Knowra HIV/AIDS in the United States HIV/AIDS in the United States The HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States is the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS in the country, first recognized in 1981 and shaped by activism, public-health policy, and medical advances.
1981 CDC MMWR report : A June 1981 report describing Pneumocystis pneumonia in five young men in Los Angeles. It was the first published warning of the illness that became known as AIDS.
Human immunodeficiency virus : A retrovirus that attacks immune cells, especially CD4 T cells, and can cause AIDS without effective treatment. HIV is the virus driving the epidemic and the target of testing and treatment.
ACT UP : A direct-action organization founded in 1987 to demand faster AIDS research, treatment access, and public accountability. Its protests pressured institutions to respond more urgently to the epidemic.
Ryan White CARE Act : A 1990 U.S. law funding HIV care and support services for people with limited access to treatment. It created a major federal framework for delivering care to people affected by the epidemic.
HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa : The HIV/AIDS epidemic across sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the world's largest burden of HIV. Its scale and transmission patterns differ sharply from those of the U.S. epidemic.
GRID : An early, stigmatizing name for AIDS, based on the groups first identified in U.S. cases. The label reflects how early U.S. accounts wrongly framed AIDS as confined to gay men.
HIV transmission : The spread of HIV through specific bodily fluids, principally during sex, shared injection equipment, or pregnancy and childbirth. Transmission patterns determine which prevention measures have reduced new infections.
Larry Kramer : An American writer and AIDS activist who co-founded both the Gay Men's Health Crisis and ACT UP. His organizing and rhetoric helped make AIDS activism a force in U.S. politics.
AIDS Memorial Quilt : A large commemorative textile project whose panels honor people who died of AIDS-related causes. Its public displays turned private mourning into a national record of loss.
HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis : Antiretroviral medication taken by HIV-negative people to prevent infection before possible exposure. PrEP offers a biomedical prevention strategy alongside the U.S. epidemic's earlier emphasis on behavior and condoms.
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