Timeline of early AIDS cases

This article is a timeline of early AIDS cases.

An AIDS case is classified as "early" if the death occurred before June 18, 1981, when the AIDS epidemic was formally recognized by medical professionals in San Francisco, California.

1959

David Carr: A Manchester printer (usually referred to, mistakenly, as a sailor) who died in October 1959 following the failure of his immune system; he succumbed to pneumonia. Doctors, baffled by what he had died from, preserved fifty of his tissue samples for inspection. In 1990, the tissues were found to be HIV-positive. However, in 1992, a second test by AIDS researcher David Ho found that the strain of HIV present in the tissues was similar to those found in the late 1980s rather than an earlier strain (which would have mutated considerably over the course of thirty years). Ho's discovery has cast doubt on David Carr's death being caused by AIDS, and there is much debate over this topic. [http://www.aegis.com/news/MISC/1995/IN950301.html]

Another early case was also probably detected in 1959, in a 48-year-old Haitian [Chicago Tribune [http://www.aegis.org/news/ct/1987/CT871004.html How Long Has Virus Been Stalking Victims? October 25, 1987 ] retrieved 15 May 2008] , who 30 years before had immigrated to the United States and at the time was working as a shipping clerk for a garment manufacturer in Manhattan. He developed similar symptoms to those just described for the British printer, and died the same year, apparently of the same very rare kind of pneumonia. Many years later, Dr. Gordon R. Hennigar, who had performed this man's autopsy, was asked whether he thought his patient had died of AIDS; he replied "You bet ... It was so unusual at the time. Lord knows how many cases of AIDS have been autopsied that we didn't even know had AIDS. I think it's such a strong possibility that I've often thought about getting them to send me the tissue samples."Fact|date=May 2008

1969

Robert R.: The first confirmed case of AIDS in the United States, a 15-year-old teenager who died in December 1969. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFD6173AF93BA15753C1A961948260&sec=health&pagewanted=all] ]

1976

Arvid Noe: A Norwegian sailor and truck driver, who was probably infected in Cameroon some time between 1961 and 1965, and died in 1975. Tissues of Noe, his wife and daughter all tested positive for HIV in an epidemiology study in 1988. [ Frøland, S.S., "et al". "HIV-1 Infection in Norwegian Family before 1970". "The Lancet". June 11 1988. Pp. 1344-1345] [Hooper, Edward, [http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7123/1689 Sailors and star-bursts, and the arrival of HIV] , from the British Medical Journal, 1997]

1977

Grethe Rask: A Danish surgeon who traveled to Zaire in 1972 to aid the sick. She was likely directly exposed to blood from many Congolese patients, one of whom infected her. She returned to Denmark in late 1976, with her colleagues baffled by her symptoms. She died in April 1977. Her tissues were examined and tested positive by her colleagues in 1984.

1978

Senhor Jose: A Portuguese man who is the first "confirmed" case of HIV-2. He was believed to have been exposed to the disease in Guinea-Bissau in 1966. He was treated at the London Hospital for Tropical Diseases by Professor Anthony Bryceson until finally succumbing to the disease in 1978.

Also, three cases among gay men in California and six cases among Haitian immigrants to the United States were confirmed.

1979

Herbert Heinrich: Bisexual German concert violinist, who died in 1979. Tests in 1989 found that he was HIV-positive, and there has been speculation that he was infected by a prostitute who was infected by Noe, but as of 1997, this has not been proven. [Hooper, Edward, [http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7123/1689 Sailors and star-bursts, and the arrival of HIV] , from the British Medical Journal, 1997]

Also, four new cases were reported among gay men in California, and five new cases among Haitian immigrants to the United States.

References

External links

*Connor, Steve, [http://www.aegis.com/news/MISC/1995/IN950301.html How scientists discovered false evidence on the world's "first AIDS victim,"] from The Independent (INDT); Section: Home News, p. 2, 3 - March 24, 1995
* Kolata, Gina, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFD6173AF93BA15753C1A961948260&sec=health&pagewanted=all "BOY'S 1969 DEATH SUGGESTS AIDS INVADED U.S. SEVERAL TIMES,"] from "The New York Times" October 28, 1987
*Cribb, Julian, [http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/documents/AIDS/Cribb96.pdf The White Death] , Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1996
*Hooper, Edward, [http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7123/1689 Sailors and star-bursts, and the arrival of HIV] , from the British Medical Journal, 1997