| AIDS is a short term for Acquired Immunodeficiency | | | | French researchers isolated a retrovirus in 1983 that |
| Syndrome. It is not a precise disease but is syndrome | | | | they believed caused AIDS. The virus was called |
| of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infection. | | | | HTLV-III/LAV by an international science committee. |
| The HIV attacks the CD4 lymphocytes, a type of | | | | Later it was called HIV or human immunodeficiency |
| white blood cell and breaks it down finally stopping | | | | virus when its source was traced SIV. French |
| the function of the patient's immune system. The | | | | researchers were the first to isolate the virus, |
| absence of immunity makes the patient vulnerable to | | | | however the US credits Doctor Robert Gallo for its |
| diseases and a simple flu can weaken the HIV | | | | discovery. Although both viruses were confirmed to |
| infected person. | | | | be same after two years however the credit of the |
| Kinshasha in the DR Congo has been recently | | | | discovery remained with Gallo. Later, an international |
| identified as a place where AIDS came from. A man | | | | committee of scientists renamed the virus as HIV. |
| having the same symptoms of AIDS died there in | | | | A new treatment for HIV arrived in 1987 after six |
| 1959. His blood samples were tested which showed | | | | years of thorough medical research. The use of drug |
| that he had HIV infection and probably died from viral | | | | Retrovir (AZT, Zidovudine) was approved by FDA |
| infection. | | | | for treating HIV. In 1992, the first use of drug in |
| His cause of infection remained a mystery but many | | | | combination with AZT was approved by FDA. The |
| experts believed that the cause of disease was SIV | | | | addition of the drug, Hivid was the start of combined |
| or simian immunodeficiency virus. It was transferred | | | | therapies of HIV/AIDS. |
| from chimpanzees through ingestion of monkey's | | | | The fight against AIDS continued and in 1996, power |
| meat. | | | | HIV-fighting drugs called Protease Inhibitors were |
| In 1981, widespread occurrences of AIDS in California | | | | introduced. These drugs were used in combination |
| and New York led to its discovery. The researchers | | | | with the existing drugs for HIV/AIDS and were |
| began calling the new disease as AIDS in 1982 and | | | | effective. After a year, scientists discovered that the |
| described the incidences of infections - Pneumocystis | | | | HIV/AIDS hides in the reservoirs in human body |
| and Karposi's Sarcoma, a pneumonia in young men. | | | | making it impossible to find its cure despite the |
| Later, the incidences of same disease in the US were | | | | effectiveness of the drugs. |
| confirmed by 32 countries. | | | | |