AIDS in the United StatesOn June 5, 1981, 5 young gay men in Los Angeles came down with a rare lung cancer and/ or pneumonia. Their immune systems were not working properly and two of them died. It was named Pneumocystis Pneumonia or PCP.
By August 1981, a total of 41 homosexual men had been diagnosed with Kaposi’s Sarcoma (another rare cancer) 8 died less than 24 months after the diagnosis was made. By the end of the 1981, a total of 270 reported cases of severe immune deficiency among gay men were reported, and 121 of those individuals died. On September 24, 1982 CDC used the term “AIDS” (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) for the first time. In 1982, AIDS developed in gay women. In December 10, 1982, CDC reported a case of AIDS in an infant who received blood transfusions. On January 7, 1983 CDC reported cases of AIDS in female sexual partners of males with AIDS. It began to spread fast in the black community. In 1985- The Food and Drug Administration approved the first licensed test for HIV. September 1985- President Reagan publicly mentioned AIDS for the first time. October 1985- The actor Rock Hudson died of AIDS. He was the first major public figure known to have died from an AIDS-related illness. In 1986, 3 brothers, Ricky, Robert and Randy Ray, were barred from a public school in Florida because of HIV infections. In March 1987, the FDA approved AZT as the first antiviral drug to be used as a treatment for AIDS. In 1988- Activist Larry Kramer created ACT UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. ACT UP became the leader of many nonviolent protests through the 1990s. In 1990-Congress passes the Ryan White Care Act shortly after the death of Ryan White, a heterosexual teen in Indiana who contracted HIV through hemophilia treatments. White was expelled from school in the mid-1980s because of prejudice. In 1991-Singer Paul Jabara started the Red Ribbon Foundation which began distributing ribbons as a symbol of tolerance for those living with HIV/AIDS. In 1991- NBA MVP Magic Johnson announced that he had HIV. In March 1993 the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to keep the ban of HIV infected people entering the USA. In 1995, The use of Highly Active Antiviral Therapy (HAART) was introduced to combat the virus. In 1997, the AIDS death rate began to decline in the U.S. thanks to the success of drug therapies. In 2003 a new drug was developed called Enfuvirtide that prevented HIV from entering human immune cells. In May 2006, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) discussed a new plan that would expand AIDS testing in the United States by integrating it into regular physical exams for people aged 13 to 64. In 2009, President Obama removed a travel ban preventing HIV-positive people from entering the U.S. |