History of HIV/AIDS

• The virus is believed to have crossed species from monkeys to humans in Africa.

• It bears close resemblance to SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus).

• First cases described in the US in the early 1980s.

• A number of gay men in New York and California suddenly began to develop rare

opportunistic infections and cancers that seemed stubbornly resistant to any treatment. At

this time, AIDS did not yet have a name, but it quickly became obvious that all the men

were suffering from a common syndrome.

• The virus itself falls under the category lentivirus which is a type of retrovirus.

• Lentiviruses are identified by the lengthy time between infection and when the first

symptoms appear.

• Four of the earliest known instances of HIV infection are as follows:

• A plasma sample taken in 1959 from an adult male living in what is now

the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

• A lymph node sample taken in 1960 from an adult female, also from the

Democratic Republic of the Congo.

• HIV found in tissue samples from an American teenager who died in St.

Louis in 1969.

• HIV found in tissue samples from a Norwegian sailor who died around

1976.
 • Analysis of samples collected from these early cases was used to determine the origin of

HIV.

• The origin of HIV was determined to be between 1884 and 1924 in West Africa.

• Colonisation and increased global travel have contributed to the spread of the disease

around the world.

• Further spread can be blamed on the beginning of blood donations for therapeutic purposes

as well as intravenous drug usage.

Origin theories for HIV

• It is now generally accepted that HIV is a descendant of a Simian Immunodeficiency Virus

because certain strains of SIVs bear a very close resemblance to HIV. It is also known that

certain viruses can pass between species.

• The Hunter Theory is the most commonly accepted theory which states that the virus

(SIV) was transferred to humans as a result of chimps being killed and eaten or their blood

getting into cuts or wounds on the hunter. SIV on a few occasions adapted itself within its

new human host and become HIV. Every time it passed from a chimpanzee to a man, it

would have developed in a slightly different way within his body, and thus produced a

slightly different strain.

• The Oral Polio Vaccine Theory: In this it is said that the virus was transmitted via various

medical experiments (iatrogenically) especially through the polio vaccines. The oral polio

vaccine called Chat was given to millions of people in the Belgian Congo, Ruanda and

Urundi in the late 1950s. Then it was cultivated on kidney cells taken from the chimps
 infected with SIV in order to reproduce the vaccine. This is the main source of

contamination, which later affected large number of people with HIV. But it was rejected

as it was proved that only macaque monkey kidney cells, which cannot be infected with

SIV or HIV, were used to make Chat. Another reason is that HIV existed in humans before

the vaccine trials were carried out.

• The Contaminated Needle Theory: African healthcare professionals were using one

single syringe to inject multiple patients without any sterilization in between. This could

have rapidly have transferred infection from one individual to another resulting in mutation

from SIV to HIV.

• The Colonialism Theory: The colonial rule in Africa was particularly harsh and the locals

were forced into labour camps where sanitation was poor and food was scare. SIV could

easily have infiltrated the labour force and taken advantage of their weakened immune

systems. Labourers were being inoculated with unsterile needles against diseases such as

smallpox to keep them alive and working. Also many of the camps actively employed

prostitutes to keep the workers happy. All these factors may have led to the transmission

and development of AIDS as a disease.

• The Conspiracy Theory: According to a survey, which was carried among African

Americans it was found that HIV was manufactured as part of a biological warfare

programme, designed to wipe out large numbers of black and homosexual people. There is

no evidence to disprove it, cannot be accepted as there were no genetic engineering

techniques at that time of emergence of AIDS.

• The Colonialism Theory: The colonial rule in Africa was particularly harsh and the locals

were forced into labour camps where sanitation was poor and food was scare. SIV could

easily have infiltrated the labour force and taken advantage of their weakened immune

systems. Labourers were being inoculated with unsterile needles against diseases such as

smallpox to keep them alive and working. Also many of the camps actively employed

prostitutes to keep the workers happy. All these factors may have led to the transmission

and development of AIDS as a disease.

• The Conspiracy Theory: According to a survey, which was carried among African

Americans it was found that HIV was manufactured as part of a biological warfare

programme, designed to wipe out large numbers of black and homosexual people. There is

no evidence to disprove it, cannot be accepted as there were no genetic engineering

techniques at that time of emergence of AIDS.