Title for 1983

A major outbreak of AIDS among both men and women in central Africa is reported.

The CDC adds female sexual partners of men with AIDS to its list of “risk groups.”

At the Pasteur Institute in France, Drs. Francoise Barr-Sinoussi, Luc Montagnier, et al., isolate a new retrovirus from a French patient with AIDS symptoms. They call it lymphadenopathy-associated virus, or LAV.

Dr. Mervyn F. Silverman, Director of the San Francisco Department of Health, launches a citywide program to combat the local epidemic.

The AIDS Medical Foundation (AMF) is founded by Dr. Mathilde Krim, Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, Michael Callen, and others, as a New York-based AIDS research organization.

The first AIDS discrimination case is brought to court in the U.S. (The suit was filed by Dr. Sonnabend to prevent the eviction of his medical practice specializing in AIDS patients.)

The CDC warns blood banks of a possible problem with the U.S. blood supply and joins other government agencies in issuing the first recommendations for preventing sexual, drug-related, and occupational transmission of HIV.

AIDS cases have now been reported in 33 countries.

U.S. YEAR-END STATISTICS

2,807 cases of AIDS reported to date
2,118 deaths