$Unique_ID{BRK00600}
$Pretitle{Infections or Parasites}
$Title{Does Anybody Know Where AIDS Started?}
$Subject{AIDS origin}
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$Log{
HIV*0001001.scf
Aids Weakens the Immune System*0001003.scf}

Copyright (c) 1991   Tribune Media Services, Inc.


Does Anybody Know Where AIDS Started?


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QUESTION:  I am confused and distressed by all the suffering caused by AIDS,
and by people not being heard when they cry for help.  I can not recall
anything like this happening years ago.  Does anybody know where this terrible
disease started, and could it have been stopped before it spread this far?

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ANSWER:  Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, was first seen in the
United States around 1979.  The virus that causes the disease probably
originated in Africa, but no one is certain exactly how it spread to this
country.
     Researchers do have several theories, however.  One is that the French
and Belgians who lived in Central Africa, especially around Zaire, could have
carried the virus back to Western Europe.  Another theory states that Haitians
who visited Africa may have brought AIDS back, and Haitian male prostitutes
spread it to U.S. homosexuals vacationing in the Caribbean.  Cuban soldiers
stationed in Angola, a neighboring country of Zaire, in the mid-1970's may
have brought the virus to the Caribbean.  Then, the virus was carried into the
U.S. when "undesirables"--who included some homosexuals--were kicked out of
Cuba by Fidel Castro.
     Once in this country, AIDS first appeared among male homosexuals, leading
doctors to call the disease "Gay Related Immune Deficiency."  Later, however,
it began showing up among drug addicts and other people, like hemophiliacs who
had received blood transfusions, as well as women and babies, and so and the
name was changed to reflect our newer   understanding.
     All this of course, is theory, and no one really knows for certain.
Since we had little positive proof of its origins, it probably was
unstoppable, and now education and research are the best lines of defense we
possess to bring the tragedy of AIDS under control.
ÿ
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The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace 
the counsel and advice of your personal physician.  Promptly consulting your 
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical 
problem.
