AIDS in key dates

AIDS emerged as a mysterious disease in the 1980s to spread across the world and claim millions of lives. For only the second time a patient has now been found in long-term remission—and most likely cured—from HIV, the virus that causes the disease.

Here is a look at the trajectory of the fight against the deadly condition:

1981: First alert

In June 1981 US epidemiologists report five cases of a rare form of pneumonia in gay men from California, some of whom had died. Unusual versions of skin cancer are identified in others.

It is the first alert about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), still unknown and unnamed.

Doctors identify "opportunistic infections" among injected drug-users (late 1981), haemophiliacs (mid-1982) and Haitian residents in the United States (mid-1982).

The term AIDS appears for the first time in 1982.

1983: Identifying HIV

In January 1983 researchers in France, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Jean-Claude Chermann, working under Luc Montagnier, identify the virus that "might be" responsible for AIDS. It is dubbed LAV.

The following year, US specialist Robert Gallo is said to have found the "probable" cause of AIDS, the retrovirus HTLV-III.

The two viruses turn out to be one and the same, and in May 1986 it becomes officially known as the human immuno-deficiency virus, or HIV.

Barre-Sinoussi and Montagnier win a Nobel prize in 2008 for their discovery.

1987: Anti-retroviral treatment

In March 1987, the first anti-retroviral treatment known as AZT is authorised in the United States. It is expensive and has many side effects.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declares December 1, 1988 the first World AIDS Day, to raise awareness. In June 1989, the number of AIDS cases worldwide is estimated at more than 150,000.

Early 90s: Falling stars

US actor Rock Hudson is the first high-profile AIDS death in October 1985. A host of other stars succumb to the disease, including British singer and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (November 1991) and Russian dancer-choreographer Rudolf Nureyev (January 1993).

In 1994, AIDS becomes the leading cause of death among Americans aged between 25 and 44.

1995-96: New approach

A new class of drugs signals the start of combinations of different anti-retroviral therapies.

Called tri-therapies, they provide the first effective treatment for HIV although they are not a cure and remain costly.

In the United States 1996 is the first year in which the number of AIDS deaths declines.

1999: 50 million infections

A report released by WHO and the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) in November 1999 estimates the number of people infected with HIV since it first appeared at 50 million, of whom 16 million have died.

Africa is the hardest-hit continent, with 12.2 million cases.

2003: Life-saving PEPFAR

In February 2003, US president George W. Bush launches the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, to combat the spread of AIDS in 15 of the hardest-hit areas of Africa and the Caribbean.

With an initial budget of $15 billion over its first five years, PEPFAR had by 2018 committed $70 billion to the AIDS response.

2009: The 'Berlin Patient'

The first known patient cured of HIV is announced. The "Berlin Patient", later named as American Timothy Brown, underwent two transplants of bone marrow containing a mutation of a gene that blocks HIV from attacking host cells.

He underwent total body irradiation to treat leukaemia and nearly did not survive the process.

2012: HIV 'shield'

In July 2012, the first-ever daily pill to help prevent HIV infection is approved by US regulators. Truvada is a pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, taken by high-risk persons who are HIV-negative in order to prevent them from being infected.

2017: Treatment spreads

For the first time ever, more than half of the global population living with HIV are receiving anti-retroviral treatment, UNAIDS reports in its latest data released in 2017.

There were 36.9 million people living with HIV globally in 2017 according to UNAIDS in its latest annual figures. Since the start of the epidemic 35.4 million have died from AIDS-related illnesses.

2019: The 'London Patient'

The second patient with sustained HIV suppression is reported after undergoing a transplant of stem cells with the same mutation as in the Berlin case.

Regular testing has confirmed that the patient's viral load remained undetectable for 19 months and counting.

© 2019 AFP