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Gay-related immune deficiency (GRID) (sometimes informally called the gay plague or GRIDS) was the 1982 name first proposed to describe what is now known as AIDS,1 after public health scientists noticed clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and Pneumocystis pneumonia among gay males in California and New York City.2 During the early history of AIDS, an ad hoc organization called Gay Men's Health Crisis was founded to combat what appeared to be a homosexual-only disease produced by sexual promiscuity, intravenous drug use, and/or usage of poppers. Soon after, clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and Pneumocystis pneumonia were also reported among Haitians recently entering the United States3 and men with hemophilia, among female sexual partners of AIDS patients, and among blood transfusion recipients with no obvious risk factors.
The term AIDS (for acquired immune deficiency syndrome) was proposed in 19824 by Sasu Siegelbaum,citation needed among other researchers, concerned with the accuracy of the disease's name. In this new name, scientists were supported by political figures who realized that the term "gay-related" did not accurately describe the demographic that the disease affected. On April 23, 1984, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary announced at a press conference that an American scientist, Dr. Robert Gallo, had discovered the probable cause of AIDS: the retrovirus subsequently named human immunodeficiency virus or HIV in 1986.
See also
References
- ^ "The History of AIDS and ARC" at the LSU Law Center
- ^ "A Cluster of Kaposi's Sarcoma and Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia among Homosexual Male Residents of Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California. MMWR, 31(23);305-7 (June 18, 1982)", http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001114.htm, retrieved on 24 January 2007.
- ^ "Opportunistic Infections and Kaposi's Sarcoma among Haitians in the United States, MMWR, 31(26);353-4,360-1 (July 09, 1982)", http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001123.htm, retrieved on 24 January 2007.
- ^ "Time Magazine: Living With GRID: Personal Journey ", http://www.time.com/time/80days/820727.html, retrieved on 24 January 2007.
- Shilts, Randy. And the Band Played On. 1987.
- "The 1980s: Outing by AIDS," pp. 137-167. Johansson, Warren & Percy, William A. Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence. Harrington Park Press, 1994.
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