The Age of AIDS Study Guide Part 1

To view this documentary, go to the following site:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids/view/

Part 1
• by the time HIV Disease was diagnosed in the United States, over
____________ people where infected, by the time it was diagnosed
in Africa, millions where already infected
• the AIDS virus is _______ times smaller than the size of the blood
cell it attacks and eventually kills, progressively over several years,
the body dies from an infection due to an overwhelmed (now severely
compromised) __________ system without anymore t-cells to combat
infection
• originally, most patients died within a_______ months upon diagnosis
• June ________, CDC reports in the MMWR the occurrence of a
mysterious disease which will soon be labeled as AIDS
• originally, infections where among_________ gay men who had a
number of recreational drugs and sexual partners so the point of
infection was very difficult to track down
• infection diagnosis then spread through the _________community,
the CDC couldn’t figure out the connection between the gay men in
large cities and the Haitian Community in Florida
• in Europe, infections began to show up in ___________ couples who
where not from Haitian backgrounds nor homosexual ones
• November 1981, three _______ users where diagnosed in New York
with AIDS which later lead to an epidemic of AIDS within the drug
communities
• diagnosis of AIDS leads to becoming a _______ outcast within their
peers, as this was mostly hitting the gay and drug communities, they
were not a priority by the government (they didn’t care)
• government didn’t want public ______ dollars going towards helping
people who deserved to die based on actions against the Laws of
God
• CDC warns that AIDS has entered the_______ supply after a child
becomes infected with AIDS

1
• ___________are the next group to be infected with AIDS en mass,
CDC then realized that AIDS had to be a virus spread through
sharing of bodily fluids
• blood banks refuse to admit that AIDS could be spread from blood
____________, even when faced with evidence by the CDC, it took
two years before they began screening procedures, leading to 35
thousand confirmed new AIDS cases
• President _________ comes into power and institutes a 25% cut in
funding to the CDC, leading to two years of stagnation in the AIDS
epidemic
• scientists had trouble finding the original source of AIDS, leads lead
to the ________
• once scientists visit the Congo, they realize that _________can also
be infected with AIDS, once this is reported to high ranking
government officials, they still cannot put two and two together as the
gay and drug user biased is systemic throughout the administration
• Haitians where contracted by the now independent Congo once the
Belgians left in the 1980s to teach the Congonese population, once
they return, they infected many Haitians (the connection is now
made)
• many gay men would travel to Haiti for cheap sex, then returning to
the United States, leading to further infections within the gay
community
• AIDS spread quickly through the closed and impoverished
___________population
• ___________ in the gay community became huge points of infection
among the population, government officials debated the impact
• 1983, AIDS was a __________ disease even in the face of
overwhelming evidence that it didn’t discriminate against host (sexual
orientation, race or background)
• in the summer of 1983, HIV Virus was isolated by the _________but
scientists in the United States couldn’t wrap their head around more
than one retro-virus existing
• HIV is thought to come from ___________that carried SIV hunted by
humans in Central Africa sometime in the 1930s
• 1959 was the first confirmed case of somebody dying of AIDS

2
• one infection from a Chimpanzee to one Human lead to the current
AIDS epidemic
• in May of 1984, the first AIDS blood test was developed and work on
a vaccine is promised within two years
• AIDS blood test reveals that somebody can be HIV positive but
completely healthy for decades before symptoms become apparent,
leading to exponential infection rates
• in 1985, the gay community was going through an incredible
challenge as people where dying daily, half of hemophiliacs died from
AIDS as well
• during the second term of Reagan’s administration, AIDS was still not
acknowledged and still seen as a mainly a gay problem
• Rock Hudson was a gifted Hollywood actor, known for his looks and
ability with the woman, the personification of a perfect male, was the
first major figure diagnosed with AIDS
• Rock Hudson’s death lead to AIDS becoming mainstream with
widespread public fear, discrimination and paranoia spread across
the country
• Ryan White, a 14 year old __________ infected with AIDS is forced
to quit coming to school due to unfounded fears and ignorance
• in September 1985, the Reagan’s administration re-enforces stigma
that AIDS can be spread by __________, which is then denied by the
scientific community which says AIDS is spread by exchanges in
bodily fluids
• AIDS hides itself behind the body’s own sugars that essentially make
it __________ to the human immune system
• in 1985, two million people where infected (mostly in Africa) and over
__________ Americans
• sex and homosexuality are taboo subjects in Africa which lead to
exponential infection rates
• Jonathan Mann encountered AIDS in_________ in 1984 during a
study for the CDC and lead a WHO global program across the world,
breaking taboos and forcing the issues behind AIDS into the public
• Irine Kaliba lead the development of the first AIDS support
organization in Uganda after her husband died from AIDS caused by
a_________ transfusion, promoting education and hope to stop the
AIDS infection growth rates (leading to a decrease)
3
• in 1985, heroin and the sex industry caused an explosion in new
AIDS cases within Thailand
• _____ in 10 new army recruits where found in Thailand to be infected
with AIDS, the government acted quickly to promote the use of
condoms among sex workers while neglecting the drug users who
had infections rates of up to 40%
• in Britain, AIDS was primarily spreading through the _________
community from 0% to 56% within an 18 month period, in response,
the government sets-up needle exchanges across the UK
• in 1987, United States Senator __________ was insulted by
publications spreading knowledge about AIDS prevention and pushed
for a ban against homosexual materials which is still on the books
today, this was seen as a blow to the AIDS fight
• AZT was a ________ drug from the 1950s that caused immune
system regeneration in AIDS patients, it was a public funded drug
whose patent was given to a private company by the United States
government at the price of 10 000$US a year
• mass demonstrations against the slow process of AIDS ___________
and extremely high drug prices
• _______doesn’t totally knock out the AIDS virus, as a result, it
adapted and became drug resistant to the once promising drug
• in 1987, the AIDS __________ is displayed in Washington, over 40
thousand Americans had already died from AIDS
• on May 31st, 1987, president Reagan finally speaks-out about AIDS,
while pushing for education, he also took steps that would be
counter-productive such as testing new immigrants and not promoting
___________ use
• by 1990, a million Americans are infected with AIDS, equivalent to 1
on every ______people across the United States population
• ___________ Act is passed by Washington to begin putting a wedge
in the exponential global increase in AIDS infections
• Jonathan _________departs the WHO because of personality
conflicts, his high profile work lead to conflicts with his boss who was
jealous of Jonathan’s success on the AIDS front