How did AIDS begin?
Article Abstract:
A paper published in the journal Lancet, volume 336, 1990 presented evidence that in 1959, a seaman from northwestern England who died of pneumonia probably had AIDS. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was found in the tissues from the individual that had been fixed in paraffin wax; the samples were examined with the polymerase chain reaction, in which sequences of DNA (genetic material) are amplified so that there are large enough quantities for examination. The seaman's wife and three youngest daughters appear to also have been infected, as they also died of similar symptoms. This development further confuses questions about the origin of AIDS and the route of its spread. The earliest known case of HIV infection is also from 1959, identified from blood that contained antibodies against HIV, in Zaire, Africa. The existence of sporadic cases of AIDS without the spread to epidemic proportions emphasizes what is known about the spread of HIV. The spread of infection depends on the rate at which people acquire and infect new sexual partners; the passage of HIV from mothers to children, either in utero or through breast milk; the transfusion of infected blood; and the use of hypodermic needles that are infected. Therefore, the spread of AIDS can be controlled and hopefully will be, before the incidence reaches that of countries in Africa. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1990
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AIDS and sexual behaviour in France
Article Abstract:
A new telephone survey of sexual practices in France will help in learning how to control AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases and in forecasting the future of the AIDS epidemic. The survey, which was carried out between Sep 1991 and Feb 1992, involved questioning 20,055 people between 18 and 69 years old about risky sexual habits such as sex without condoms. The 2,271 respondents who admitted to risky behavior were questioned in greater detail, with 2,549 people serving as a control group. Current usage of condoms is not enough to stop the epidemic.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1992
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British say Pasteur Institute slighted their help on AIDS test
Article Abstract:
Britain's Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) is pressing France's Pasteur Institute to honor an agreement to share royalties from an AIDS blood test that both institutes worked on. The ICR's Robin Weiss contends that the AIDS virus-infected CEM T-cell line that ICR developed was essential to the Pasteur's success in devising the test in 1984. Pasteur officials acknowledge ICR's role but maintain that the CEM line's contamination with mycoplasma lessened the importance of ICR's assistance.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1992
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