Aids and the Reagan Era
Aids and the Reagan Era Kiauhna Braddy History 105/Lisa Hawkins March 14, 2012
First Reports of AIDS and misconceptions in the United States In early June 1981, the first reports of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia discovered among five previously healthy young men in Los Angeles, and published in the medical literature. The men were described as homosexuals; all five men had either previous or current infections with a virus and fungus usually seen in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy or transplant recipients. Two of the five men initially diagnosed died. Following the published reports in Los Angeles, 10 additional cases of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, were reported in homosexual men in New York City, and San Francisco. Kaposi’s sarcoma, a cancer not seen in young men of the United States also reported 26 cases of the cancer. Eight of the men with Kaposi’s sarcoma died within twenty-four months of their diagnosis. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or Acquired Immune Deficient Syndrome (AIDS) was not even a term that was in use when the pneumonia was first detected in 1981. Before the disease was named, and before the cause was known, doctors struggled with one or more of their patients’ multiple symptoms. Hospitals, doctors, and clinics were seeing patients with symptoms and conditions they had never dealt with, let alone treated before. By the end of 1981, the nation noticed the symptoms were due to a defect in the body’s immune system. The occurrence of AIDS in homosexual and bisexual men suggested that it was more than an infection caused by a single virus, one or more viruses, plus the involvement of drug use, specific sexual acts, and even genetics were suspected sources of the disease. Ronald Reagan delayed what could have been a significant step in awareness, by choosing not to publicly talk about AIDS or prevention. It has been said that he believed that since it only affected promiscuous people,
First Reports of AIDS and misconceptions in the United States In early June 1981, the first reports of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia discovered among five previously healthy young men in Los Angeles, and published in the medical literature. The men were described as homosexuals; all five men had either previous or current infections with a virus and fungus usually seen in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy or transplant recipients. Two of the five men initially diagnosed died. Following the published reports in Los Angeles, 10 additional cases of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, were reported in homosexual men in New York City, and San Francisco. Kaposi’s sarcoma, a cancer not seen in young men of the United States also reported 26 cases of the cancer. Eight of the men with Kaposi’s sarcoma died within twenty-four months of their diagnosis. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or Acquired Immune Deficient Syndrome (AIDS) was not even a term that was in use when the pneumonia was first detected in 1981. Before the disease was named, and before the cause was known, doctors struggled with one or more of their patients’ multiple symptoms. Hospitals, doctors, and clinics were seeing patients with symptoms and conditions they had never dealt with, let alone treated before. By the end of 1981, the nation noticed the symptoms were due to a defect in the body’s immune system. The occurrence of AIDS in homosexual and bisexual men suggested that it was more than an infection caused by a single virus, one or more viruses, plus the involvement of drug use, specific sexual acts, and even genetics were suspected sources of the disease. Ronald Reagan delayed what could have been a significant step in awareness, by choosing not to publicly talk about AIDS or prevention. It has been said that he believed that since it only affected promiscuous people,
References: Bartlett, B. (1981) Reaganomics, Supply Side Economics in Action. Arlington House Publishers: Westport, CT Epstein, H. (2007). The Invisible Cure:Africa, the West, and the fight against AIDS. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux: New York, NY. Guilfoile, P. (2011). HIV and AIDS. Chelsea House Books: New York, NY. Prestowitz, C., Morse, R., Tonelson, A. (1991) . Powernomics, Economics and Strategy After the Cold War. Madison Books: Lanham, MD. Shultz, K. (2012). History Volume 2, 2nd Edition. Cengage Learning: Mason, OH