HIV/AIDS
By: Jordan Scott
History
Many people believed that HIV started with a man named Gaetan Dugas in the late 1900s, but it didn't. It actually goes back to the 19th century in Africa. Monkeys had a very similar virus and when they were hunted, the hunters came in contact with the monkeys' infected blood. This passed the virus to humans, but into a new strand called HIV. From there, the virus spread quick. The first known deaths and cases of spreading were 3 people in 1959, a sailor, and 2 congolese people in Congo.
Solutions
The first approved drug was ATZ and led to over 30 other approved drugs to treat HIV/AIDS. Doctors have been using 3 drugs per stage of HIV/AIDS. By doing this, it helps keep the virus amount very low, protects the immune system, and prevents the virus from resisting medicines. One man in Berlin was cured around 1995 using stem cell transplants that were immune to every form of HIV. Two other men got stem cell transplants in 2012, but they weren't immune to HIV. Anyhow, they no longer have HIV in their systems. Some scientists had 14 people start HIV treatment very early and all 14 have gotten to the point where they can control their HIV. Another case was in early 2013 where doctors applied HIV treatment to a baby very early and it came out successful.