Guest guest Posted July 1, 2006 Report Share Posted July 1, 2006 Timeline: HIV & AIDS 1930s • Researchers believe that sometime in the 1930s a form of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) jumped to humans who butchered or ate chimpanzee bush meat in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The virus becomes HIV-1 the most widespread form found today 1959 • The world's first known case of AIDS has been traced to a sample of blood plasma from a man who died in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1959 1960s • HIV-2, which is restricted to West Africa, is thought to have transferred to people from sooty mangabey monkeys in Guinea-Bissau during the 1960s • A genetic analysis of HIV in 2003 suggests that it may have first arrived in the United States in about 1968 1970s • During the 1970s it continues to spread undetected in the US and around the world - the pandemic has begun 1981 • A high prevalence of both a rare type of skin cancer - Kaposi's Sarcoma - and pneumonia are found in young gay men in New York and California, US. These are the first documented cases of AIDS. By the end of the year 121 people are known to have died from the mysterious affliction 1982 • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scientists, in Atlanta, US, predict that the immune system disorder affecting gay men is due to an infection. They establish the term Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and determine that aside from gay men, other groups at risk are injecting drug users, people of Haitian origin and haemophiliacs • By 1982 AIDS had been detected on five continents • It is revealed that a wasting disorder known in Africa as "slim disease" is a form of AIDS 1983 • AIDS epidemics are developing in Europe: one in gay men who have visited the US, another in people with links to central Africa • Investigations begin into the occurrence of AIDS in Rwanda, Zaire and other African nations 1984 • Using recently developed techniques, the retrovirus responsible for AIDS is independently discovered by Luc Montagnier of the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France, and Gallo of the National Cancer Institute in Washington DC, US. It is later named the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) • Cases of AIDS passed on through heterosexual intercourse begin to appear 1985 • The first International AIDS conference is held in Atlanta, US • Following the previous year's discovery of the HIV virus, the first HIV test is licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) • US blood banks are screened for the virus 1987 • AZT (zidovudine), the first antiretroviral drug, becomes available to treat HIV sufferers after a successful clinical trial. The drug works by blocking the action of HIV's enzyme reverse transcriptase, stopping the virus from replicating in cells. AZT slows down the course of AIDS, delaying death • By 1987, 16,908 people have died from AIDS in the US. In total 71,751 cases of AIDS had been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO), 47,022 in the US • Estimating that as many as 5 to 10 million people could be infected with HIV worldwide, the WHO launches its Global Programme on AIDS 1988 • WHO declares the first World AIDS Day on 1 December 1991 • ddI becomes the second antiviral approved by the FDA • The red ribbon becomes an international symbol of AIDS awareness 1992 • In the US, AIDS becomes the leading cause of death for 24 to 44 year old men • Interleukin-2 approved for treatment of renal cell carcinoma, the turbocharged immune system kills the cancer cells • The first combination drug therapies for HIV are introduced, when the US FDA approves the use of the ddC, which also blocks reverse transcriptase, alongside AZT. HIV drug cocktails are more effective and the multi-pronged attacks slow down the development of drug resistance 1994 • Using AZT to reduce the transmission of HIV from pregnant women to unborn fetuses is recommended in the US. A study shows it cuts the rate of maternal transmission to 8% - in women taking a placebo the rate was 25% • Over 12 after the discovery of AIDS, the US government launches its first national media campaign explicitly promoting condoms 1995 • Saquinavir, a new type of protease inhibitor drug, becomes available to treat • HIV. These drugs result in defective HIV forming, which cannot infect new cells. This new more powerful drug heralds the start of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) - a combination therapy regimen using a "cocktail" of drugs • One million cases of AIDS have been reported to the WHO, 19.5 million people have been infected with HIV since the epidemic began 1996 • Crixivan Approved • HIV Viral Load test finally FDA approved - after years of use by the NIH, pharma firms and those who built their own lab • The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) - a non-profit organisation based in New York City - is set up to speed the search for an HIV vaccine • 90% of all people infected with HIV now live in the developing world 1997 • Annual US death rates from AIDS dramatically fall for the first time, due to the introduction of HAART • UN announces that 40 million children could have lost one or both parents to AIDS by 2010 1998 • The first full-scale trial of a vaccine against HIV begins in the US • Two teams of researchers begin developing vaccines targeted against the strains of HIV prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa • An HIV strain resistant to all protease inhibitor drugs currently on the market turns up in San Francisco. Unusual side effects, such as the growth of fatty pads and heart problems, are occurring in some users of protease inhibitors 1999 • Hooper releases his book, The River, which accuses doctors who tested a polio vaccine in 1950s Africa of unintentionally starting the AIDS epidemic. The idea is rejected in 2001 by a wide group of researchers • 33 million people are infected with HIV, and 14 million have died of AIDS worldwide • AIDS becomes the fourth biggest killer worldwide 2001 • An Indian company starts to sell discounted copies of expensive patented AIDS drugs to a medical charity in Africa. The move forces some pharmaceutical companies to slash prices 2003 • Reyataz approved - first protease inhibitor that does not alter lipid metabolism • Five million people are newly infected with AIDS during 2003, the greatest number in one year since the epidemic began. Three million die from AIDS in the same year 2004 • A vaccine for AIDS is still years away, warns the IAVI. Less than 3% of all money devoted to AIDS goes towards developing a vaccine for the disease • HIV blocking microbicides go on trial. The vaginal creams may provide a powerful weapon against the spread of HIV. Animal studies show some prevent infection in up to 75% of cases • A drug that stops the HIV virus from stitching itself into human chromosomes is found to fight AIDS in an animal study. In the face of emerging drug-resistant HIV strains, the find could offer a new approach 2005 • Around 40 million people are infected with AIDS worldwide • A highly resistant strain of HIV linked to rapid progression to AIDS is identified in New York City, US 2006 • Prezista approved http://www.newscientist.com/popuparticle.ns?id=in79 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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