During the early years of the AIDS epidemic, thousands of Americans became infected with HIV through the nation's blood supply. Because little reliable information existed at the time AIDS first began showing up in hemophiliacs and in others who had received transfusions, experts disagreed about whether blood and blood products could transmit the disease. During this period of great uncertainty, decision-making regarding the blood supply became increasingly difficult and fraught with risk. This volume provides a balanced inquiry into the blood safety controversy, which involves private sexual practices, personal tragedy for the victims of HIV/AIDS, and public confidence in America's blood services system. The book focuses on critical decisions as information about the danger to the blood supply emerged. The committee draws conclusions about what was doneâ€"and recommends what should be done to produce better outcomes in the face of future threats to blood safety. The committee frames its analysis around four critical area: Product treatmentâ€"Could effective methods for inactivating HIV in blood have been introduced sooner? Donor screening and referralâ€"including a review of screening to exlude high-risk individuals. Regulations and recall of contaminated bloodâ€"analyzing decisions by federal agencies and the private sector. Risk communicationâ€"examining whether infections could have been averted by better communication of the risks.
Europe's "Black Death" contributed to the rise of nation states, mercantile economies, and even the Reformation. Will the AIDS epidemic have similar dramatic effects on the social and political landscape of the twenty-first century? This readable volume looks at the impact of AIDS since its emergence and suggests its effects in the next decade, when a million or more Americans will likely die of the disease. The Social Impact of AIDS in the United States addresses some of the most sensitive and controversial issues in the public debate over AIDS. This landmark book explores how AIDS has affected fundamental policies and practices in our major institutions, examining: How America's major religious organizations have dealt with sometimes conflicting values: the imperative of care for the sick versus traditional views of homosexuality and drug use. Hotly debated public health measures, such as HIV antibody testing and screening, tracing of sexual contacts, and quarantine. The potential risk of HIV infection to and from health care workers. How AIDS activists have brought about major change in the way new drugs are brought to the marketplace. The impact of AIDS on community-based organizations, from volunteers caring for individuals to the highly political ACT-UP organization. Coping with HIV infection in prisons. Two case studies shed light on HIV and the family relationship. One reports on some efforts to gain legal recognition for nonmarital relationships, and the other examines foster care programs for newborns with the HIV virus. A case study of New York City details how selected institutions interact to give what may be a picture of AIDS in the future. This clear and comprehensive presentation will be of interest to anyone concerned about AIDS and its impact on the country: health professionals, sociologists, psychologists, advocates for at-risk populations, and interested individuals.
More than 400 entries to literature for books, newspapers, periodicals, and the gay press, as well as nontechnical articles from scientific and health journals. Clinical citations were excluded. Chronological arrangement ranging from 1981-1983. Miscellaneous appendixes contain lists of organizations, services, and newsletters.
HIV and Aids: Basic Elements and Priorities is a concise collection of all aspects of this disease and a source of readily available knowledge. It examines all currently advocated preventive measures such as health education, condom use, safer sex practices, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. Coverage details strategies for prevention and control as well as the latest global information about HIV/AIDS.
Dramatizes the onset of the AIDS epidemic in New York City, the agonizing fight to get political and social recognition of it's problems, and the toll exacted on private lives. 2 acts, 16 scenes, 13 men, 1 woman, 1 setting.
Epstein shows the extent to which AIDS research has been a social and political phenomenon and how the AIDS movement has transformed biomedical research practices through its capacity to garner credibility by novel strategies.
HIV/AIDS is without doubt the worst epidemic to hit humankind since the Black Death. The first case was identified in 1981; by 2004 it was estimated that about 40 million people were living with the disease, and about 20 million had died. Despite rapid scientific advances there is still no cure and the drugs are expensive and toxic. Because of controversies and taboos surrounding safe drug usage and prostitution, the numbers of people infected continues to rise. However, it is in the developing world and especially parts of Africa that the real catastrophe is unfolding. In some of the worst affected countries life expectancy has plummeted to below 35 years, which has led to a serious decline in economic growth, a sharp rise in orphaning, and the imminent collapse of health care systems. The news is not all bleak though. There have been unprecedented breakthroughs in understanding diseases and developing drugs. Because the disease is so closely linked to sexual activity and drug use, the need to understand and change behaviour has caused us to reassess what it means to be human and how we should operate in the globalising world. This Very Short Introduction provides an introduction to the disease, tackling the science, the international and local politics, the fascinating demographics, and the devastating consequences of the disease, and explores how we have — and must — respond. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
At some point during the 1930s, an altered form of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus, or SIV, was transferred from a chimpanzee to a human hunter. This most likely occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo when hunters handled and consumed meat from hunted chimpanzees. Those initially infected by the chimpanzees would spread the disease further, and a generation later, in 1959, a man in the Democratic Republic of Congo died due to AIDS-related complications. Using blood plasma, researchers have determined that he was the first documented case of the disease in humans. Flashing forward to the 1970s, the disease continued to spread throughout the world undetected. It reached countries such as the United States and England, passing the radar of most medical professionals, and as a result, no research was performed during the decade. By 1981, an extremely rare type of skin cancer, Kaposi's Sarcoma, became increasingly common among gay men in New York City and California. This, coupled with high rates of pneumonia, led researchers to believe immunodeficiency was on the rise due to a disease. By the end of 1981, 121 Americans had died as a result of the unknown disease, and the following year, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, made initial predictions related to the disease. They hypothesized that the immune deficiencies present in gay men was the result of an infection. As a result, the phrase Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, was coined. They also learned that other groups, such as drug users and hemophiliacs, were at equally high risk of contracting the disease. By 1983, the disease had reached five continents and was becoming more widespread in Europe. Gay men who had visited the United States and individuals who had connections to Africa were especially at risk. At this point, researchers began to investigate these ties. The disease was finally discovered in 1984 by Luc Montagnier at France's Pasteur Institute and Robert Gallo at the United States National Cancer Institute. It was named human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, due to its impact on the immune system. During this time period, heterosexual individuals with no connections to drug use or central Africa also began to experience disease symptoms. Throughout the 1990s, drugs to target HIV became increasingly affected. AZT was found to help prevent the transfer of HIV from a mother to a fetus, and newer, stronger drug cocktails were invented. Living a full life with HIV became a reality, compared to being a death sentence just a decade earlier. After the 1995 introduction of HAART, or Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, death rates related to HIV and AIDS fell for the first time in the United States, but by the time the decade closed out, 33 million individuals worldwide were diagnosed with HIV and 14 million had died. In 1999, HIV/AIDS was the fourth biggest cause of death internationally. The Spread of HIV and AIDS: The History of the HIV Virus and the Rise of Infections across the World examines how the notorious killer became one of the most feared diagnoses in the world. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the spread of HIV and AIDS like never before.
