. An examination of primary and secondary sources will reveal the significance of the key event in American history. â€Å"In 1980 the year before AIDS, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, appeared, the Center for Disease Control or CDC scientist defined Toxic Shock Syndrome and discovered that it was often due to a certain type†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is the most deadly and, apparently, the most recent of all sexually transmitted diseases. As mentioned earlier, it is caused by HIV, or human immunodef iciency virus.† (Little 75) It infects the DNA sequence, and makes white blood cells useless. â€Å"There are two serious diseases most often seen in AIDS patients; Kaposi’s Saicoma, and pneumonia.†(Taylor 15) â€Å"Sometime between December 1980 and March 1981, a doctor by the name of Dr. Michael Gattlieb from the University of California Los Angeles was called to investigate three patients with a dieses that nobody in the United Stated had seen before.†(Check 19)†Sure enough, when Dr. Gottlieb drew a vital of blood from each patient and measured a special kind of immune cell called a T-Helper Lymphcyte, all three patients’ test gave the same startling result. It was clear that they had profound deficient immune systems.†(Check 20) It later became known as AIDS. In the mist of the epidemic a famous given by Dr. Halfdan Mahler, the director general of the World Health Organization, on November 20, 1986; â€Å"We stand nakedly in front of a very serious pandemic as mortal as any pandemic there has ever been. I don’t know of any greater killer than AIDS, not to speak of its psychological, social, and economic maiming.† (Check 43) Dr. Mahler was one of the brightest minds of his time. The speech went down in history