1981
As stated above, 1981 saw the emergence of Kaposi's Sarcoma and Pneumocystis among gay men in New York and California. When the Centers for Disease Control reported the new outbreak they called it GRID (gay-related immune deficiency), stigmatizing the gay community as carriers of this deadly disease. However, cases started to be seen in heterosexuals, drug addicts, and people who received blood transfusions, proving the the syndrome knew no boundaries.
1983
Researchers at the Pasteur Institute in France isolate a retrovirus that they believe is related to the out break of AIDS. Thirty-three countries around the world have confirmed cases of the disease that was once limited to New York and California. Controversy arises a year later when the US government announces their scientist; Dr. Robert Gallo isolates a retrovirus HTLV-III, that he too claims is responsible for AIDS. Two years later it's confirmed that HTLV-III and the Pasteur retrovirus are indeed the same virus, yet Gallo is still credited with its discovery. An international committee of scientists renames the virus HIV.
1984
A Canadian flight attendant, nicknamed "patient zero" dies of AIDS. Because of his sexual connection to several of the first victims of AIDS, it is believed that he is responsible for introducing the virus into the general population. By 1984 there are almost 8000 confirmed cases in the US, with 3700 confirmed deaths (CDC surveillance report, Dec. 1984).
1985
The controversy surrounding the HIV virus continues when Robert Gallo's lab patents an HIV test kit that later is approved by the FDA. The Pasteur Institute sues and is later awarded rights to half of the royalties from the new test. At the same time, HIV and AIDS enters the public eye when Rock Hudson dies of AIDS and Ryan White is barred from his elementary school in Indiana.
1987 - A Treatment Arrives
After 6 years of watching people die, a new treatment emerges that is hailed as the first huge step in beating HIV & AIDS. AZT is FDA approved and begins to be used in high doses to treat people infected with HIV. And not a minute too soon. The World Health Organization estimates that 100,000 to 150,000 cases of HIV and AIDS exist worldwide (WHO, 1987). Politically, HIV and AIDS is a topic that most avoid. But in response to public pressure, President Ronald Reagan finally acknowledges the HIV problem and for the first time uses the term "AIDS" in a public speech.
