For over half a century, AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome), which is caused by the acquisition of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), has caused an unprecedented level of absolute devastation across the world.
Fortunately, thanks to the huge amount of time and repeated injections of cash put into the research of the disease and the creation and modifications of different drugs in an effort to fight HIV and AIDS, the outlook for patients is better than ever – but it wasn’t always this way. Here is a concise history of the fight against HIV & Aids to the present day.
The Beginnings of HIV
It was not until 1981 that researchers at UCLA first identified the disease that would come to be referred to as AIDS in early June, and a month later, doctors at San Francisco Hospital saw the first patient who showed symptoms of the rare form of cancer, Kaposi’s Sarcoma, which linked to AIDS.
During the next few years, doctors, scientists, and researchers discovered that HIV was the cause of AIDS and that HIV could not be contracted by casual contact but rather only through bodily fluids. By 1986, over 38,500 cases of AIDS had been reported from a staggering 84 different countries, and in the same year, the first test trial for treatment drugs began.
Throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s, notable actors, film stars, politicians, and singers, such as the late great Freddie Mercury, lost their lives to AIDS, which brought the disease very much into the public conscience. In 1994, AIDS was the leading cause of death in the United States for people between the ages of 24 and 44.
Knowledge & Understanding of HIV
Currently, as you will already be aware, there is no cure for HIV, and if an individual does contract the infection, it is necessary for them to undergo treatment for the rest of their life.
Drug development and discovery, be that by Hera Biolabs and other prominent centers or else by medical professionals inside a more traditional medical institutionalized setting, are at the forefront of the fight to find a cure. The current focus is on individuals who have contracted HIV but who have been discovered to have a natural resistance to the disease, with the hope that this holds at least some clue as to the direction to head in for a cure.
Future Prospects
The final objective for scientists is, obviously, the discovery of a cure for the disease. HIV treatment plans, regimes, and the modifications of the drugs used to treat the disease need to be constantly adapted and investigated by expert medical professionals, and it is now possible for an individual to contract HIV and thrive for many years to come.
It would also be pertinent to point out that most of the research and drug development based around the fight to find a cure for HIV is always conducted in high-income and developed countries. Researchers are acutely aware that the different strains of HIV do indeed vary, depending on geographical location.