Age Of Aids Part 1

As decades pass, it becomes evident that medical research plays a vital role in saving lives and containing deadly epidemics. Without the advancement of modern medicine, these lethal diseases could undeniably erase mankind in its entirety. AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, was the fire that medical researchers were trying to contain since the first reported case of AIDS swept across American headlines on June 5, 1981 (“Timeline”). As mentioned in the Billy Joel’s song “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” AIDS played an influential role in shaping modern medicine and treatment. Acquired immune deficiency puzzled researchers from the start, however, physicians discovered the origin, method of transfer, treatment, and containment methods for

Semen containing white blood cells infected with HIV comes into contact with tissue in the rectum and vagina. The virus can then enter the bloodstream of the host through perforations in the tissue surface. The risk of this happening is greatest in anal intercourse, either between two men or a man and a woman.” HIV is spread through a direct exchange of blood or blood products. This mode of transmission is most frequent among IV drug users who share injection needles. It includes, as well, hemophiliacs and other persons who receive blood transfusions, and fetuses of mothers who carry the AIDS virus.” AIDS has sparked considerable interest and controversy since the start of the epidemic. However, in trying to identify where AIDS originated, there is a danger that people may try and use the debate to attribute blame for the disease to particular groups of individuals or certain lifestyles. When the AIDS epidemic became offical in June 1981, it was widely considered exclusively a "gay disease” and this was because many people were confused and uneducated about this new, foreign disease that faced and ravaged our society as a whole. There is no doubt that many people coming from all walks of life were subject to discrimination when other people discovered that they were suffering as victims taken by the disease. The cultural and social response to AIDS portrayed in the film Philadelphia (1993) covered all of these aspects and was

media had labeled it as a gay disease. Based upon the statistics compiled by the Center for

Throughout the Age of AIDS film many topics that were related to AIDS were brought up that I did not know anything about before. I did not know that there could so many strings attached to a disease and have such an influence in people’s lives whether it was negative or positive.

In the documentary “The Age of AIDS,” FRONTLINE examines the outbreak of AIDS since its first diagnosed case in 1981. The film investigates different medical, political and social environments under AIDS pandemic in the US and worldwide. The film not only focuses on the scientific research and progress in treating the disease, it also looks at the social stigma, government strategies and public campaigns around different countries.

Carl Zimmer the guest speaker of this broadcast states that in 1981 doctors described for the first time a new disease, a new syndrome which affected mostly homosexual men. The young men in Los Angeles were dying and the number of cases was growing faster and faster. The number of deaths was increasing from eighty to six hundred and twenty five in just the first few months. After the first few cases in LA, AIDS was declared to be one of the deadliest pandemics the world had ever seen after the plague in the Middle Ages.

When the AIDS and HIV virus crept its way into the human-race, it quickly, and without warning, claimed the lives of millions. Then when its destructive wake had finally been abated, it left behind several untold mysteries. Throughout the course of this class, all the new material we have been exposed to has added some unique piece to the puzzle of the AIDS epidemic. Each puzzle pieces have ranged from speculations on how the AIDS epidemic had begun, to what exactly has the epidemic done. We have also tackled the question and how it forced a change in society. Our newest piece of the puzzle is the documentary “The Age of AIDS,” by William Cran. Although this documentary did not surprise me in its content, it did, however, affirm certain types

Once the New York Time published Rare Cancer seen in 41 Homosexuals, it stated that, “Doctors in New York and California have diagnosed among homosexual men 41 cases of a rare and often rapidly fatal form of cancer.” (Atlman) This started the stigma that this cancer was only affecting homosexuals and the term “gay cancer” was created. By the end of 1981 there were 270 gay men with severe immune deficiency and about 44% of those men had passed away the same year. Additionally, researchers started calling this illness GRID which stood for Gay-Related Immune Deficiency. Consequently, A Timeline of HIV/AIDS on the government website on AIDS stated, “This terminology influences both the medical profession and the public to perceive the epidemic as limited to gay men, with serious long-term consequences for women, heterosexual men, hemophiliacs, people who inject drugs, and children. (“A Timeline of HIV/AIDS”2017) Because it was perceived as something that only affected the LGBTQ+ community causes that arouse of other people created a fear among

According to a report published in the February 1998 edition of “Nature”, scientists identified what they believe is the earliest case of AIDs in a man from the Congo in 1959. (Lerner and Hombs 39) By the end of the year 1980, 80 men would have been diagnosed with at least of the opportunistic infections that are a characteristic of AIDs. (Lerner and Hombs 40) AIDs cases in the 1980s increased dramatically not only around the world but in the United States, primarily in larger cities like Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco. The numbers of AIDs diagnoses and deaths spiraled out of control throughout the 1980s and towards the end of 1989 there were 117,500 cases of AIDS reported and 89,000 related deaths.(Lerner and Hombs 54) In the

The 1980s era was interesting. It was the time of the ‘me’ generation. The decade was prosperous, and the U.S. was not involved in any major war. The overflow of sexual revolution from the 1960s and 1970s spilled over into the 1980s, but with a caveat. Instead of the swinging, free love, the presence of AIDS and the lack of understanding of how it spread, resulted in a panic. Was it to be ignored because it was considered a gay man’s epidemic? Should it be feared like the bubonic plague? Would a greater number of people contract the disease with few survivors? No one knew the answers, and the government health services was not forthcoming. In the early 1980s, this invisible disease spread across America, contracted by over 100,000 people in

In the film, “Age of AIDS”, there were several scenes that were quite impactful. In my opinion, the three most powerful scenes in the documentary film were: President Ronald Reagan‘s speech about transmitting HIV (1a), William Dodge triple cocktail trail (1b) and Bill Clinton’s handshake with HIV positive man in the Chinese conference (1c). These sections in the documentary were instrumental in conveying a compelling story about the effects of AIDS.

The first documented case of HIV was in 1959. It is believed that HIV may have been spreading throughout the United States since 1966. Allegedly the spread of HIV and AIDS across the United States can be traced all the way back to an unnamed male who contracted the disease while in Haiti and brought it to the US. It did not take long for the disease to spread uncontrollably throughout the U.S, infamously throughout the homosexual community. In 1981, the initial cases of AIDS were a group of homosexual males with no recorded cases of impaired immunity who displayed symptoms of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, an uncommon infection that typically

The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on June 5, 1981 reported what they thought to be very rare cases of pneumonia. However, later those cases were found to have been AIDS.

AIDS has also taken a greater toll on certain ethnic groups. In 2004 the American Journal of Public Health released a study that showed that AIDS has a disproportionate effect upon Latino women, and represents the fourth leading cause of death for Latinas aged 25 to 44 years old. It was also noted that 38.3% of Mexican-American women had not received any sex education in schools. Around half received no sex education from their parents. The journal also reported that parents in Latino families generally don’t discuss sexuality with their children, and gave a few possibilities why. Religion plays a factor as Catholicism is particularly prevalent in Latino culture. Traditional parents may not discuss things such as contraceptives or sex

Joel Weisman, a doctor known for his kindness towards homosexuals, realized an increase within his patients of mononucleosis-like syndrome. Mononucleosis (mono) is also called the kissing disease. The virus that induces mono is shared through saliva. Thus you can get infected by sharing eating utensils and drinks, by kissing, and by being exposed to a cough or sneeze by someone who has mono. Unlike the common cold, mononucleosis is not as contagious. Symptoms of mononucleosis include but are not limited to, swollen lymph nodes in the neck and armpits, skin rash, and swollen spleen. Within Weisman’s patients, those with mononucleosis-like syndrome, were also marked by weight loss, hectic fever, and swollen lymph nodes. There were other similarities. The patients were young and from the growing California gay community. Another doctor, Michael Gottlieb, realized that Weisman’s peculiar cases seemed familiar. Together they noticed that two of their patients were homosexual and had Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia (PCP), which is a rare illness. By the beginning of 1982, there were two hundred reported cases. However, the disease still lacked a name. Newspapers called the disease many things. All of them focusing on the fact the majority of its victims were gay. Thus they called it ‘gay cancer’ or ‘gay pneumonia’ even ‘gay plague.’ The disease was not named